- Average user rating: 4.5 stars out of 27 reviews Back to product review
- My rating: 0 stars
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4 out of 4 people found this review helpful
5.0 stars
"Phenomenal ?."
Pros: Room shaking sub-Excellent High & Mid range capbility of Satellites-Can match any decor especially made for plasma looks-All included kit-Auto signal sensing of Bass module-120 watts for satellites a
Cons: Mounting kit supplied is not easy to use-Only HKTS speaker stands can be used -Speakers are all Silver finish, but wires supplied are black.
Summary: Phenomenal ?..
One word I could match to review of HKTS-14. After extensive research and numerous audio test of various HT speakers I zeroed in for HKTS-14 from Harman/Kardon. Key factors I used to select the systems are as follows:
1. Music performance
2. Substantial Bass response
3. If not too much near high power
4. Compact for my apartment living
5. Crisp high end music reproducing capability especially from guitar, sitar
6. Budget conscious and longterm investment
7. Proven industry name
8. Easy setup & calibration
9. Technical Support
In all aspects HKTS-14 stood out. At first I used my own samples of few songs; music excepts and took it to various showrooms to play. I tested it on Polk, Bose, JBL 300.7/200.7, Micra and HKTS-14. These are my observations
Polk ?Excellent satellite speakers, but default bass module didn?t impress, need to upgrade to other polk sub which are quite expensive when adding both prices and setup is too confusing.
Bose ?Forget about it, sales men did not like putting my CD and when I finally made him he wouldn?t pay much attention or help me in adjusting any settings. Only thing he allowed to do is to keep repeating ICE AGE movie clips over and over again in AM16 module.
One I did notice, most of dialogs and beats are directional, you can also try this next time you see a BOSE system is playing, just stand directly in line of bass module and slow move left or right you notice that bass is completely directional and all dialogs are actually come from bass module which is either below or side of system rather on center of screen.
JBL 300.7/2007 ? Out of both 300.7 flared excellent, but speakers are doesn?t look good though design is unique. Bass module is excellent
Micra ? Speakers are good and look good but lacks overall puch, I felt that if you between 4 to 6 feet in radius from speakers they are good beyond that, sound weakens
Finally HKTS-14
Speakers are excellent and sharp to look. Coming to most important sound aspect, sound reproduced is close to the way it should be. Bass module is enough power to shake a large room (BTW my room is 19?x18?). Initially I needed some tweaking with cross over to get the right match between satellites and sub. Other things I have done to fine tune is channel volume using pink noise. Once these basic steps are done, system is all set to rock. Test DVD?s I used are Lord of Rings which have enough high/low/mid ranges through the movie. Finally coming to cost whole system I put together i.e receiver+DVD player+HT speakers+ wires hardly touched $800 and I am sure this system will go very long time in my living room for TV/Music/Movie entertainment?next on my list HT projector !-)
Harman/Kardon customer service is excellent by all base lines. I wrote to technical support even before I purchased the product and every time received reply from an actual person rather than automatic reply. All the replies are informative and complete and welcoming for more questions. Of late I have never experienced such a prompt service. Only companies that believe in there products can provide such service
- 2 replies to this review
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Please tell us the settings you ended up with on your speaker crossover settings..
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Hi Surendra, can you tell us what AV receiver you are using with the Harmon Kardon speakers? It sounds like you have a winning combination. Thanks!
