Harman Kardon HK 990

I found an old thread about this integrated, but it was mostly a few members arguing back-and-forth, so I thought I would start a new one.

Does anybody currently own the HK 990, or possibly had one in the past for a decent chunk of time? I'm looking for ownership stories on SQ, reliability, and overall satisfaction.

I'm currently looking for new speakers and the dealer threw me a curve ball in sending me home with a pre-owned HK 990 that they recently received. He said that since it puts out a lot more current than my Yamaha A-S701 it would help me get the best out of the Spendor A4 that I'm auditioning. And since I'd be stretching my budget if I buy the Spendors, this would help me get the power I need for short money (it would cost $100 plus trading in my A-S701). I genuinely feel that he is trying to help and in no way, shape, or form is he trying to up-sell me.

Anyhow, the 990 is a beast. It weighs like 43 pounds and gets really hot. It has some features I would never use, but seems like an impressive unit. However, I worry about reliability. It was manufactured December 2012, so over 6 years old now, and that's 6 years of being exposed to its own really hot environment, and who knows what kind of use. I know people buy old/used/vintage gear all the time and repairs are par for the course, but this has never really been my modus perandi.

I've found a couple of good reviews:

Harman Kardon HK 990 integrated amplifier

Harman Kardon HK 990 Integrated Amplifier and HD 990 CD Player - HomeTheaterHifi.com

and also an impossibly in-depth and highly technical review here:

Harman Kardon HK 990 Stereo Integrated Amplifier with Digital Room Correction and Dual Subwoofer Bass Management – Part I - HomeTheaterHifi.com

but real-world input from forum member is always appreciated. I'm kinda intrigued by this amp.

 

Also, the Harman/Kardon brand seems to have become really watered down in recent years, with no serious audio gear. Back in the day they were a somewhat serious player in the consumer audio game, no?

 

Bump. Anybody?

 

No experience but all things being equal I like simple audio devices especially when I consider reliability. Heat, like you've observed, fries gear & looking at the pic of the internals it looks like there are fans mounted on each heatsink. For me a fan is an absolute no vote for any audio component.

 

Yes, there are a couple of fans in there. Do you dislike them because of potential noise from the fan, or the noise it might introduce to the signal? Or just see it as an indication that the amp runs too hot?

 

Simple answer for me is if it needs a fan it's an inadequate design; needs bigger sinks or bigger caps for current swings, or??? Fans are just one more in a long list for an integrated that need power regulation & fans will wear out.

Also my hearing is very susceptible to any sort of mechanical fan noise. As for signal noise I'm not too anchored to a strong belief but inclined to just say if it's possible why introduce the chance.

 

Wow!

I am answering this on my tablet so I can't write too much. It is a BEAST. You cannot stack anything on top of it. Class A/B muscle with a lot of bias to class A. DAC is great, very spacious. I have a pair of VMPS subs and tge crossover and room correction were outstanding. I used to great effect with a pair of Gallo Ref 3.5. Home theater bypass, for stereo subs no less, was amazing and a super rare feature. The manual was useless and I learned a few things about input levels etc. I wish I had never sold the Gallos. I got a pair of Raidhos that I couldn't get to sound even remotely entertaining which set off a chain reaction of mistakes.

I had an issue once where I didn't give it proper ventilation and a channel died. Fixed for 100 bucks. Tech said it got so hot that a connection failed. After changing the installation set up never had a problem.

I am moving right now and i dropped mine about 6 inches onto concrete trying to put it in its box. Dinged up but not sure if it still works. I will find out soon enough. Damn thing is too heavy to be a boat anchor.

I think it sounded fantastic and has features you wont find anywhere else, especially if you have a pair of subs and want home theater too, with some cheap and cheesy AVR because the power amp is kick ass. You can drive big maggies (especially with subs, great crossover) with ease.

Loved mine. Hope it still works. Enjoy.

 

It looks impressive to me. 2012 isn’t that old for stereo equipment that doesn’t have any moving parts. I’m sure the DAC is a bit below modern standards but the amp section looks legit.

 

Hey, thanks for the input. How did you come across this fairly old thread?

I did end up getting the HK990 several months ago but am very close to replacing it.

 

I just did a search. I think the dac is pretty good. I like eliminating the interconnect between dac and pre-amp. Hopefully mine still works after dropping it. Why do you want to replace it? It is super perfect in a home theater/2 channel set up with stereo subs. Nothing else like it, ever.

 

That's a very good question. It certainly is a beast like no other. Part of it is that I don't like its phono stage and don't want to deal with an external unit. Part of it is that it gets so damn hot when it's running. (I once came home and found a balloon on top of it; if it had been turned on the balloon surely would have ignited, or at least melted onto/into it). A small part of it is that I (foolishly) think it looks too much like a receiver. And part of it is just that I've always had my eye on the Yamaha A-S1100, one of which I just acquired. Who knows, maybe I'll end up liking the HK better...

 

It DOES get hot, heavily biased into class A I think.

 

Do my A/B with the HK 990 and the A-S1100 right now. I feel like the HK is winning.

 

I LOVE mine. You do indeed need to give it plenty of space to breath since it does run hot (all that delicious Class A bias) but it sings. I spent about a year with the Yamaha A-S801 (apples and oranges, I know) and the sound coming out of my speakers now is so much more alive. And the DAC is really good. Not 2020-good, obviously, but I figure I can always get a state of the art DAC if I really need to. And the room correction works well for me.

 

I had one HK990 in my home for some days, two weeks ago. Impressed with its finishing and appearence. Weights tons. Not easy to handle. Hot as hell when operating. No chances to insert on a closed rack or upon or beneath another equipment. On a first glance, I was not that impressed with the sound, to be sincere, based on my experience with a vintage SANSUI A-α7 Integrated Amplifier that I own (SANSUI A-α7の仕様 サンスイ ). I opened a discussion with another friends and one of them, who used one HK 990 for many years, defined it as an "honest" gear. I agreed with him, and I finish my comments saiyng, after this quick experience, that I´d buy one 65% for the appearence and 35% for its performance.

 

I own the HK990 with Jbl Century Gold. Best sound ever.
I play A lot of Blues and old Soul (Otis Redding, Aretha) and my first love Elvis.
Even modern music and classical opera comes around

The amp made my JBL's sound soo much alive. There's an 'stereo echo' that fills the soul. Sometimes it sounds like there are more than my 2 speakers. And it is the only amp that has done this. Bi wired is my preferred setting.
Everybody who hears my stereo is blown away with its beauty.
But it has to be always on stand by mode. Otherwise it will error and I have to reset the amp. And it needs space for cooling. So what... I love the sound and from the JBL's now.
And I have tried a lot of amp's. Within my budget...

Maybe too late... For you.
But I still love it

 

Oh and the room correction makes a lot of difference for me in a very good way.

 

I own an HK990, I got it for a good price and it was brand new, I thought I was lucky, the truth is that at this moment I haven't been able to set it up correctly, it doesn't sound as it is supposed to. I read from other owners, they are happy with it. I also bought the matching CD player HD990, they were only $1000 and didn't pay transportation that I know it was expensive, this amp weights close to 70 pounds. The user manual was so poorly made, I have tried so many times to set it up and got nothing better. Are there any more instructions on how to do an easy setup on this monster? Thanks.

 

The HK990 is back to my listening room again. Now, with more time to listen and with more favorable conditions. I did not make any adjustments and I connected to it a Mac Mini with Tidal inside, connected to a Topping E90 DAC via an Oyaide S Class USB cable. A pair of Wireworld Equinox 8 RCA cable send the signal from the DAC do the HK. This time I felt some good listening sensations that made change my opinion. From "honest", as a previously defined, to "really really good". Maybe better than my old Sansui. But I will never know why it runs so hot, even in "parking mode".

 

I assume that’s from the class-A amp, but wouldn’t expect it to be hot while in standby.