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Vintage Harman Kardon Receivers

5

5Toes

Member
Alright guys, I am new here and just want to say hi.

Right now I am running an efficient pair of JBL L810's ($150 on eBay), they have a 88db SPL rating. They are 5.25" woofers, but this Summer I will upgrade to custom built 6.5" even more efficient speakers. Anyways I have a junk Sony TA-AX285 80's amp running them. It is great and has the perfect ammount of power I need, right over half power my woofers will distort on certain songs (with my EQ enabled). I believe it is 100 watts a channel, but Sony watts so....

I want to upgrade, and am NOT into that $100 Sherwood crap they call a receiver. I got turned onto a H/K 330C through good old CL, but it has a scratched (white on the black plastic) front bezel and is slightly overpriced. Anyways, through eBay, this forum, etc. I now know that it is probably the perfect receiver for me. I looked into Marantz, but was turned off by the higher prices for models I want. I am totally considering them though.

I have narrowed it down to a H/K 330C, 330I, or Marantz 2220B.

Please tell me the differences bewtween the H/Ks, and how they comapre sound quality wise and power wise to the Marantz.

Or suggest another vintage 70's receiver, that is easily available under $100 (I am only 15 and short on cash).
It must have: Warm sound (not grainy at all), atleast 40 actual watts a channel (I dont care about claimed wattage), reliability, and a decent FM tuner.

Thanks in advance -Andrew
 
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The HK330C is only 20 WPC...

Since I'm not a big fan of HK or Marantz, for under $100 you can pick up a Pioneer SX-780 or Sansui 771 on Ebay and be very happy.
 
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5Toes said:
Alright guys, I am new here and just want to say hi.

Right now I am running an efficient pair of JBL L810's ($150 on eBay), they have a 88db SPL rating. They are 5.25" woofers, but this Summer I will upgrade to custom built 6.5" even more efficient speakers. Anyways I have a junk Sony TA-AX285 80's amp running them. It is great and has the perfect ammount of power I need, right over half power my woofers will distort on certain songs (with my EQ enabled). I believe it is 100 watts a channel, but Sony watts so....

I want to upgrade, and am NOT into that $100 Sherwood crap they call a receiver. I got turned onto a H/K 330C through good old CL, but it has a scratched (white on the black plastic) front bezel and is slightly overpriced. Anyways, through eBay, this forum, etc. I now know that it is probably the perfect receiver for me. I looked into Marantz, but was turned off by the higher prices for models I want. I am totally considering them though.

I have narrowed it down to a H/K 330C, 330I, or Marantz 2220B.

Please tell me the differences bewtween the H/Ks, and how they comapre sound quality wise and power wise to the Marantz.

Or suggest another vintage 70's receiver, that is easily available under $100 (I am only 15 and short on cash).
It must have: Warm sound (not grainy at all), atleast 40 actual watts a channel (I dont care about claimed wattage), reliability, and a decent FM tuner.

Thanks in advance -Andrew
Click to expand...

Wow,you come in with guns a blazing !:D

Seriously,settle down and do a little research.:yes:
 
I'd stick with the H/K 330c to be honest but of course I am biased. I own one that I picked up for $25 a few years back. If you want a warm sound then the 330c is your best bet. Some say it sounds very tube like but I do not know.

Now as far as wattage, the 330c does not have 40 watts, more like 25. I had a pair of JBL LX-44's hooked up to it for a time and the unit had very little difficulty power those speakers and they were fairly large 3-way design with titanium tweeters.

I've never owned a Marantz so I cannot tell you how it compares.

But for the price the H/K 330c is your best bet. They can be found relatively cheap - 50-75 on the auction site.

Welcome to AK! The 330c was the reason I joined.
 
I did do research, and I have heard very mixed oppnions about the vintage Marantz.. in reference to to sound quality.

Also I found no direct comparison of the 330I and 330C...

Also I know H/K always underrates their amps, and have heard of the 330C putting out 40 WPC..

My JBL's are a 3 way design, but only have a woofer, tweeter and ultra high frequency tweeter. The ultra high thing is stupid in my oppinion, but whatever they sound good.
 
Scorpion8 had both of the H/K units at one point in time. He may be able to shed light on a comparison.
 
Awesome! Fletch I have already read that thread, and it is great! But I am looking for a 330C to 330I comparison
 
The H/K 430, 630, 730 and 930 are similar to the 330c and will have a bit more power (plus dual transformers) and possibly better tuners. I had a 430 and it was a decent sounding receiver. That same 'warm' sound (no, they don't actually sound like tubes) can be found in some Sansui receivers/integrateds as well. And don't knock all Sony....vintage Sony from the 60s and 70s (and some of the ES gear from later) is actually nice stuff. Some of their first forays into the American market were meant to compete with McIntosh..yet their is an assumption about them, based on the Sony name, so they don't sell for that much. I'd actually take almost any Sony unit from the late 60s early '70s over any Pioneer unit of the same time period..but that shows you how subjective this all is. Obviously, others have a different opinion and they're just as right or wrong as I am.
 
I can't help you with your 330c to 330i comparison, but I can vouch for the 330c as a fine amplifier. However, if I were you, as already suggested, I would raise my sights to at least the 430c with the speakers you intend to drive.

I can't really comment on the Marantz sound yet. I have a freebie unit that needs some work.
 
Just a point to consider: When you use an eq to boost a signal, you suck the watts right out of an amp and increase the possibility of clipping at a "lower" level than you normally would.
 
The 330i has those danged little push button switches that plague the reliability of all those early 80's HK units. They sound great when fresh and properly operating, but almost all will suffer at some time from a dirty switch that infuriates the owner and leads one to conclude the unit is damaged.

If you can find one for a few bucks that has intermittent channel issues, then you can usually clean them up to work fine and you've got quite a deal. My 570i has been a real pain for many years over this issue, but sounds great when dialled in.

The 330c is a generally bulletproof classic that will easily power the speakers you have. Don't be fooled by its 20 wpc rating - you'll be surprised.
 
5Toes said:
Well my sony is 80's and well harsh. Not warm at all.
Click to expand...

I'm not doubting you...the lack of quality in some Sony, especially in the '80s and '90s, drives people away from their better gear, which is very good. This also leads to some bargains. I got an STR-6800sd for less than $100, and it has the type of sound it seems like you'd prefer as well as a lot of power. Just something to consider. A lot of these receivers, in all honesty, don't sound ALL that different from one another. Some sound good, some bad, and a lot are somewhere in between. I had a big collection of them at one point and the Sansui, Sony, H/K and even McIntosh 1900 were more alike, to my ear, than they were different. Each had a flavor of that 'warm' early solid state sound.
 
nolan said:
Correct,I was just joking.:yes:

I have a H/k 800+ quad receiver that sounds great. 50 watts in stereo and sounds very warm. I have never owned what you guys speak of,guessing it would be a winner.

Pretty cool, a 15 year old doing the vintage thing !:thmbsp:
Click to expand...

Still digging the 800+? Glad you're still enjoying it; very nice receiver...
 
I auditioned a 330b and it was warmer to me than the 330i I have. Unfortunately some of the older models can be prone to more problems. I passed on the 330b because it became staticky and lost sound. The seller said he had replaced a cap on it earlier when a channel went out. He called me back and said he reflowed the solder and it was working again. I passed, besides it was not in great cosmetic condition he claimed.

The champagne series: The 330i (free) and 380i ($25) can be had for cheap here. I enjoy and characterize their sound as clean and neutral. More in common with Yamaha. I also have an HK PM640 integrated (free). I liked the champagne series so much I added a PM665 integrated ($75). and later an HK 825 preamp (rare black). These HKs despite the reputation for cheaper build and suspect overheating are among the most reliable and least fragile-to-die-before-their-time once the tiny buttons are cleaned up, bias or DC set, and the lights on the radio dial are replaced.

They are well engineered for easy access and maintenance. Few layered boards, just remove cover and bottom plate and you can desolder resistors or whatever easily. The HK TD292 tape deck just requires one screw to release the back plate to change belts and has lots of room to work.

But I digress...
 
I'm attached to my 930. :yes:
Well worth spending $40.

Here is some info i picked up on the web.
Hope it helps.

The 930 was at the top of the x30 line. harman/kardon pulled out all the stops on this one. The tuner section of the
930 was the best of the line, and used no less than 4 separate boards: AM RF, FM IC, MPX, and FM muting. The 930
still used point to point wiring in some areas. Exact specifications are hard to come by, as they were not published in
the owners manual; That being the case, I have substituted the specifications of the 430 where I do not have them for the 930.
The 930 had an interesting feature where the dial backlighting would turn on only when the input was on AM or FM.

Specs (amp):
Power output: 45 watts per channel min. RMS, both channels driven into 8 ohms*
THD at rated output: less than 0.5%
Frequency repsonse at rated output: 20Hz to 20,000Hz
Power Bandwidth**: From 10Hz to 37,000Hz at less than 0.3% THD into 8 ohms, both channels
driven simultaneously at 22.5 watts per channel
Frequency Bandwidth: from 4Hz to beyond 140kHz
Frequncy Response: from 20Hz to 20kKz +/- 0.5dB
Click to expand...
 
I have had an H/K 330b and a 330c and they are both great receivers. Yes they are not the most powerful units out there, but I have never had any issues with mine. Personally I like the 330b's build quality better than the 330c. You may also want consider the HK 430 twin power from the same era. I had one of those and it was great. I unfortunately gave it to a former friend when he needed a receiver only to repay me by insulting my wife a few years later, so I can say I regret that decision (of course I also gave the same person a pair of Tannoy monitors to help set up his home recording studio).
 
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