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Harman Kardon Signature Series 2.1 Multichannel Amplifier

Harman Kardon Signature Series 2.1 Multichannel Amplifier

List Price: $999.99
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Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Killer Amp -- all five of 'em
Review: I bought a Sig 2.0/2.1 combo because my speakers are 25 years old, the size of small coffins, and have low impeadances. They love current. Even with 45 amps of current, the protection circuits in my old HK AVR500 would kick in under heavy (cranked to the max) loads, and shut the unit off.

Specs:

The amp has 5 X 100 watts per channel for home theater applications. Frequency response is <1Hz - 170kHz, +0dB/-2dB
with ±100 Amps of current. Total Harmonic Distortion is rated at <0.03% at rated output.

IMPRESSIONS:

I did an a/b comparison between my AVR500 and the signature 2.1 amp. The AVR500 some of the best amps available in an home theater receiver. The 2.1 amp is made by Madrigal, the division of Harman International which makes Mark Levinson and other ultra high end products, so, I expected some improvement over the 500. I plugged the preamp outs on my AVR500 to the Sig 2.1 using some midgrade RCA cables. To my surprise, the 2.1 is a real improvement. It is fast, detailed, articulate, controlled and powerful. The soundstage is very, very good. The balance is excellent, with a slight low midbass prominence.

What this means is that my speakers found bass I thought they lost to room accoustics or maybe never had. I put on the Fleetwood Mack DVD "The Dance." The grit at the edge Stevie Nicks' voice showed up along with the air over the mike. I put on Guennevere from the Crosby Stills and Nash 4 CD compilation. You could hear the flutter of the bass string along with the note. I always though my speakers were a bit analytical, but they found a warmth in the vocal harmonies I didn't think they had. Yes! (Keys to Ascention DVD) - Emerson, Lake and Palmer (Royal Albert Hall DVD) -- George Benson (DVD Audio) - The Doors (LA Woman DVD Audio) - Horowitz in Moscow (CD) - Cheryl Crow (CD). They all sounded better.

I subsequently bought a Carver M500t amplifier and a Harman Kardon Citation 22. Both are 2 channel low end audiophile quality amps with 200 watts per channel. To my ears, the 22 is better, but not by much, and I could not give you a reason for this impression. The Carver aparently was designed for a "tube" sound, and sounded soft and colored in comparison. The Carver was swiftly sold on e-bay.

Life is good.

Strengths:
Lots of amps. Warm, open sound. Lots of value for the money if you can find one. Made in the USA!

Weaknesses:
I had some problems with one channel of the the amplifier working only intermittently and had to take it back to HK several times. Made in the USA! They couldn't fix it, and eventually replaced it.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Amp with Atl. Tech. THX select
Review: This seems like a really nicely built amp. I bought a demo model for under $500 which makes is a real bargain. It runs warm but not hot to the touch. It sounds very dynamic and clean, I can't detect any kind of coloration from the amp. If anything it's too transparent because it will make bad sources sound as they are: bad. I haven't tried it with any big speakers to see how well the bottom end hits, but the top end seems real good. Very dynamic for movies with my Atlantic Tech. System 270 THX Select speakers. The retail prices are a bit high, for $1200 I'd probably prefer other amps such at Outlaw's Model 750 for $1099 or others from Parasound, B&K or Rotel. But if you can find a decent price on this amp it is a high quality product. It could easily meet THX Ultra specs for power and performance.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Amp with Atl. Tech. THX select
Review: This seems like a really nicely built amp. I bought a demo model for under $500 which makes is a real bargain. It runs warm but not hot to the touch. It sounds very dynamic and clean, I can't detect any kind of coloration from the amp. If anything it's too transparent because it will make bad sources sound as they are: bad. I haven't tried it with any big speakers to see how well the bottom end hits, but the top end seems real good. Very dynamic for movies with my Atlantic Tech. System 270 THX Select speakers. The retail prices are a bit high, for $1200 I'd probably prefer other amps such at Outlaw's Model 750 for $1099 or others from Parasound, B&K or Rotel. But if you can find a decent price on this amp it is a high quality product. It could easily meet THX Ultra specs for power and performance.


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