Home > Consumer Reviews > Harman Kardon HK3480 Stereo Receiver

A couple of months ago my old and very simple Sony equipment started to give up on me after years of use. So I started to look for a good replacement for it.
Since this was meant to be a replacement to be located at my bedroom and mostly for music playing, my first idea was to look for one of those popular mini-systems with everything integrated on them. I found some interesting products from Onkyo and Denon but, although their sound was quite nice (especially Denon's), I found that their power was somehow limited.
Then, I decided to look for some of those "Home Theater in a box" systems that are so popular nowadays, even if I would use it primarily for music reproduction! I tried Sony, Kenwood and Denon. I found an interesting Denon system, but before buying it I decided to bring along a couple of my own CDs in order to try it out with my own music!
The next day I took a couple of my favourite CDs with me to try them with the Denon. I chose Mahler's Symphony #3 (with Boulez), Andreas Scholl's "Ombra mai fu", some Dead Can Dance and Air's "Moon Safari". It really sounded nice but since I had those CDs with me I decided to make a last visit to the department store where I had seen the Denon and Onkyo mini-systems before making a final decission.
An hour later I visited this department store and went to their audio department. Instead of looking for the mini-systems I went directly to the high-end audio area. Among the various Onkyos, Marantz, Denons and Yamahas I noticed Harman Kardon's new HK-3480, and I immediately liked the looks of it's new design! Then, I contacted a salesman and after telling him that I mostly listen to classical music (although my other musical tastes are quite varied), he suggested me to give the Harman Kardon a try!
I was able to compare the Harman Kardon with the Denons (both the mini-system and the Home Theater options). After some listening I was convinced that a nice stereo system was more than enough for me. The power and sheer clarity of sound of Harman Kardon's HK-3480 was immediately noticeable!
We first tried it with a couple of Yamaha speakers, then with Cerwin-Vega, Infinity and finally with Polk. Boy oh boy, what a beautiful sound the Polk's have, cristal clear and absolutely gorgeous!!! Besides, they look so sharp! We finally added an Infinity subwoofer and there it was, the perfect setup for me! I was really ready to make a final decission! I bought Harman Kardon's HK-3480 reciever along with H-K's FL-8385 CD player, a pair of Polk's RTi8 speakers and Infinity's PS10 subwoofer. What a difference from my old and humble Sony setup! By the way, if you choose Polk speakers like I did, get the black ones, they look great along Harman Kardon's silver and black design!
The HK-3480 receiver works great! There are more than enough connections inputs on it, including several for audio/video and a phono input too (now I'm also thinking about replacing my old Technics for a brand new turntable). The HK-3480 is surely a great receiver for those who want top quality stereo sound, but it should me mentioned that with the VMAx feature on this receiver you can have simulated surround sound too when you need it!
I now feel that all of a sudden my CD collection doubled in size since every single CD in my collection sounds so much better now! I'm rediscovering music that I bought 10 or 15 years ago! What a joy!!!

I have owned this receiver/amp for almost a year and half now, and I am thrilled with its performance for music (CDs and records). I'm a musician and love to be able to hear the musical nuances of my CDs - I'm one of those people who rips music in lossless formats because I want to make sure I'm not missing anything! I'd recommend this to anyone who wants to hear music the way it was recorded but can't afford $10,000 systems.

I have this amp paired with 2 JBL Studio Series S38II speakers. It sounds terrific with a deep, detailed soundstage, singing highs (clear but not harsh), and solid, tight lows. It also gets vision-impairingly loud in my small room 35 notches below max volume (I've never tried max).

I also love all the inputs - I have my CD player hooked up to CD, my computers (one is a music server, the others is for movies) hooked up to VID1 and VID2, and a spare 1/8" jack hooked up to VID3 for when a friend wants to play something for me from his/her iPod.

- This amp is designed for stereo sources. Since all CDs and most records are mixed in stereo, any "surround sound" amps are actually fiddling with the signal to try to split it into more speakers. In the studio, the producers listen on only 2 speakers. This amp reproduces that stereo sound - no more, no less. This is NOT the amp for you if you want artificially-created "surround" music. Only DVDs are recorded in surround, and for that you should buy a 5.1/6.1/7.1 receiver, not this.

- There's a difference between loud and strong. My alarm clock is loud, but that's because it's a piercing, high frequency. This amp has the strength to move things around on your shelves - I'd like to see that from an alarm clock. I almost never turn the volume up past -30dB for fear of neighbors. It goes to +10dB.

- This amp is quite heavy, but here's why: it has power capacitors the size of soup cans. What does this mean? Well, here's where the "high current" comes in. Amplifiers drive speakers by changing the voltages on the speaker wires. The voltage (which is like pressure on a pipe) makes electric current flow through an electromagnet, which in turn moves the speaker cone. However, low-frequency sounds need a LOT of current from the amp, which on many amps can make the high sounds get thin whenever low loud notes play (or, high notes can make the low notes weak). The capacitors in this amp, though, store enough reserve power to play those low notes AND high notes at the same time. So, unlike cheaper amps, this can provide short bursts of current (for bass drum, etc.) that are even more than the amp is drawing from the wall outlet, so one loud instrument in the recording doesn't prevent you from hearing other, softer instruments.

- The headphone jack on this receiver provides much better sound than portable CD players. I prefer to run my CDs through this amp, and listen that way. You'll really notice the difference if you compare with nice headphones.

- In my opinion the only use for the VMAx feature on this thing is for movies. It really messes with the tonal balance, bringing vocals forward and overemphasizing the bass. I have a 12" 100W sub that I have set up for music, so it's earthquakey with VMAx. This is NOT a loudness feature like the STC (Selective Tone Control) on Onkyo receivers. STC makes up for frequency ranges that get hard to hear at low volumes, and it works well for music. VMAx just puts it in "movie mode," and does not sound great with music.

In conclusion, I'm happy with this amp (when used with decent speakers and headphones), and if you're looking for a good STEREO system I bet you will be too.

For comparison, I've also heard the comparably-rated Sony, Onkyo, and Denon products. The Onkyo is great (although maybe less stylish), the Denon is possibly clearer (but for a lot more money! and not quite as powerful), and the Sony doesn't quite cut it for low-impedance speakers in my opinion.

Recently I needed a replacement for my old preamp (HK6100), and narrowed it down to a choice between the similarly priced HK3480 and Onkyo TX8511 receivers. A salesman gave the advice that the HK has better sound, so I went with it, and I am pleasantly surprised with the sound, noticable more clear than my old HK preamp.

One of the main deciding factors was that the Onkyo amp reportedly has a bright (irritating green) and non-dimmable display light, while the HK has a 3 stage dimmable one (cool electric blue). These little features make a big difference in the long run.

The attractive and sturdy unit was easy to set up with plenty of hookup jacks on the back (multiple tape, video, speaker, subwoofer and phono jacks). The 2X35 watt channels give plenty of volume, with nice precise digital (in 1dB increments) control. The FM receiver is powerful (able to pick up several channels in this remote mountainous area), and tunes in .1 MHz increments. The proprietary optional VMax mode is interesting at first (expands the sound to be a more spacial surround-like sound from only 2 speakers), but is not for every listening situation; it works best for instrumental and acoustic music since it mostly expands and loudens the bottom end and, especially at higher volumes, can make vocals too distant to understand (a subwoofer makes VMax seem unnecessary as well).

Mostly what makes me happy is the pristinely clear and clean audio quality (oh yes, and the remote!). I'm very glad I went with HK again.

I had picked up an older HK AV 5-channel receiver for video use a couple of years ago, and have always been impressed by how clean and clear the sound was, even when temporarily hooking it up to my better stereo system. After recently moving, I found myself wanting that HK in two rooms, so I retired my old NAD stereo amp and bought the HK 3480 for my main music listening setup. I have a Denon 2900 to play CDs, SACDs, and DVD-As, and the HK is driving a pair of Vandersteen 2ci speakers. To say it sounds great is an understatement! The detail and depth of the soundstage are remarkable, and it is possible to shake the house without any apparent effort. The only disappointment was the remote, which is not programmable, although for the price of this unit, I'm not really complaining.

If you're looking for a high quality, great sounding stereo receiver for a reasonable price, I can't recommend this product enough.

I decided that all I needed was to listen to 2 channels and that Dolby surround sound was a nice trick that didn't mean much too me to justify the cost. This Harman Kardon HK3480 receiver allows listeners to have a very capable and powerful amp at a very very low price. Typically, surround sound receivers will cost at least three times as much and give you much less power per channel. For instance, I had a Denon 2805 which I paid over $800 for which had 7 channels of surround sound at 100 Watts per channel or listed as 135 Watts when playing two channel. When I compared its two channel ability to this Harman Kardons 125 Watts per channel the difference was night and day. With the Denon the bass through my audiophile speakers - by my ears better than B&W can be purchased at discount used at Audiogon.com) was grainy and distorted. With the HK the bass became clear accurate and deep. With the Denon the highs by my ears were slightly harsh and digital, and with the HK they were natural and warm yet still open. Apparently Denon overstates their power and HK understates theirs. The HK Amp will drive small and large speakers with warm deep clear sound and precision (it is low powered amps with distortion not high ones with clear sound that blow out speakers). If you don't need Dolby surround sound and if you are on a budget or not and just want strong clear warm sound don't look any further. This amp is for you.

This HK easily bested the Denon 2805 Home theater receiver falsly advertised at more Watts at about 1/4 the cost!

P.S. The row of small round buttons that look a gaudy silver in the photo are actually black and attractive. My only complaint style-wise about this otherwise attractive receiver is the open gash with RCA plugs on the front pannel. An optional cover would have been nice - but afterall, it is already competing with their much more expensive receivers!

(One additional speaker note, if you want some bookshelf speakers with audiophile grade sound and plenty of bass at a great price, the Onix Reference 1 in the low 500 range at less than half price new on at Audiogon.com is the way to go. Wonderful sound with a natural rosewood veneer.