The headphone jack on my Harman-Kardon HK3480 is amazing!

[daltonlanny]

Wow, I cannot believe the sound quality of the headphone jack on my Harman-Kardon HK 3480 stereo receiver!
I do not know if the jack on the HK uses a cheap OP amp, or whether it works off the actual output of the receiver and the output is padded down with resistors?
I know the receiver does use discrete circuitry, has ultra wide bandwidth, and high current capability in the amplifier section for the speakers.
All I know is that the headphone jack does sound great. I am blown away...
Much better than the jacks on my CD players, my P/LD-2000 preamp, and the jacks on my friends preamps and receivers.
I had not tried it with anything except my Grado SR-60's until tonight.
I tried out my Sennheiser HD600/650's, AKG K701's, and Beyerdynamic DT880/990's with it tonight. I also had my Heed CanAmp and Creek OBH-11 SE hooked up for comparisons.
The Harman-Kardons headphone jack matches the sound quality, drive, and dynamics of the Heed when driving the AKG K701's! No joke! The HK headphone jack does not clip or distort at higher levels with the 701's either.
And I thought the Heed was a match made in heaven for the 701's?
The Beyerdynamic DT880's and 990's sound better, smoother,fuller, and more detailed on the Harman-Kardon than either the Heed or the Creek!
The sibilance and bass heaviness of my 990's is greatly diminished with the HK jack compared to the Heed or Creek. They are now very listenable on most material for a change!
Finally, the 600's and 650's actually sound better, slightly more detailed, and less laid-back with the HK headphone jack than either on the Heed or Creek.
Color me very surprised!
I do not know how much power the HK headphone jack puts out, its not listed in the owners manual, but the HK will also drive ANY of the above mentioned phones to ear shattering levels without distortion or break-up.
The only thing that the Heed and Creek might do slightly better is blackness between notes, and maybe just a small bit smoother.
Otherwise the HK excels with all the headphones I tried!
Is this a 'Jack of All Trades'? I do not know yet. But it does do an outstanding job with all of my phones so far.
I feel that I could improve the sound of the HK even further using some kind of power conditioner, or a power strip that uses some EMI or RFI filtering.
It will be interesting to see if the Headamp GS-1 that I am expecting within a couple of weeks will be noticeably that much superior to the HK jack driving all of the above mentioned phones.
Can't wait to try out the GS-1.

 

[Fitz]

Ahhh, another one has discovered that the headphone jack on a stereo amp is not necessarily an evil thing afterall, despite the myth.

 

[daltonlanny]

I am a believer now!

 

[Assorted]

Welcome to the club, I also use my AVR235 with my 650s. But who knows, maybe it's because I never tested a home hp amp and the AVR amp side by side.

 

[Jigglybootch]

Harman-Kardon makes some quality stuff. Very underrated if you ask me.

 

[Assorted]

And it's not necessarily something we all advertise around here, under the fear of persecution from the rest of the community

 

[Fitz]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jigglybootch /img/forum/go_quote.gif Harman-Kardon makes some quality stuff. Very underrated if you ask me.

Well they are part of the same parent company as AKG, so it is only logical.

 

[kamal007]

if someone can confirm this, i may sell my heed and use the hk3480 to drive my headphones and maybe some bookshelfs

 

[Knoxious]

Quote:

Originally Posted by daltonlanny /img/forum/go_quote.gif Wow, I cannot believe the sound quality of the headphone jack on my Harman-Kardon HK 3480 stereo receiver! I do not know if the jack on the HK uses a cheap OP amp, or whether it works off the actual output of the receiver and the output is padded down with resistors? I know the receiver does use discrete circuitry, has ultra wide bandwidth, and high current capability in the amplifier section for the speakers. All I know is that the headphone jack does sound great. I am blown away... Much better than the jacks on my CD players, my P/LD-2000 preamp, and the jacks on my friends preamps and receivers. I had not tried it with anything except my Grado SR-60's until tonight. I tried out my Sennheiser HD600/650's, AKG K701's, and Beyerdynamic DT880/990's with it tonight. I also had my Heed CanAmp and Creek OBH-11 SE hooked up for comparisons. The Harman-Kardons headphone jack matches the sound quality, drive, and dynamics of the Heed when driving the AKG K701's! No joke! The HK headphone jack does not clip or distort at higher levels with the 701's either. And I thought the Heed was a match made in heaven for the 701's? The Beyerdynamic DT880's and 990's sound better, smoother,fuller, and more detailed on the Harman-Kardon than either the Heed or the Creek! The sibilance and bass heaviness of my 990's is greatly diminished with the HK jack compared to the Heed or Creek. They are now very listenable on most material for a change! Finally, the 600's and 650's actually sound better, slightly more detailed, and less laid-back with the HK headphone jack than either on the Heed or Creek. Color me very surprised! I do not know how much power the HK headphone jack puts out, its not listed in the owners manual, but the HK will also drive ANY of the above mentioned phones to ear shattering levels without distortion or break-up. The only thing that the Heed and Creek might do slightly better is blackness between notes, and maybe just a small bit smoother. Otherwise the HK excels with all the headphones I tried! Is this a 'Jack of All Trades'? I do not know yet. But it does do an outstanding job with all of my phones so far. I feel that I could improve the sound of the HK even further using some kind of power conditioner, or a power strip that uses some EMI or RFI filtering. It will be interesting to see if the Headamp GS-1 that I am expecting within a couple of weeks will be noticeably that much superior to the HK jack driving all of the above mentioned phones. Can't wait to try out the GS-1.

Hi daltonlanny,

I also have a Harman Kardon amplifier PM665 (twenty years old) and the sound from the headphone jack is as good if not better than that from my expensive speakers

I also have two Harman Kardon cassette decks TD292 also twenty years old and both of them still work faultlessly

The output from their headphone sockets are equally as good as the amplifier

I’m suggesting that Harman Kardon were making excellent headphone amplifiers twenty years ago and indeed still are !

They just (as far as I know) didn’t sell them separately !

Knoxious

 

[RatFarm]

Show us the HK topless! Let's look at the guts and see what is driving the headphone jack!

 

[daltonlanny]

Confirmed.
Its the output from the output section of the amp, padded down with resistors.
I took some photos, but I can't figure out how to post them?

 

[headphonejunkie]

All you need now is to upgrade some caps and you could have the blackness between notes that you were speaking of. Boy, my yamaha has a crappy headphone out and I just bought it a few months ago. I may just have to get a harmon kardon.

 

[daltonlanny]

 

[J&J]

I,ve owned many HK products in the past and the HP jacks were unusually good when compared with Nad, Rotel, Sony, JVC etc. I once drove a pair of Sen 580s from the pre-outs of a HK preamp (adaptor plug). I got great results.

 

[feifan]

EDIT: Here's an excerpt from Ed Kobesky's review, which comments specifically on the HP out:

Far better is this receiver's headphone jack. Compared with the HeadAmp Gilmore Lite headphone amp ($300), its shortcomings were the same as those of the receiver itself—a lack of extreme insight and ultimate smoothness. The sound was a little bright with my Grado SR60s ($70), but just right with the laid-back Sennheiser HD580s ($350). Another plus is that you can adjust the volume from your listening chair, something nearly all stand-alone headphone amps cannot do. Many times, the added convenience made me plug into the HK3480 instead of a stand-alone amp.

[see the entire review at ]http://www.positive-feedback.com/Issue19/hk3480.htm]


[posted earlier]
This is a fascinating thread! Always wondered if there weren't exceptions to the HP-outs-are-crap "rule" in conventional components. Here's a description of the unit that I found on eBay. Mentions the HP out but doesn't say much about it:

Harman Kardon HK3480 240 Watt Stereo Receiver

Not everyone wants or needs a 5.1-channel receiver, which is where this HK3480 two-channel receiver from Harman Kardon comes into play. This ultra-high-bandwidth, 240-watt unit is perfect for fans of jazz, classical, or rock, as its powerful features bring out both the bombast and the nuance of your favorite music. The HK3480 is also one of the few stereo receivers to employ VMAx technology, a proprietary signal-processing technique that simulates a 360-degree sound field through a mere two speakers. The technology gives the listener the sensation of sitting in a concert hall or theater without requiring a surround sound setup.

Though the HK3480 is designed primarily for music, it also pumps out high-quality audio for your TV, DVD player, VCR, and video game console. It includes enough inputs for each of these components, along with composite video switching that allows you to conveniently switch between them. And unlike many current receivers, the unit offers a high-quality phono input (with preamp) for people who treasure the unique sound of LPs and don't want to give up their lifelong record collections.

The HK3480 also comes with an AM/FM tuner with 30 station presets, a three-step fluorescent display, and a multicomponent remote control. As with most modern receivers, it's ready to serve as the audio centerpiece of all your listening needs, with seven audio inputs and four video inputs (including one on the front panel). The inputs are gold-plated for quality. The unit also comes with pre-out/main-in jacks for use with external amplifiers or speaker processors and a separate subwoofer output. Hookup is simple due to the color-keyed connections.

The receiver's tuner section offers exceptional performance, from its high signal-to-noise ratio (73 dB in mono, 72 dB in stereo) to high (40 dB) channel separation for superior stereo imaging--not to mention strong tuning abilities with the help of better-than-80-dB image rejection and better-than-100-dB IF (intermediate frequency) rejection.

This component is equipped with a nonvolatile EEPROM (Electrically Erasable and Programmable Read-Only Memory) that preserves tuner presets and system configuration information, even when the unit is not connected to a main power source.
# 240-watt stereo receiver (120 watts x 2) for 2-channel sources
# VMAx technology simulates surround-sound effect from dual speakers
# Composite video switching; AM/FM tuner with 30 presets
# 7 audio inputs, 4 video inputs, phono input, pre-out/main jacks, and subwoofer output
# Measures 17.4 x 6.6 x 15 inches (W x H x D)

AM-FM tuner: Yes
Simulated surround sound: Yes
Headphone jack: Yes
Remote control: Yes
Front-panel AV inputs: Yes
Audio inputs: 7
Phono input: Yes
Composite video inputs: 4
Composite video outputs: 2
Stereo wattage per channel: 120 watts
Total harmonic distortion: .07 percent
Radio station presets: 30
Speaker terminals: Binding post
Item width: 17.4 inches
Item height: 6.6 inches
Item depth: 15 inches
Item weight: 23 pounds
Warranty: 2 years parts and labor
What's in the Box: Stereo receiver, remote, 2 AAA batteries, user's manual

Part Number: HAR-HK3480