I bought a refurb H/K 525. (yes even after hearing the other troubles with harman refurbs, but I just can't pay retail)
Problem: When listening to SACD/DVD audio discs I have a horrible popping sound coming out of my center channel and left surround channel. All other modes seem to work fine like stereo, DTS, DD, 5 channel stereo etc. Checked the cables from DVD player to receiver.. .. . everything is proper. Popping comes out intermittently at all volume levels but varies from a pop here and there where somebody might say, "did I just hear some weird pop" to, "dude your system has some serious issues, what is that constant wretched popping?".
I will be rehooking up my Onkyo receiver to see if it could be the DVD player that is having the issue. But I am waiting to install banana plugs for the speaker connections due to the ridiculous, pathetic, useless binding posts that are on the back of the h/k.
I will keep you all posted but would appreciate any other tips or tests that I should run before dumping this new/refurb receiver.
you must really hate those binding posts eh? i think it might be the receiver, but as you said switching to the onyko is the only way to know for sure...
I have dealt with NAD and HK's binding posts.
HK's posts suck.
It seems the quality of their refurbs after my experience, reading some here, and reading ecoustics is trash. I bet they only inspect half of them.
Yeah, the H/K binding posts suck. Now you've got me worried about my 6 channel input... I keep saying my refurb is fine, but I've never tried the 6/8 channel ins....
I had a Mitsubishi receiver once with "random pops". Eventually it got so bad that it then started producing 60Hz hums. Turned out it was a cracked circuit board around the transformer.
It is quite possible that they did not solve all the issues with that unit and that if there were any hairline cracks in the circuit board (very difficult to trace) shipping further opened up the cracks so that you are now experiencing what they did not troubleshoot. This is of course just a guess.
Bummer, I've had my 630 refurb for about two years. I haven't (and likely won't ever) used the 6channel inputs.
While I won't argue the binding posts are awesome, I guess I didn't find them that hard to use. Curious, what about a binding post could be better?
For one thing, it could be a true 5 way binding post (like the Axiom speakers have) as opposed to a thin bolt with a plastic surround and a hole to put banana plugs in. Also, they've blocked off the sides around the hole so you can't use spades, and bare wire would be a pain, too.
Hi sssutherland,
Are you running the six-channel analog cables for DVD-A/'SACD to the 525's 6-8-channel analog inputs? Have you set the 525's crossover on the 6-8-channel inputs to route the bass to a subwoofer, with the H/K;s crossover of 80 Hz set for the left, right and center? It's one of the few receivers that lets you do this on the 6-8channel inputs.
I'm thinking that perhaps you haven't set the crossover in the 525 for the 6-8channel inputs and you may be running one or more of your front channels full-range to small bookshelf speakers, in which case very deep bass could cause the woofer to "pop" (the voice coil is hitting the magnet assembly because the woofer if overdriven).
I agree the H/K binding posts suck. But it doesn't make sense that the other modes would be fine and only DVD-A or SACD discs through the 6-8 channel analog inputs would be problematic.
Regards,
Hi again,
Be sure and set the center and surrounds to "Small" on the H/K's crossover setup for the 6-8-channel inputs.
Regards,
Thanks for all the reply's guys. Here are some answers to the questions.
Yes the cables are input to the 6/8 channel inputs on the receiver. Yes I have set the crossovers to 80hz for center VP150, 40hz for main M60's, and 60hz for surround M22's. The sub is low passed at 80hz.
The popping sound can be heard at all volume levels including very quite and only has ever come out of the center and the left surround.
The binding posts suck because putting bare wire (soldered ends) into these posts is something of a real challenge. The plastic cap has little to no space around it and you can't get a descent grip on it to tighten it down sufficiently.
I will post this monday as to wether the Onkyo is doing the same thing.. . but I doubt that it is because it wasn't the day before I changed the receivers out when I was listening to multiple SACD/DVD audios.
Will update more and again thank you much for all the input . .
I love the help and giving that occurs on this forum
I've pretty much accepted the fact that with most receivers you're better off with banana plugs. So much easier to use in the teeny tiny space they give you.
Folks: this does not sound like a binding post problem. I really am sad to hear that another so called "refurb" is not performing as factory fresh.
I just bought a refurb HK 7300....the first one was disturbingly horrific. The door wouldnt close, the osd was dead, and forget about rear surround. I called them and complained...they were quick to have a call tag issued to pick it up and they shipped me a new one 2nd day air. The 2nd unit was a little closer to NEW....I am so far satisfied until it explodes.
Now as for MY BACK...its hating this new 7300. 72lbs everytime you move it....OUCH.!!1
Well I am sure that it is the Harman and not the DVD player or cables or anything else.
I switched the input cables going to the center and front left speaker to see if the crackling would come out of the front speaker instead of the center. . . . .NOPE. The crackling still came out of the center which would mean that the problem is farther downstream in the receiver. Just to be doubley sure I rehooked up the Onkyo receiver and sure enough there was no crackling whatsoever.
I rehooked up the harman and at first it seemed to be ok.. . . but then I let it sit for a while and it heated up to its normal boiling temperature. WOW then it was REALLY bad crackling through the center and left surround. So it seems to have something to do with the heat level inside the receiver.
I then immediately switched the mode from 5.1 DVD audio to a regular dvd with surround sound. Absolutely no crackling. So it is just with the 6.1/8.1 inputs.
I am in the process of trying to get a hold of h/k to have them ship a replacement.
Will update more as it comes.
Well I think that is it. I am going to get rid of this h/k and go back to my Onkyo for now. It is as if I am trying to like this h/k because of the name and reputation, but in the end it has this problem with the 6.1/8/.1 channel and it gets so freaking hot that it is affecting my DVD player that rests on the shelf above it. I had the receiver on for a couple of hours without playing anything and it was so hot that you could not touch the top of it for more than a tenth of a second without burning your hand. This is ridiculous. The onkyo might get so that you can tell it is warm when not playing anything but never, even playing at reference levels through 5 channels, has it gotten anywhere near as hot as the h/k. I don't want to have to set up an external fan just to make up for it. That seems ridiculous.
I made the upgrade mainly to have the ability of preamp outputs for all channels and 7.1. But it just doesn't seem worth it at this point. Perhaps I will go for the Onkyo tx-sr702 someday in the future when the price drops a bit or just wait to see what else might come out in the next 6 months or so.
Side note: I was really looking forward to the ability to set the crossover levels at different settings for front, center and surrounds. I had them set at 40hz, 80hz, and 60hz respectively. When I ran my test disc my bass frequency response curve went south. There were large fluctuations in the bass curve as much as 12db. When I went back and set everything to 60 hz everything smoothed back out to within +/- 3db. So at least in my room the multiple adjustable crossovers are not going to do me any good anyway. So oh well. . .I hope h/k doesn't make the return a pain in the butt.
Just got off of the phone with h/k. (finally got through). The phone call only lasted about 2 min. After summing up the problem with the 6.1 inputs the representative stated that it would be no problem to send out a replacement. I asked if I could just do a refund. He stated that it would be no problem and they will ship out a prepaid shipping label for return. He also stated his suprise that it was not working properly and appologized for the inconvinience.
Very glad the call went this way. Good job on the customer service h/k.
Customer service is actually a strong point at HK. However, that doesnt change that fact that now two board memebers have gotten bad refurbs from HK....
Buyers be CAUTIOUS.
How many of us have good refurbs thou?
Not saying there is anything wrong with our friends that have faulty units, but its more likely you will hear from them than the satisfied users because its upsetting to buy something and have it not work correctly.
I've got 3 refurbs, all from eCOST.com. Haven't had a problem with any of them.
I had one from J&R for a year or so,no troubles at all.I gave it to my brother and it is still running good.
In reply to:
I've got 3 refurbs, all from eCOST.com. Haven't had a problem with any of them.
Jack - How does posting where you get your escorts help the OP ? ...
one denon 485s 2 weeks ago refurb from ecost box was for beat up but so far so goo with receiver.
one 5 disk 8385 (i think) from hk went through 2 both for $hit now working on money back. customer service has been outstanding.
I have a refurbed 7300 that is flawless. Based on my experience, I will never buy new from HK again.--Andy
One just went for $910.00 on ebay, refurb from HK. I think I am psyching myself up to get one. Must resist for now. Damn you ebay.
Just a final note on the return of the H/K. The entire amount that I originally paid got posted to my account on the 3rd of August. This was just 8 days after sending it back. Once again good customer service from this company. Glad that everything worked out ok.
This whole experience has curbed my upgraditis for the immediate future so I guess I am pleased.
I sure enjoy learning about audio on these forums and how to best invest my money for better sound.
Many thanks to all those that have helped with my issues and those that continually post replys to peoples problems. . .these replys help more people than you know.. . . .
I bought a brand new HK630 from onecall.com back in December. 3 months later I had to have it brought in to fix a factory defect. It was covered under warrantee so not a big problem except for not having my receiver for 3 weeks.
Outside of this one issue, I have been very pleased with the HK.
