Thoughts on HK and the AVR-430

[Keith from Canada]

Hi all.

I have another thread going talking about my used receiver dilemna. To make it more complicated, an HK 430 just came on the market locally for $300. I'm concerned about the 65 watt spec on the unit but I know that HK is traditionally VERY conservative when rating their power output. The thing is 39 pounds for goodness sake...it must have good amps inside!!!

Please let me know what your impressions on HK are and the 430 if possible. This unit will be used strictly for HT.

Thanks!

[GMichael]

I don't know much about this model. But when I did a search on it on-line, a lot of sites on how to repair them came up. That would scare me a bit. HK has a great Customer Service, but they may not be as helpful when buying used.

[Keith from Canada]

I don't know much about this model. But when I did a search on it on-line, a lot of sites on how to repair them came up. That would scare me a bit. HK has a great Customer Service, but they may not be as helpful when buying used.

Thanks for the warning! On a side note, the seller of the HK lives on "Cemetary Road". Not a very good omen on Halloween!!!

[GMichael]

Thanks for the warning! On a side note, the seller of the HK lives on "Cemetary Road". Not a very good omen on Halloween!!!

Nuff signs 4 me...

[emorphien]

HK hasn't had as good a reputation for reliability in recent years. I have an older AVR (225 I believe) and it's been rock solid with nearly daily use for multiple hours a day for almost 5 years; though I don't think I'd buy an HK these days unfortunately.

[pixelthis]

HK hasn't had as good a reputation for reliability in recent years. I have an older AVR (225 I believe) and it's been rock solid with nearly daily use for multiple hours a day for almost 5 years; though I don't think I'd buy an HK these days unfortunately.

HK, NAD, and ROTEL got together and built an industrial park in China a few years back
to make some of their gear. Quality of all brands suffered as a result, but HK fared the worst

[gman086]

HK, NAD, and ROTEL got together and built an industrial park in China a few years back
to make some of their gear. Quality of all brands suffered as a result, but HK fared the worst

Interesting! My local dealer used to sell HK but dropped them because he said nearly HALF of the components they sold came back for warranty issues!!!

[anamorphic96]

HK, NAD, and ROTEL got together and built an industrial park in China a few years back
to make some of their gear. Quality of all brands suffered as a result, but HK fared the worst

If so please state your source of information.

All three brands are made in China but they are completely seperate companies that do not share the same industrial park or any type of manufacturing facility. I have spoken with reps from all three companies. The only thing in common with one another is they use alot of the same parts such as DAC's, op-amps, and capacitors.

[pixelthis]

If so please state your source of information.

All three brands are made in China but they are completely seperate companies that do not share the same industrial park or any type of manufacturing facility. I have spoken with reps from all three companies. The only thing in common with one another is they use alot of the same parts such as DAC's, op-amps, and capacitors.

RIGHT , and the reason they share so many parts is that they all use the same industrial park in China, which they got together and built a few years ago.
AS for the "source", well, you're there.
Harmon had some serious problems with their receivers a few years back, as did Rotel,
which got a shipment of receivers with loose circuit boards rattling around inside them,
and the DVD players NAD was turning out are legendary lemons.
When researching the possible purchase of a harmon around the turn of the century, maybe a little earlier, I read some of the reveiws on THIS site, stories about fried
power supplies, screwed procs, lights that would flash on and off for no reason.
One reviewer stated this story, and I read it again in one of the HT newsgroups,
then it was everywhere on the net.
And you talked TO THE COMPANIES?

HOW OLD ARE YOU , TWELVE?
I bet you beleive everything politicians and girlfriends tell you too.

[pixelthis]

And theres a big difference between sharing an industrial park and sharing industrial facilities.
Although it was my understanding that savings from shared resources was also one of the reasons for doing this.
In the mad rush to China many companies got into the same deals, I don't understand why this is so hard to beleive.
And even tho this was the case, doesn't mean that its the case right now

[anamorphic96]

WOW !!! No need to be rude. I only asked for a source of your information. In no way shape or form is this rude.

In fact we recently spoke with about 8 different manufactures. We are distributors for Yamaha, Marantz, Denon, LG, Sharp, and many others. We are primarily a cinema installation and technician company but have recently branched out into installing screening rooms for schools and doing various A/V installation work.

On a further note the main reason they use many of the same parts is all three companies believe in building quality products. In fact if you look at just about all of the major companies producing AV equipment you will see they all use several of the same parts.

In conclusion every single major manufacture has had a bad batch or run of one componet or another or had some QC problems at one point or another. When you consider the hundreds of thousands of componets these companies produce it's surprising there are not more issues.

[thekid]

Pix

Put the matches and gasoline down and switch to decaf.....

[pixelthis]

WOW !!! No need to be rude. I only asked for a source of your information. In no way shape or form is this rude.

In fact we recently spoke with about 8 different manufactures. We are distributors for Yamaha, Marantz, Denon, LG, Sharp, and many others. We are primarily a cinema installation and technician company but have recently branched out into installing screening rooms for schools and doing various A/V installation work.

On a further note the main reason they use many of the same parts is all three companies believe in building quality products. In fact if you look at just about all of the major companies producing AV equipment you will see they all use several of the same parts.

In conclusion every single major manufacture has had a bad batch or run of one componet or another or had some QC problems at one point or another. When you consider the hundreds of thousands of componets these companies produce it's surprising there are not more issues.

Sorry but this whole event was a part of the whole HT/ audio landscape five or ten years ago, I hate to bring it up because someone always wants "documentation", well, I didn't
"document" this little fiasco, just observed it.
And everything at the time confirmed what I was hearing, a popular electronics mag had to get a replacement sample of NADS new DVD player not once, but TWICE, because
the sample they got was literally falling apart.
aND gman on this very thread kinda confirms about HARMONS problems.
But why do you need a confirm? If you were even near this industry a few years ago you heard about this mess, want confirmation that the sun will rise in the morning?
Go back a few years and read some of the reviews from a bunch of pissed people who bought harmon receivers, read the horror stories about fried power supplies, etc.
But sorry if I cant "confirm" this, however checking up on it wont be that hard

[pixelthis]

Interesting! My local dealer used to sell HK but dropped them because he said nearly HALF of the components they sold came back for warranty issues!!!

Which just goes to show that the Chinese arent the Japanese.
Some of the best stuff I ever got was from taiwan, but they have a bit of an industrial history, after all.
The Chinese are learning fast, but I HATE to see some audio manufacturer send his
product to Chinese manufacturers.
Its always a disaster, especially when you consider the extremely hugh standards
audio and HT nuts adhere to.
And you can't transplant magic, the very qualities that made this stuff so popular in the first place, no matter how many times you put "designed in America but made in China",
the exact pharse that was on the boxes my Klipsch speakers came in.
And when the cheap vinyl started peeling off of the rear around the edges I sent these "designed in America" speakers packing.
I remember when NAD came out, their exelent gear, and harmon was a legend, I had a NAD cassette deck, this was in the eighties, the last great decade of western industrial civilization, before we sent our production to China so we could sit around and play video games all day

[hydroman]

uh, the reason i had to return two H/K receivers was due to shipped bad power supplies - i could see the scorch on 'em. I suggested to the h/k rep that they fire the QA guy that said the units were 'good'. The h/k rep said the failures 'must be due to shipping or something' - i pointed out to him that this is his original shipping - so it is still a h/k issue).

H/K kept sending me units until the one i have now which works... But this confirms (to me) what i have read (above).

[fat500]

I just went from sony es to HK . I am very pleased with the hk. I went from 135+ watts ch. to 85 watts ch. and notice no difference in the ability to drive my ar cs 310 ho 4 way with a 10 in. and bi wired. The hk drives them as good as the sony did and has a warmer sound to it. Sony was a slight tinny but I loved the unit. good luck

[pixelthis]

I just went from sony es to HK . I am very pleased with the hk. I went from 135+ watts ch. to 85 watts ch. and notice no difference in the ability to drive my ar cs 310 ho 4 way with a 10 in. and bi wired. The hk drives them as good as the sony did and has a warmer sound to it. Sony was a slight tinny but I loved the unit. good luck

Good luck with that.
HK still designs some good stuff, but the front panels are plastic, and the power supplies
like everything else is built in china.
A power supply is key in a decent receiver, how good it is determines how good your receiver will be, and an amp power supply is a lot different than a cheap DVD or HTIB
power supply.
Again, good luck with that.
Whenever I see some classic HARMON GEAR I cry for western civilization,
the modern chinese stuff compares like the movie transformers compares to Casablanca