- Average user rating: 3.5 stars out of 13 reviews Back to product review
- My rating: 0 stars
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1 out of 1 people found this review helpful
3.0 stars
"Disappointing performance for refurbished model"
Pros: Nice appearance, good fm reception, easy to wire, lots of inputs, sub-woofer capable
Cons: Chintzy remote, no loudness, high frequency low frequency filter switching, no mid-range tone control, no MC cartridge capability, terrible am band sensitivity.,
Summary: I compared the HK3480 with an ancient Marantz SR3500 made in Taiwan and frankly the Marantz ran circles around the HK3480. The HK3480 was a factory refurbished unit. The rest of the setup consisted of a pair of JBL S310 studio speakers, a Stanton 120C turntable with Ortofon OM20 Super cartridge and a Sony CE595 CD deck. My first impression before I discovered the 3480's VMax surroud button was there wasn't enough bass response but it had good stereo separation. It lacked the warm sound of the Marantz receiver. I tried this on local FM stations, CD's and my favorite Dave Brubeck records and all produced the same flat bass response effect. I tried again with the VMax engaged and this added almost too much bass and shrouded the higher frequency sounds giving more separation but I just couldn't get happy with the frequency response at all levels and the VMax produced a kind of surreal surround sound effect. The lack of a mid-range tone control added to the frustration here. Both the Marantz and the HK had similar AM plastic hoop antennas but where the Marantz could lock in a ton of local Detroit AM stations and even a pretty good pull on WSM in Nashville the HK3480 only found a few and none were strong enough to make the "Tune" light glow steadily. I tried the Marantz antenna on the HK but that didn't make much difference. FM sensitivity was excellent on both receivers even though the antenna approaches were different, the Marantz using the T-shaped twin lead ribbon and the HK using a single thin wire dipole that plugs into a coax connector on the back of the HK's chassis. The HK's remote has many more functions than the Marantz's control but the channel programming buttons all hide beneath a sliding cover that almost requires a crowbar to open all the way. Functions on the HK's remote are marked with gold lettering over a shiny aluminum substrate that is hard to read. It did function and has capability to be programmed to work other equipment in your hi-fi cabinet that the Marantz remote unit lacked. The Marantz has a moving coil pre-amp that the HK receiver does not have. The Marantz has a toggle switch to select common moving magnet or moving coil phono cartridge use. The HK directions simply state you must use a moving magnet cartridge with a phonograph. The HK offers subwoofer support that the Marantz does not but the Marantz makes good use of the bass response of the JBL 3-way speakers and makes a pretty good audio statement without a subwoofer. In summary I found the HK did not live up to some of the glowing reports I have read about it. The mistake I made was I did not go to a local audio store and listen to several receivers side by side, a crucial step for anyone in the market for a receiver. If I had done that I might have passed on the HK.
