Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Advice from Axiom Owners Receiver Dilema - I know You've Heard it Before

Hello All.
I am utterly confused and figured I would ask the resident experts for their advice and choice. I bought a HK7300 remanufactured unit which arrived in horrible condition....so now I have to make a choice. The choices are as follows:

1. Replace the HK7300 - Total Cost $1000.00 USD
2. Buy a HK AVR635 and add 3 Outlaw 200's - Total $1700 approximately.
3. Buy a Arcam AVR300 for about $2000.00
4. Look at a Denon 3805 w monoblocks in the future. Cost about $2000.00
5. Dump all this stuff and stare at my new Axioms.

Now when I say monoblocks above, I mean 3 of them for the fronts and center.

I know most will choose option 5...but please. I am not sure what direction to take here. I have done my research and chosen what I think are all excellent in the high current area to drive my speakers. However, I want to do this right once and sit back for a while until the upgrade bug bites and or the IRS gives me a lot of lost money.

THANKS in Advance!!!!

Just a couple of questions Tarun:

First of all, if you bought your refurbed 7300 from a reputible suplier, why not send it back for another?

If you look at other AVR's, why do you think you need additional amps? I have the 2805 Denon, and at this point, based on the advice from the regulars around here, can't seem to justify additional amps. I've got plenty of power, in my opinion.

Randy

60's 150 350 4-Qs8's
Denon 2805
Panasonic S97S HDMI DVD Player
Samsung HD OTA Tuner
Sanyo Z2 WXGA Projector

I actually got the 7300 from Harman direct.
They will replace it for free.
I am just making sure I go for the right product the first time...
Its hard to decide with all the information out there.

PS....as for the monoblock amps...I have heard that the 635 will sound better with monoblocks for the front 3 speakers...

Not sure...but thats the impression I have been getting.

I would go for keeping the 7300.That's one hellofa receiver you have there.It's power rating is 125 @ 8 so I would have to say @ 4 ohm you are pushing around 200 watts per channel.Is there something you don't like about it ?

I acutally just got concerned that I bought a remanufactured unit...and I am not sure I was headed in the right direction. Thus the reason for this post.

I don't think you would have to worry about getting a refurbed unit from H/K.I would have to guess the one you just got was messed up by the carrier not by H/K.No matter where you bought it from there was always a chance of it getting damaged by the carrier.At least they are standing behind their product.

Exactly what was wrong with your HK when received? You may have posted the condition on another thread, but it would be good to have that information on this thread.

At this point, I would have HK replace the 7300 with another one. I would hope that the probability of getting two bad 7300 refurbs is rather low, but, then again, you never know. But, that is what I would do.

If your second refurb 7300 arrives damaged, then, and only then would I "drop back 20 and punt."

I don't think any of your choice are bad. The return should be easy and you should get a fine unit. The features of the 7300 are great. If you want more power, that's an easy fix.

Get the 7300, it will give you everything you need for the 80's and the rest of your system.

I'd do the 7300. My refurb H/K 525 is just fine.

Ditto what everyone else has said.

The HK problems were that the OSD was completely DEAD!
The front panel door would not close....damaged. The box, believe it or not, was in great condition when it arrived.

I guess I have my answer.
Thanks ALL!

another vote for the 7300, that thing's a beast with options galore.

I've got a AVR-430.

I had a bad unit sent to me. HK sent me a new one ASAP assuming I gave them my credit card so they would bill it again and not wait for the unit I had to get back to the factory. This way if you have sound in your existing one you can keep it until the replacement arrives.

I'm on the fence on quality for HK. Even the unit I have has spent a month in the shop getting noise out of a channel but it seems in much better shape after some new parts (warrantied thoug).

I still have one problem I can't explain is that the Video-2 setup sometimes forgets the Digitial In setting it changes from my setup of Coax2 to Analog. Not really sure why.

These problems are enough to have me consider another brand next upgrade. But power-wise it's just fine. In a space with 4 inches of ventilation and no back it runs hot to the touch but hasn't caused any problems.

Lets hope that when they say REMANUFACTURED they mean it. I am hopefull that once my replacement arrives that all will be well again.

YES...I have decided on the 7300 for SURE....unless I get another bad unit, in which case I will "step back 20 and punt".

Ah, football season must be close.

I have asked Harman to send me a replacement 7300.
They charged the CC for a 2nd unit which will ship sometime next week. They also arranged for UPS to pickup the damaged unit at no charge to me.

Lets hope the replacement is in good shape.

Have a good weekend all.

I really wish you well on the second refurb. Your story just really scares me about getting seconds, refurbs or whatever they are called!

Best of luck and hope that it works WELL for you.

Have a GREAT weekend!!

UPDATE:

HK sent me a new remanufactured unit...arrived last night. This one is in perfect condition...infact it looks new to me. Everything was as you would expect from a new unit. The OSD works and everything seems to be in tip top shape.

Thanks All.

ps. If anyone has any advice on what to set my axioms to (small/large) and cross over frequenceis..please let me know.

Thanks.

Glad this one arrived without a hitch. Now the fun starts.

WOW! I've moved up to "aficionado"!

The 635 has a much better processor so I would have said go for the 635 with monoblocks. The 75wpc for the rears are way more than enough and the 200 watts for the fronts are more than 125wpc that the 7300 gives you.

200 watts for the front on a 635 ? That's way more than a 630... are you sure this is correct ?

The 635 is 75 watts all around.

he was talking about using 200 watt outlaw mono's for the front, and using the 635 for surrounds

D'oh !!

Hi everybody!
Not only because I have a HK7300 and I'm crazy about it, but for the justice :
"Extended lab results on the Harman Kardon AVR 7300, tested for the Nov.2004 S&V. by Hachette Filipacchi Media,U.S. Inc.:
Output at clipping:
1 ch driven...202/343W(23.1/25.3dBW)
5 ch driven(8ohms)...145W(21.6dBW)
7 ch driven(8ohms)...139W(21.4dBW)
etc........
Stereo performance,digital inputs:
Reference level -20dBFS;all level trims at zero.Volume setting for reference level, -10:
Output at clipping(1kHZ,8/4 ohms,both ch driven)...181/290W(25.6/24.6dBW).
etc.....
Conclusion:
The AVR 7300 performed exceptionally well in the lab.Power output was unusually strong,especially with five and seven ch driven.
etc..."
Regards,
Octavian

Folks, I don't understand these measurements, maybe someone can explain them to me.

It appears that the individual amplifiers are clipping limited to about 202 watts at 8 ohms (pretty simple).

Then it appears that 5 amplifiers are power supply limited to 145 watts at 8 ohms (725 watts from the power supply, efficiencies neglected).

Yet, we have 7 amplifiers running 139 watts each at clipping (973 watts from the power supply, efficiencies neglected).

So, where did the extra 248 power supply watts come from? Or, conversely, why didn't the 5 channel test run about 195 watts per channel.

What are the limiting factors here?