Harman/Kardon anyone heard?

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Why don't you review HK products at all? I wolud like to see review of dab tuner model tu970 or some amps from harman/kardon but what hi fi seems to forgot about that very good brand in my opinion. May I know what is the reason for that?
 
The older integrateds are outstanding.

Very well-designed, powerful, lots of bass...

You'd be very suprised and thrilled with an HK680 from eBay.de
 
at a guess it is to do with the brands availability in UK retail outlets. i dont think ive ever seen a HK product for sale in any shop ive been to - in the UK or Australia.
AFAIK What HiFi have a policy of only reviewing products that are readily available for sale (and service/backup) in the UK - which makes perfect sense to me...
 
Well, indeed.

After some recent changes, however, it seems Harman is planning to be back with a bang here - lot of new products due for 2009.

We've also started to get some of its AV kit through for test - such as this home cinema system, and a receiver we're testing next issue.
 
I have bought my HK TU970 dab tuner in london so they are on sale in UK. I just would like to see comparsion of my DAB to cambridge audio 640T V2 Dab tuner as I would like to replace mine with CA because I have CA cd player and amp. I'm not sure if it is worth it would look much better on my rack but it looks like my HK is better than CA. I wanted to see review of my HK but is not there🙂
 
a4quattro:
The older integrateds are outstanding.

Very well-designed, powerful, lots of bass...

You'd be very suprised and thrilled with an HK680 from eBay.de

Recently did just that , picked up an old HK680 ,classic amp, ÿamazing bass and overall sound , Having it re-capped at the moment ,ÿ
 
ifitsoundsgoodlistentoit:

AFAIK What HiFi have a policy of only reviewing products that are readily available for sale (and service/backup) in the UK - which makes perfect sense to me...

Maybe, but the Buyer's Guide does say 'Every product, every price', which is patently not true. Also, as I raised as a topic a while ago, Linn are currently not featured - and they're hardly a little-known brand!
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ElectroMan:Maybe, but the Buyer's Guide does say 'Every product, every price', which is patently not true. Also, as I raised as a topic a while ago, Linn are currently not featured - and they're hardly a little-known brand!
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If a manufacturer chooses not to supply us, there's little we can do about it - and when it's a manufacturer selling big-ticket items such as Linn's, the budget just doesn't extend to buying the products.

But I gather we've been testing a current full-house LP12 recently - watch this space...
 
I can appreciate that. I think Clare did mention that Linn would be supplying stuff in time for one of your ultimate guides - a bit opportunistic of them?
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I had a HD970 CD player for a while, which I ran with a Rotel RA-01 amp. It was a respectable enough player but never really blew me away in any sense. 'Workmanlike' would be the best way to describe it. Overpriced for what it was in both material and sound quality terms.
 
Very interesting to compare the HK680 to my Nad C320BEE (which i've loved for many years) , the Nads nice but the HK is full bodied and has tremendous depth over the Nad which i have to say sounds thin and glassy in comparison ( in the lower regions anyway).

I'dÿdefinitely recommendÿa good 2nd hand amp over a new budget amp option , better value can be had for sure .

However

When buying 2nd handÿyou don't know the history or condition of a components innards , So i guess when buying new your paying for that peace of mind that comes withÿmanufacturersÿwarrantyÿetc

Regarding "What HiFi's"ÿphilosophyÿon buying , it would be nice to see regular articles on 2nd hand buys and perhaps a little education on what to look out for to help ascertain the condition of an item.

But then again , like all HiFi mag's they are closely tied into the whole industry which wants us to buy new again and again to sustain itself.ÿThere was a wonderful article in HiFi + recently that wrote about such things at good length , quite revealing especially if read between the lines.

ÿIt would be interesting to know the pressures a reviewer has (if any) when trying toÿunbiasedlyÿreview a component from a company that spends a LOT on advertising in that mag.

Im not having a go at "what hifi" or any mag here, I'm justÿgenuinelyÿinterested and sometimes i wonder skeptically about "owning the latest thing" vibe .

Anyways i digress , ÿ

ÿ
 
So you missed the spread feature on buying second hand hi-fi (including tips of what to look out for) in our current, February issue?

I'm also sceptical of someone who says they're 'not having a go' and then proceeds to question our integrity...

ÿAs we (unlike our competitors) review in a team, there's no opportunity for 'pressure' to be put on any reviewer ÿ- they won't know who's writing the final judgement: unlike, say, a lone reviewer who's sourced the product themselves - and for the zillionth time, there's no connection between advertising and editorial on What Hi-fi? Sound and Vision.

Other than our production team, we don't know which ads are going to run, and our ad team (who sit on a separate floor) don't know the products or review ratings beforehand. They don't need to - we're the clear market leader, and companies advertise with us because they know they'll reach many more serious buyers than via any other medium.

Some examples of this? Well, take IAG (owner of Quad, Wharfedale, Mission etc), who take the premium back-page advert in EVERY issue - it's been a while since they've had a great review from us. You may have also spotted Bose ads in WHF lately - it's been even longer since they've had a rave write-up.

And on the flip side, there's companies like Rega and Plinius that have never advertised with us and yet won a series of five-star reviews and Awards. ÿThe only thing that matters is our performance-per-pound test criteria.

Yes, we've had manufacturers pull advertising when they're not pleased with a review - it doesn't change our approach one jot, and they often return before long to reach all you lovely readers....ÿ
 
Mucho Apologies , Haven'tÿseen the current feb issue yet , if i get a chance i'll check it out.

And thanksÿfor your detailed reply , VERY muchÿappreciated , sorry if i caused anyÿoffenseÿ, but it is good to question these things now and again and i've learnt something in the process.

Has the magazine ever considered a huge online archive of all its past reviews ? i would imagine this might be cost prohibitive .

ÿ

ÿ
 
drumlins4ever:
Very interesting to compare the HK680 to my Nad C320BEE (which i've loved for many years) , the Nads nice but the HK is full bodied and has tremendous depth over the Nad which i have to say sounds thin and glassy in comparison ( in the lower regions anyway).

I'dÿdefinitely recommendÿa good 2nd hand amp over a new budget amp option , better value can be had for sure .

However

When buying 2nd handÿyou don't know the history or condition of a components innards , So i guess when buying new your paying for that peace of mind that comes withÿmanufacturersÿwarrantyÿetc

Regarding "What HiFi's"ÿphilosophyÿon buying , it would be nice to see regular articles on 2nd hand buys and perhaps a little education on what to look out for to help ascertain the condition of an item.

But then again , like all HiFi mag's they are closely tied into the whole industry which wants us to buy new again and again to sustain itself.ÿThere was a wonderful article in HiFi + recently that wrote about such things at good length , quite revealing especially if read between the lines.

ÿIt would be interesting to know the pressures a reviewer has (if any) when trying toÿunbiasedlyÿreview a component from a company that spends a LOT on advertising in that mag.

Im not having a go at "what hifi" or any mag here, I'm justÿgenuinelyÿinterested and sometimes i wonder skeptically about "owning the latest thing" vibe .

Anyways i digress , ÿ

ÿ

I don't agree. Many brands succeed with new kit considerably helped by the prices fetched on the second hand market these days, for another similar market just look at cars, a VW holds its value well and therefore is a better 'new' buy too.

ÿ
 
Not sure i follow you , as soon someone drives their newly purchased car out of the garage , it has already decreased in value.

ÿ

ÿ

ÿÿ
 
drumlins4ever:
Mucho Apologies , Haven't seen the current feb issue yet , if i get a chance i'll check it out.

And thanks for your detailed reply , VERY much appreciated , sorry if i caused any offense , but it is good to question these things now and again and i've learnt something in the process.

Has the magazine ever considered a huge online archive of all its past reviews ? i would imagine this might be cost prohibitive .

A full online archive is certainly an ambition, but it's a lengthy, costly process, and it's not on the radar anytime soon. However, we're learning a lot from our colleagues on Gramophone magazine, who've posted their much larger archive online (currently in beta version here)
 
drumlins4ever:
Not sure i follow you , as soon someone drives their newly purchased car out of the garage , it has already decreased in value.

ÿ

ÿ

ÿÿ

Quite right, but some depreciate more than others. A second hand Citroen for instance is worth ****** all, whereas a VW or Audi retains a good proportion of its value. Same with hifi, some brands still fetch good money on the second hand market, some don't. This makes the actual cost of purchase far less as you are guaranteed to get a decent sum of money back when upgrading. Cheapest is not always cheapest in the long run.ÿ
 
Andrew Everard:
Why opportunistic?

This is beginning to look like 'damned if you do, damned if you don't' - make your mind up...

Well, I was given to understand that Linn weren't in your Buyers Guide
because they hadn't sent you anything to review for ages, but
apparently were going to send stuff just in time for the guide - sounds
pretty opportunistic of them to me!
 

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