Stereo Receiver: Harmon Kardon HK 3490 vs Yamaha RX 797?

Question

Stereo Receiver: Harmon Kardon HK 3490 vs Yamaha RX 797?

Answer 1

I have loved to read always. But I'd be lying easily said I didn't also enjoy TV. During the day this can be a book usually.

Answer 2

Tv set is produced to the cheapest common denominator - i.e., the common IQ of the general public, whereas a written e book is written to the highest common denominator

Answer 3

Onkyo Tx-8555

Answer 4

Yamaha Rx-797

Answer 5

Yes they will work. I would be careful using them at high volumes. The amp is bit large for the speakers (described as bookshelf on the psb website) but they will work together. It's kind of like having a high powered sports car with no highways around. You'll want to turn up the volume but with these speakers, there's really nowhere to go. If you don't get what I mean, get bigger speakers and then you'll see, or should I say hear? The HK 3490 sounds like a nice amp! It deserve bigger speakers. The power and quality will have a chance to come through. Otherwise, you have a Mustang in a town with a 50 speed limit.

Answer 6

Harman/Kardon is junk go with the Yamaha

Answer 7

All I can tell you is that I purchased a Harmon and paid about $700 for it around 6 years ago. It lasted 2 years, until the warranty expired, then quit working. I paid $200 to get it fixed, and about 8 months later it quit again. I threw it away and bough a Yamaha and it has worked since then.



I would like to get a new Yamaha with HDMI connectors, but this Yamaha just keeps cranking out pure clean sound. I am personally sold on the Yamaha quality for the price.



I used to sell home audio professionally for several years, and that's why I decided on the HK brand. I have also had a bad experience with two Onkyo receivers. I have only heard good things about Denon, but have never personally tried them.

Answer 8

I would recommend Harmon Kardon HK 3490.This is an incredibly powered amp, with FM tuner, video inputs

Answer 9

I have a rack of 4 Yamaha's (previous generation from the 797) that power my whole house audio system and they've been bullet-proof for over 12 years now so I can vouch for their quality. HK's are sweet sounding receivers so you can't go wrong there either.

Just to confuse things :) you might want to look at the Onkyo TX-8555 and the Denon DRA-397 to see if they have any features you're interested in, but you can't go wrong with either of the two you've chosen.

LMAO at Dal's response below. Yamaha has been building sweet sounding amps for decades now - all with extremely low distortion due their patented feedback circuitry - not due to some nonsense about lack of measurement capability. He's never heard a 7 series Yamaha stereo amp in his life, so don't pay any attention to that kind of generality.

Answer 10

Go with the Harmon. The Harmon will give you more power with 8 ohm speakers with less distortion. The Harmon also gives you considerably more frequency response. The specs say that it can deliver evenly across the audible spectrum which is pretty good for the price. Personally I avoid anything Yamaha. Sorry to the person above, but I feel as though the electronics inside give it to much of an artificial sound. It also says that the Intermodulation distortion is unmeasurable. This most likely means they couldn't get a reading so it is very low. The signal to noise ratio is pretty good measuring up to a whopping 95 db. All in all I would say to go for that one. I've heard good things about the reliability also. Anyways good luck.



Countryfirst...for your information I have heard a 7 series amp and personally they don't sound that great. I work in Pro-audio as an engineer. If you ask any audio engineer about what Yamaha gear they like, they will tell you none. Their equipment puts out a processed sound. Amps, speakers, mixers, you name it. It may be good for consumer audio, but I'm coming from a different background. I was simply trying to voice an idea and give someone advice on something I have knowledge in. At no point did I warrant criticism for knowing how to read a spec sheet and identify what I believe to be a better amp.