Harman Kardon HK-3490 Stereo Receiver

Comments about Harman Kardon HK-3490 Stereo Receiver:

I have bose 901s. That was just what i needed to bring them out at that price! Very good deal and very happy!

Comments about Harman Kardon HK-3490 Stereo Receiver:

I purchased this project for my wife who still had to stereo receiver she had from college days. The Harmon Kardon HK-3490 stereo receiver added a whole new listening experience. Sound was crystal clear with full base sound. I am very happy with the purchase

Comments about Harman Kardon HK-3490 Stereo Receiver:

Wanted to get a receiver for digital fm listening and possibly better quality than my yamaha ax570, which I have been super happy with for 15 years.After reading many reviews, got the hk3490 in Vancouver for [$].It was like pulling a blanket out from in front of my mission 720's, so wondered if I could get a new set of speakers sub 1000$ that would be a major upgrade to the missions. Came up with the new Paradigm monitor 7v7 and after 10 seconds of listening was astounded at the definition, bass ,imaging and soundstage and all the other audiophile superlatives I was getting in my living room for $700( paradigms) plus [$]( hk3490).Now I wonder about an upgraded cd player to match the quality of the receiver and speakers. I have a renewed and excited interested in just sitting and listening to music again like I did through the 70's.( no video or special effects)Also superb with Movies .BTW , I bought the hk3490 as the best stereo receiver I could afford knowing that it would be way superior to the best av unit I could afford.

Comments about Harman Kardon HK-3490 Stereo Receiver:

Love the 120w's. What a difference from my old 50w 1968 'Fisher' receiver.
Only thing I would suggest to make it better would be to replace the plastic legs with something sturdier that won't crack or break.
Love the phono capabilities---this is needed for us Vinal guys.

Comments about Harman Kardon HK-3490 Stereo Receiver:

I replaced a failed Denon DRA-545R with this. It immediately improved the sound quality of my stereo system, the power provided by the Harman Kardon is amazing. This is one of the relatively few receivers dedicated to stereo output, and with the capability to drive two separate sets of speakers. I use it with a set of A/D/S L690s in one room, and a set of Polk TSi100s in another room. The functionality is very simple, nothing to configure really. If I had to pick something as a negative, it would be the remote control. The remote is ridiculous - it's huge, and only a third of the buttons are actually used to control the receiver, the rest are there for use as a universal remote to control other devices; of which I have none.

Comments about Harman Kardon HK-3490 Stereo Receiver:

This receiver really puts out the sound. Makes my 20 year old Polk 10's sound new again.

Comments about Harman Kardon HK-3490 Stereo Receiver:

This is the power plant of my first real stereo set-up. It is supplying power to a pair of Polk Audio Monitor II 60s. I play mostly music from my computer through a Sound Blaster X-Fi. This stereo certainly pumps out a noticeably larger range of sound than my last stereo (cheap Sony stuff from Best Buy). The lower lows it hits can really be felt and the fullness through the middle to high range lets me hear things in the music that were not very easy to notice before. One side affect to note is that now the music I have that isn't as high quality doesn't sound nearly as good as FLAC and 320 Kbps songs. I have this hooked up to my TV via digital audio to let me pipe TV and movie sounds through the stereo. I must say that my impression of this receiver (and all stereo receivers, really) is that it is geared towards music. You can make this provide your amped sub w/ the info it needs to make noises that will rumble your house to bits, but it looked like it required a little more tweaking, less plug 'n' play. Regardless, this receiver will certainly be filling my abode w/ noise for years to come.
Things I like:
- It is easy and natural to set up as a two-large-speaker-stereo system. No having to manipulated a 5.1/7.1 geared system into putting all its juice through two real, full range speakers.
- The nifty little light on the inside of the volume knob, and ever more the fact that it turns off in sleep mode.
- The cleanness of the front panel (especially w/ the covers for those hideous knobs and input holes).
- The sound quality
Things I'd change:
- The light from the power light on the front kinda bleeds back into the innards, which, in turn makes it look less clean at night
- The remote is a monstrosity that will gobble up 4 AAA batteries, hopefully they last a long time when all I'm doing is changing the volume (with a baseball bat of a remote control)

All in all, I have zero buyers remorse about this product. Well worth every dollar spent, and I'd even say a couple more.

Comments about Harman Kardon HK-3490 Stereo Receiver:

I have an electronics buisness and use these all the time. Best feature is the tape/monitor loop to run an eq or sound shaper device. I will be using this unit as a preamp tunner to run multiple pro amps and electronics. The preamp is great for the price. This unit has alot of power and head room. Built well and has everything you need for a straight foward stereo set up. This is the 7th unit I've used in various installs in the past 3 years and all are still running without a hitch.

Comments about Harman Kardon HK-3490 Stereo Receiver:

I have two other Harman Kardon that are hooked up to AVR systems which sound fantastic, but I wanted just a stereo receiver to listen to outside when working. These systems are the best I've heard thats why I keep buying them and this one is no disappointment. I've had some problems in the past upgrading one of my AVR's but it can easily be done by a service center. From the sounds of this new receiver Harman Kardon will still remain my number 1 choice for receivers.

Comments about Harman Kardon HK-3490 Stereo Receiver:

I have a Project Debut III turntable, an iPod, and a DVD player running into the HK and out to a pair of Cerwin Vega VE-12's. The sound is fantastic. The 120 watts per side is enough to get a big and full sound out of my 300 watt speakers. But the best part of the amp is the built-in phono preamp. It sounds great! I was using a Project phono preamp, and was originally planning to keep it with the HK, but the HK's actually sounds better. I highly recommend this amp for a primarily musical stereo and a secondarily television/movie stereo. It does music so well but is also able to handle a basic home theater setup (which is what I have). I'm very pleased with this amp.

Comments about Harman Kardon HK-3490 Stereo Receiver:

We use this receiver for music listening only. The power is clean and clear and control is very simple but sensitive in subtle incrememnts. The input/output connections provide for a more than flexible stereo sound system. The simple but graceful look fits well in our living room. LOTS OF POWER!
The remote control is a bit big and bulky. Would be better if the keyboard was backlit.

Comments about Harman Kardon HK-3490 Stereo Receiver:

Drives my 4 ohm Magnepan MMGs with ease. More power and better imaging than my vintage Marantz 1152DC. Wonderful sound.
I wanted a two channel receiver with good sound. This receiver exceeded my expectations for a great price.

Comments about Harman Kardon HK-3490 Stereo Receiver:

I needed a clean powerful amp/receiver to play thru my Bose 901's. I had been looking for quite a while because I needed mainin/preamp out required for Bose equalizer. Only very expensive equip comes this way. The 120 watts per side is more than enough to blow the roof off my home. Havent found anything about it that I dont like yet. Great sound. great pricing easy set up and nice remote!

Comments about Harman Kardon HK-3490 Stereo Receiver:

I bought this stereo receiver to replace a 10-year old AV receiver that broke. I wanted a high quality and powerful amplifier with good FM reception. The AV receivers are not always musical when listening to classical, jazz, or world music CDs and I did not care for a 7.1 setup. The HK-3490 Harman Kardon does its job wonderfully. Through my Bose 301 speakers, music is clear and dynamic. Make sure your CD player and the audio cables are also good. I also connected a blue ray player to the HK3490 via an optical cable for sound and to the TV via an HDMI cable for video only. The stereo cinematic experience is amazing and the receiver does not overheat in a cabinet.
The HK-3490 can only handle PCM stereo signals. However, compared to most other stereo receivers at this price level, it has digital connections in addition to analog. It also looks good but the labels next to the buttons in the front are difficult to read. The remote is nice too.
Overall, a great product with a great price. B&H is the place to buy it from.

Comments about Harman Kardon HK-3490 Stereo Receiver:

I bought this receiver and used it for purely for music listening. It has good amount of power to my 4 ohms speaker without a hint of sound distortion. I connected my CD player with a fiber optic cable and the sound quality is still warm and good.

Many good things to tell about this receiver. I'm glad that Haraman Kardon made this product.

Comments about Harman Kardon HK-3490 Stereo Receiver:

Replaced a 23 year old Proton amp (which I liked very much, but it broke).

This HK-3490 is massive and generates a some heat, and that's a good thing. The heat comes from the overachieving power supply. I imagine that the unit's considerable head-room comes from that power supply.

This unit makes my 23 years old OHM Walsh speakers sound good. The speakers are 87 spl, not very efficient. The HK-3450 can pump 150 watts per channel rms into their 4 ohm load. So far, I have needed only a fraction of that to drive my speakers to concert levels.

I find the simple, clean design attrative. My wife, whose main interest is how it looks, likes it.

I called HK with a question about the unit and they were friendly and eager to help.

Give this receiver some time to break in. No joke, it sounds much better after it runs for some hours.

Comments about Harman Kardon HK-3490 Stereo Receiver:

use only for music with phono and cd. Sounds great and no phono preamp to buy.

Comments about Harman Kardon HK-3490 Stereo Receiver:

I previously owned a high-end integrated tube amp. This piece of equipment is probably 90-95% as good for less than half the price. On a positive note, it neither generates the heat, nor incurs the maintenance costs of a tube amp. The HK 3490 has a huge output, and unique (and important) to this stereo category, the 3490 also features digital inputs, subwoofer outputs, and, for the occasional movie dolby "virtual speaker" technology.

I did a lot of research and listened to a number of competitors (including Rotel and NAD). I was thrilled when I ended up liking the cheapest the best!

Perfect if you have 4 ohm speakers. I've run it with some Yamaha NS-1000 and Onix Ref 1's. It's perfect. In fact, with the HK 3490 pushing the system, I cannot imagine a better stereo system for less than $1000.

There is no better option (new). The 3490 is a bargain at this price.

Comments about Harman Kardon HK-3490 Stereo Receiver:

If you want sound that is clean, pure, and faithful to the music - then, for the money, the HK-3490 is unmatched. NOTE: you need good components to complement this piece.

I have an older Denon turntable and a pair of KEF 103.2 Reference Series Speakers. The HK has a phono preamp and LP reproduction is just amazing. Anticipating great CD sound, set up the old Sony 5-disk carousel... the sound was not good. Borrowed a much newer and higher-end player, used the optical connection (read the instructions in the book - it tells you how to set it up)and voila excellent sound.

Points of info:
1. Bass is excellent - CD's are mastered differently. I need to turn up for Dream Theater and down for Clannad.
2. The first track of Peter Gabriel's "Passion" can be a test if your speakers can handle the power of the HK. (try volume up to -2db)
3. Wonderful classical and jazz reproduction. Also, while I sat, George Strait gave a private concert.
4. Based on the best sound source, LP's, I"ll agree with another reviewer - the HK seemed to need a couple of days to "smooth out" and burn off the newness. So, give it some time.

Finally, unless you want to spend 1k or up because there are better amps/receivers, then I recommend this unit. It replaced a stupid purchase of a POJ JVC (which replaced a high-end Mitsubishi). I'm very happy now because I have my friends back now. The Stones are rolling...

Comments about Harman Kardon HK-3490 Stereo Receiver:

I purchased the Harmon Kardon against the advice of several people. I am not sorry. The purchase was to replace my JVC from the 1980's, a superb receiver. The HK 3490 is the only receiver I could find with a
Tape Monitor in/out. I have a set of Bose 901'Speakers which require the equalizer to be before the volume control. The receiver works just fine with the Bose and has several great features. I am pleased with my purchase.