Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Advice from Axiom Owners Denon vs. Harman Kardon with M80, VP150, QS8

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personally I dont like the auto EQ on my denon 2807

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Most the Denon owners on the board keep the auto eq off, seems to hurt the sound more than help.

sometimes i do turn the auto EQ on on poorly mixed electric guitar heavy rock music. not chorus effected picking style guitar, but overdriven distortion style.

i am amazed at how different my old standards sound.
a lot of hard rock is too grainy and muddled,
but elton johns greatest hits was as smoother than when i first fell in love with it. I probably still need to tweek it some more, but after awhile i just wanna listen with my eyes closed :smiley_face_of_eyes_closed:

Randy

my first months bill from lala.com is going to be over the top. for it to work well you need an autonotifier (plugin) when someone is requesting your disks.

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personally I dont like the auto EQ on my denon 2807

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Most the Denon owners on the board keep the auto eq off, seems to hurt the sound more than help.

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Ravi,

If your current Denon has pre-outs have you considered getting separates? This might be an option for you as well.

This is the problem, I have a really low end Denon without pre-outs. If I did, I'd keep using it.

There is a used 435, and I am tempted to pick it up. I hear it's a great unit, and I can get it not too expensive.

I don’t know if I “hate” HK, but I am most definitely disappointed with them. I’ve owned HK’s on and off for just about 25 years now. I like the way they sound, they have always been at the leading edge with technology and until recently, they were very dependable. Heck, I still have an old two channel integrated amp that I had when I was a teenager and it works great.

I had to have my 7200 sent in for warranty work about 18 months ago. Come to find out, this was a fuse problem that just about every 7200 had. No notice or help from HK. It was a simple five minute fix but HK insisted the unit go to one of their shops for replacement. While waiting for my 7200 to be repaired, I bought a 7300. I sold the 7200 after the dam fuse was replaced.

I then had to send my 7300 back for multiple issues three months ago. Same thing as the 7200, I wasn’t alone with these issues.

I now am sending my 745 back for multiple issues. Same thing again. I’m not alone.

I do not know the inner workings or management structure of Harman International. But if I was a betting man, I’d bet that they’ve recently gone through a re-org that has affected their quality assurance department. It just isn’t what it used to be. I’ve had bad luck with their last three ‘flagship’ receivers, so that makes me wonder about the rest of their lines.

All that aside, the 635 has a large following of happy owners. This may just be the last of the ‘good ones’. I wouldn’t be afraid to buy one if it had the features I wanted. I can’t recommend that anyone buy one of their new receivers though. They have tremendous capabilities and functionality, but in my opinion, they just are not holding up or working as advertised.

Strange about the happy 635 owners, I heard those had a board issue that was known by HK. Apparently the 4x5 series are very solid. I am looking into a used 435...

Anyway, I'm taking my time, I'll see what comes my way.

Any other suggestions are welcome!

I power my M80s with an HK AVR630 and they sound fantastic. Although I have had my receiver in the shop twice to fix some factory defects. Both times covered by the warranty, so other than the inconvenience of bringing it into the shop, I've been thrilled with the receiver.

Add to that the fact that it can set different crossovers for each speaker group, I love it.

Mine is a little outdated in terms of lacking HDMI inputs, but this won't be an issue for me until I finally upgrade to HD-DVD/Bluray.

Ravi,

Axiom is now an exclusive on-line distributor of Sherwood Newcastle AV receivers and amps. We bench-tested the receiver models at the plant and even the least expensive AV unit (combined with a DVD player; no longer available) will drive the 4-ohm M80s with no current limiting or shut-down. They have very robust amplifiers and are worth looking into.

Regards,