Initial review - Harman Kardon HK 990 integrated amplifier

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Initial review - Harman Kardon HK 990 integrated amplifier

Postby muypogi » Thu Jul 01, 2010 9:23 am

I know that Harman Kardon may not be a preferred brand on this site (though I may be wrong), I decided to repost my PDVD review of this amp here, FYI lang to people who are looking for an amp alternative.

Am writing this initial impression as I want to keep my memories as fresh as possible to give the amp it's (initial) due.

As a backup story, I initially was interested in the amp when I heard the HK 980 that my father in law purchased in one of avshop's stores. I was looking to change to a beefier amp when I changed my speakers to the Dyanaudio Audience 42. They sounded good in my current setup, but something inside was saying parang bitin yung sound. Coupled with the fact that most reviews I read and most owners thought Dyns needed a lot more juice than my current setup had to offer.

As rated it was 2 x 80, with a high current rating (~80amps according to the data sheet), with MM phono stage to boot. When we set it up with high B&W 683s, the sound was quite muscular, but not very glaring, as what you may have with some solid state gear. Not as laid back as NAD, but not unlistenably sharp.

Upon some investigation, the HK 980 looks like this inside:

Image

But I also found out that Harman had a top of the line model, the HK 990 that looked like this:

Image

The specs were compelling - 150w x 2 @ 8 ohms, 300 x 2 @ 4 ohms (perfect for my Dynaudios), HCC rating of ~ 200 amps, built in DAC and MM/MC phonostage.

Now, I would have wanted one of those LSA amps of Jack/Keith, or some of those used Mark Levinsons/Krells of Edwin, but sadly they were (and still are) priced just beyond my budget and what would be an acceptable figure to tell my wife if she ever wanted to know how much one of those behemoths cost. But since I was on a budget, the closest mega-amp on the horizon was the HK 990. Only problem was there were no demo units and if ever, I would the first guy here to order one. Even the HK distributor himself didn't have one.

So, I committed one of the mortal sins of someone in the audio hobby: I ordered an HK 990 without the benefit of an audition, based purely on specs and a few reviews on the net. . .

And the damn thing wasn't cheap, so I sold virtually all my stuff just to accomodate it. I figured it would be a one box solution to the ever-growing tangle of equipment that I had.

So out went the VDAC, the excellent i30 Dared Tube amp, my NAD phonostage, JojoD's BabyG and a couple of other stuff. . .

That was in April. . . fast forward to the new Aquino Administration. . .

The HK 990 has several modes that you can use for setting up:

1) Analog in --- DSP sampling of analog input to enable tone control & room correction --- translate back to analog
2) Digital in using its built in AD1955 DAC boards - - - same DSP control - - - translate back to analog
3) Analog in - - - Pure Direct mode which means no tone controls etc - - -Analog out

The first taste of the sound of the HK 990 was when I and 2 of avshop's stuff unpacked it and connected it using setup mode # 1, using an iPod and a CD as a source. . . with the B&W 683 connected so I could reference it to the HK 980. Natakot ako baka napamahal lang ako sa amp na ito kung pareho lang yung sound sa HK 980.

I could not have been more wrong. . . the HK 990 sounds nothing like the HK 980. And nothing like anything else in avshop's shop. It's rendition of Magnificent 7 Theme song was nothing short of jaw dropping, at least for me. My initial thought was : "wow, so that's what the B&W 683 should sound like when playing orchestral music." Very muscular, wider soundstage, but the bass drivers held firmly in control by the HK 990, which means to say no flabby bass. Avshop could probably sell a truckload of B&W speakers if he used this as a demo setup. . .

We also noticed that the amp got quite hot in our short 30 minutes of checking it out. Must be a Class A stage there somewhere. . .

Avshop's guys also noted that the tracks of CDs they played seemed to be presented better, in fact, to a level much higher that what they had heard before. I said, keep that impression, since we are probably the first three and only guys to ever hear this amp, as this was the only unit of it's kind for the moment. Talo nyo pa boss ninyo and even yung distributor ng HK. (hehehe)

Anyways, I paid up the remaining balance and took the amp home. I broke it in further by playing background music all afternoon, but the serious listening test took place at 11:30pm. . .

Since I play most of my music in digital format (320kbps AAC) via my Apple TV, I used setup mode # 2.

So, what was the sound?

Suffice to say that, as I flipped through my music collection randomly, some things came to mind:

1) This amp retrieves a lot of detail, almost headphone-like. Not like my Grade SR60i, but at 6 feet from the speakers it comes uncomfortably close.
2) Whoever said that Dynaudios need beefy amps to sound their best. . . was absolutely right.
3) Upfront, detailed sound, but somehow not one glaring nor fatiguing.
4) No tube lush, but the detail and tight bass I got more than made up for it.
5) It's as if the amp was continuing a lesson it showed earlier with the 683s - parang sinasabi: "pare, ganito dapat ang tunog ng Dynaudio mo. . ."
6) I did not seem to miss my tubes one bit. . . . in fact to paraphrase one of the reviews of the amp, it seems like halfway between a very good SS amp and a very good tube amp. It has control of the music, brings out details, and yet seems quite warm, literally and figuratively. The only amp I can think of that sounded quite similar was an Electrocompaniet ECI-3 that I auditioned in MCS once. PHP55k used, and PHP160k+ new from Sound Dimension in Rockwell. . . pero walang DAC and phono stage. . .

I have not tested the phono section, nor the source direct. But I will . . . once I get fully familiar with the sound. As of now, 2 thumbs up for this amp. Medyo mahal and matagal dumating, but definitely worth it. . .
Last edited by muypogi on Thu Jul 01, 2010 2:55 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Initial thoughts - Harman Kardon HK 990 integrated amplifier

Postby arnoldc » Thu Jul 01, 2010 11:00 am

I'm a Harman Kardon user... Prior to buying the Naim, I was asking Epoy for this model, but he doesn't have any.
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Re: Initial thoughts - Harman Kardon HK 990 integrated amplifier

Postby tcris » Thu Jul 01, 2010 11:16 am

Your gamble paid off my friend! Congratulations! Now your sleepless nights will be because of longer listening hours and not because of waiting hours (ang tagal dumating e) :lol:
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Re: Initial thoughts - Harman Kardon HK 990 integrated amplifier

Postby muypogi » Thu Jul 01, 2010 11:36 am

tcris wrote:Your gamble paid off my friend! Congratulations! Now your sleepless nights will be because of longer listening hours and not because of waiting hours (ang tagal dumating e) :lol:


Order ka na . . . good match for your newly acquired Sonus fabers and your future harbeths. . .
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Re: Initial review - Harman Kardon HK 990 integrated amplifier

Postby polaris » Wed Dec 29, 2010 9:11 am

i just stumbled into this thread now and i can concur after listening to the 990s a few months ago....terrific amp indeed....the dealer i know paired it with JBL's LS80s, and it was a great combo....fun and rocking indeed..obviously, it benefited from being in the same harman family...

this is a great amp, reasonably priced. who's selling it manila, if I may ask?

cheers
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Re: Initial review - Harman Kardon HK 990 integrated amplifier

Postby Stagea » Wed Dec 29, 2010 9:29 am

polaris wrote:i just stumbled into this thread now and i can concur after listening to the 990s a few months ago....terrific amp indeed....the dealer i know paired it with JBL's LS80s, and it was a great combo....fun and rocking indeed..obviously, it benefited from being in the same harman family...

this is a great amp, reasonably priced. who's selling it manila, if I may ask?

cheers


Try visiting MLK Enterprises / AV Shop along Kalayaan, QC.

Marc might be able to help you (0917 3273083).
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Re: Initial review - Harman Kardon HK 990 integrated amplifier

Postby muypogi » Wed Dec 29, 2010 10:40 am

Stagea wrote:
polaris wrote:i just stumbled into this thread now and i can concur after listening to the 990s a few months ago....terrific amp indeed....the dealer i know paired it with JBL's LS80s, and it was a great combo....fun and rocking indeed..obviously, it benefited from being in the same harman family...

this is a great amp, reasonably priced. who's selling it manila, if I may ask?

cheers


Try visiting MLK Enterprises / AV Shop along Kalayaan, QC.

Marc might be able to help you (0917 3273083).


Yup, that's where I got mine. I think Marc is the only JBL/Harman dealer whose selling these on a regular basis. Still have this amp. Can't wait for March, as the 990 will be paired with the Harbeth Compact 7s. . . sana bumagay. :)
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Re: Initial review - Harman Kardon HK 990 integrated amplifier

Postby polaris » Wed Dec 29, 2010 3:31 pm

muypogi wrote:
Stagea wrote:
polaris wrote:i just stumbled into this thread now and i can concur after listening to the 990s a few months ago....terrific amp indeed....the dealer i know paired it with JBL's LS80s, and it was a great combo....fun and rocking indeed..obviously, it benefited from being in the same harman family...

this is a great amp, reasonably priced. who's selling it manila, if I may ask?

cheers


Try visiting MLK Enterprises / AV Shop along Kalayaan, QC.

Marc might be able to help you (0917 3273083).


Yup, that's where I got mine. I think Marc is the only JBL/Harman dealer whose selling these on a regular basis. Still have this amp. Can't wait for March, as the 990 will be paired with the Harbeth Compact 7s. . . sana bumagay. :)


I don't see why the Harbeths won't match well since this brand is not particularly sensitive to amp and they generally sing with just about any amps. If at all, the harman will give it some kick to make it rock a bit more.
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Re: Initial review - Harman Kardon HK 990 integrated amplifier

Postby Dodie » Tue Jan 11, 2011 6:51 pm

muypogi wrote:I know that Harman Kardon may not be a preferred brand on this site (though I may be wrong), I decided to repost my PDVD review of this amp here, FYI lang to people who are looking for an amp alternative.

Am writing this initial impression as I want to keep my memories as fresh as possible to give the amp it's (initial) due.

As a backup story, I initially was interested in the amp when I heard the HK 980 that my father in law purchased in one of avshop's stores. I was looking to change to a beefier amp when I changed my speakers to the Dyanaudio Audience 42. They sounded good in my current setup, but something inside was saying parang bitin yung sound. Coupled with the fact that most reviews I read and most owners thought Dyns needed a lot more juice than my current setup had to offer.

As rated it was 2 x 80, with a high current rating (~80amps according to the data sheet), with MM phono stage to boot. When we set it up with high B&W 683s, the sound was quite muscular, but not very glaring, as what you may have with some solid state gear. Not as laid back as NAD, but not unlistenably sharp.

Upon some investigation, the HK 980 looks like this inside:

Image

But I also found out that Harman had a top of the line model, the HK 990 that looked like this:

Image

The specs were compelling - 150w x 2 @ 8 ohms, 300 x 2 @ 4 ohms (perfect for my Dynaudios), HCC rating of ~ 200 amps, built in DAC and MM/MC phonostage.

Now, I would have wanted one of those LSA amps of Jack/Keith, or some of those used Mark Levinsons/Krells of Edwin, but sadly they were (and still are) priced just beyond my budget and what would be an acceptable figure to tell my wife if she ever wanted to know how much one of those behemoths cost. But since I was on a budget, the closest mega-amp on the horizon was the HK 990. Only problem was there were no demo units and if ever, I would the first guy here to order one. Even the HK distributor himself didn't have one.

So, I committed one of the mortal sins of someone in the audio hobby: I ordered an HK 990 without the benefit of an audition, based purely on specs and a few reviews on the net. . .

And the damn thing wasn't cheap, so I sold virtually all my stuff just to accomodate it. I figured it would be a one box solution to the ever-growing tangle of equipment that I had.

So out went the VDAC, the excellent i30 Dared Tube amp, my NAD phonostage, JojoD's BabyG and a couple of other stuff. . .

That was in April. . . fast forward to the new Aquino Administration. . .

The HK 990 has several modes that you can use for setting up:

1) Analog in --- DSP sampling of analog input to enable tone control & room correction --- translate back to analog
2) Digital in using its built in AD1955 DAC boards - - - same DSP control - - - translate back to analog
3) Analog in - - - Pure Direct mode which means no tone controls etc - - -Analog out

The first taste of the sound of the HK 990 was when I and 2 of avshop's stuff unpacked it and connected it using setup mode # 1, using an iPod and a CD as a source. . . with the B&W 683 connected so I could reference it to the HK 980. Natakot ako baka napamahal lang ako sa amp na ito kung pareho lang yung sound sa HK 980.

I could not have been more wrong. . . the HK 990 sounds nothing like the HK 980. And nothing like anything else in avshop's shop. It's rendition of Magnificent 7 Theme song was nothing short of jaw dropping, at least for me. My initial thought was : "wow, so that's what the B&W 683 should sound like when playing orchestral music." Very muscular, wider soundstage, but the bass drivers held firmly in control by the HK 990, which means to say no flabby bass. Avshop could probably sell a truckload of B&W speakers if he used this as a demo setup. . .

We also noticed that the amp got quite hot in our short 30 minutes of checking it out. Must be a Class A stage there somewhere. . .

Avshop's guys also noted that the tracks of CDs they played seemed to be presented better, in fact, to a level much higher that what they had heard before. I said, keep that impression, since we are probably the first three and only guys to ever hear this amp, as this was the only unit of it's kind for the moment. Talo nyo pa boss ninyo and even yung distributor ng HK. (hehehe)

Anyways, I paid up the remaining balance and took the amp home. I broke it in further by playing background music all afternoon, but the serious listening test took place at 11:30pm. . .

Since I play most of my music in digital format (320kbps AAC) via my Apple TV, I used setup mode # 2.

So, what was the sound?

Suffice to say that, as I flipped through my music collection randomly, some things came to mind:

1) This amp retrieves a lot of detail, almost headphone-like. Not like my Grade SR60i, but at 6 feet from the speakers it comes uncomfortably close.
2) Whoever said that Dynaudios need beefy amps to sound their best. . . was absolutely right.
3) Upfront, detailed sound, but somehow not one glaring nor fatiguing.
4) No tube lush, but the detail and tight bass I got more than made up for it.
5) It's as if the amp was continuing a lesson it showed earlier with the 683s - parang sinasabi: "pare, ganito dapat ang tunog ng Dynaudio mo. . ."
6) I did not seem to miss my tubes one bit. . . . in fact to paraphrase one of the reviews of the amp, it seems like halfway between a very good SS amp and a very good tube amp. It has control of the music, brings out details, and yet seems quite warm, literally and figuratively. The only amp I can think of that sounded quite similar was an Electrocompaniet ECI-3 that I auditioned in MCS once. PHP55k used, and PHP160k+ new from Sound Dimension in Rockwell. . . pero walang DAC and phono stage. . .

I have not tested the phono section, nor the source direct. But I will . . . once I get fully familiar with the sound. As of now, 2 thumbs up for this amp. Medyo mahal and matagal dumating, but definitely worth it. . .
sir muypogi nabasa ko po na 50htz lang sya, d po ba magkakaproblema kung ang cycle po d2 sa atin eh 60htz? 220 b po sya o 110v? tnx sir.
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Re: Initial review - Harman Kardon HK 990 integrated amplifier

Postby 99khan » Tue Jan 11, 2011 10:39 pm

I use a Harman Kardon PM665 Vxi integrated amp to this day. Has served me well. Gotta pay MLK Enterprises in Kalayaan a visit.
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Re: Initial review - Harman Kardon HK 990 integrated amplifier

Postby muypogi » Wed Jan 12, 2011 12:50 am

220v yung hk990.
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Re: Initial review - Harman Kardon HK 990 integrated amplifier

Postby arnoldc » Wed Jan 12, 2011 2:04 pm

May stock na? Magkano?
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Re: Initial review - Harman Kardon HK 990 integrated amplifier

Postby muypogi » Wed Jan 12, 2011 6:47 pm

arnoldc wrote:May stock na? Magkano?


Last i heard 80k. But call Marc of MLY to be sure - 09173273083.
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Re: Initial review - Harman Kardon HK 990 integrated amplifier

Postby Dodie » Fri Jan 14, 2011 3:53 am

muypogi wrote:220v yung hk990.
thanks sir. 50 b sir o 60hz? just in case na ill be having yung 220v 50hz na euro version, magkakaproblema ba ako kse di cla magkapareho ng cycle? ive been reading treads here discusing the 50hz-60hz thing about turntables, may ginagawa yata sila na modification. if that is the case may modification din ba dun sa 50hz na hk990. the reason why im very much interested because i think the amp is good and it is way cheaper sa uk po. dun sana ako magpapabli kung wala sana pong problema sa hz thing. thank sirmuy.
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Re: Initial review - Harman Kardon HK 990 integrated amplifier

Postby muypogi » Fri Jan 14, 2011 4:45 pm

Dodie wrote:
muypogi wrote:220v yung hk990.
thanks sir. 50 b sir o 60hz? just in case na ill be having yung 220v 50hz na euro version, magkakaproblema ba ako kse di cla magkapareho ng cycle? ive been reading treads here discusing the 50hz-60hz thing about turntables, may ginagawa yata sila na modification. if that is the case may modification din ba dun sa 50hz na hk990. the reason why im very much interested because i think the amp is good and it is way cheaper sa uk po. dun sana ako magpapabli kung wala sana pong problema sa hz thing. thank sirmuy.


What I have is the Euro version 220v, which is compatible with our electricity. No need to bothered with the 50/60hz thing. Actually, buying it here in the Pinas is comparable vs the US and Euro, if you factor in import costs. The local distributor gets it directly from China, where all HK990s are made.

Cheapest in UK is about GBP900 x 70 = 63,000, pero kung dadalhin mo dito you have to add taxes + shipment cost. Here you pay P79k (or lower kung makahingi ka ng discount, plus you get local warranty. Plus you're assured na compatible dito.
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Re: Initial review - Harman Kardon HK 990 integrated amplifier

Postby docsialu » Fri Jan 14, 2011 4:49 pm

meron pala itong dac? ano specs ng dac nya sir? ;)
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Re: Initial review - Harman Kardon HK 990 integrated amplifier

Postby Dodie » Fri Jan 14, 2011 6:53 pm

I Will ask avshop about the amp pricing. Thanks for the infos sir muy.
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Re: Initial review - Harman Kardon HK 990 integrated amplifier

Postby muypogi » Fri Jan 14, 2011 8:11 pm

docsialu wrote:meron pala itong dac? ano specs ng dac nya sir? ;)


Di ko sure ser.pa google na lang.
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Re: Initial review - Harman Kardon HK 990 integrated amplifier

Postby Dodie » Wed Jan 19, 2011 6:44 pm

Sir muy im already dead set to get hk990, sir mark gave me a very decent price for this amp. Im planning to get an lsi9 which is rated 4omh & 20-200w amp requirment. Hindi b sir sobra yung hk990 kse sa specs nya up to 300w pag 4ohm? Masisira b speakers sir pag full vol sya? Sensya na sir kse dont know how omhs works on speaker-amp setup. Just basing my thinking sa numbers of the specs.
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Re: Initial review - Harman Kardon HK 990 integrated amplifier

Postby Donlovejoy » Thu Jan 20, 2011 8:37 am

Harman Kardon HK 970 Integrated Amplifier previous owner here! :)
I was planning to get the Harman Kardon HK 990 Integrated Amplifier as an upgrade before i opted to go for a Power / Pre-amp set up.
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