Harman Kardon HK3485 Stereo Receiver
What’s untypical about this piece of mass-fi gear? It has a phono stage! Hallelujah, it seems that some manufacturers in 2007 are clued in to the fact that there’s a mini vinyl revival happening. Kudos to HK. Here is a bona fide, powerful 2-channel (stereo) receiver for a very good price ($250), and it will accept your turntable’s output directly (low-gain or typically moving-magnet/MM cartridge). I haven’t heard one but I’m told they aren’t terrible-sounding. Could be great for a starter system for your kid in college, a bedroom system, or your Aunt Edna with the stack of unloved Babs LP’s.
Harman Kardon HK3485 High-Current Stereo Receiver
You could also look at the HK3480, for about $50 less. Otherwise, there are the Onkyo and Outlaw Audio receivers, but they’re both a fair bit more expensive.
[…] And that’s the whole point. For someone in need of a complete system, the Pro-ject, with an HK 3485 receiver, and AV123 x-ls bookshelf speakers would be a complete system of separate components at […]
I have this receiver and I absolutely love it. Be warned however, in order or this machine to sound good, it must be paired with VERY warm, analogue-y sounding components, cables, and speakers, as this balances the receiver’s cool, crisp sound. The sound is not unpleasant, but for classical music, it is a bit cool and dry for my tastes. To remedy this, I moved it to my second stereo system with a Marantz CD-5001, straightwire interconnects, and B&W 601 bookshelf speakers connected with old Levinson cable. This setup produces a perfectly balanced sound, which is not too warm or cool, not too dry or juicy. I plan to use this receiver until it dies.
Thanks for the comments, Jordan. That’s pretty much exactly what I expected about the HK; by coincidence, I just got my own CD5001 (today!), and I have owned the B&W 601’s in the past, so I think I have a pretty good idea of what you mean.
Noam
(also - apologies for not approving your comment sooner, I didn’t see it and apparently there are some big lags in my notifications from the Wordpress software. oops)