Harman/Kardon HK620 Amplifier

Original and easy recognizable appearance of modern Harmon/Kardon devices is determined by the design of faceplate - a small semi-circular projection in lower part of the panel and narrow vertical swinging keys of the selector. In the design of this switch the company's efforts were expressed, aimed at the simplicity of the control under device and optic reduce of the control elements, which usually scare by its abundance in the devices of other companies. Elegance and simplicity are one of the tasks, which are successfully solved by the company's engineers and the amplifier, at the same time, has all necessary controls - tone, balance, motorized volume control. A bit unusual switch of inputs allows the connecting of four linear signal sources and two pairs input/output for record. One of this pair supports Monitor mode and will be appreciated by the owners of three-head tape recorders. Despite the laconism of the design, all these commutations are indicated by green LEDs and TAPE2 MON - by red. Glow of the green insert in the volume control handle helps visually understand the power level. The indication of network power on is made originally. In the standby mode a green arc glows at the bottom of the POWER button and when it switches on or is switched on by the remote control the upper arc glows, forming a glowing ring. In addition, with a help of the remote control you can control the volume, switch inputs and turn on the "monitor" mode (only for the second tape recorder). It is noticeable, that the amplifier is not designed for the lovers of sound record, because it hasn't got the selector of record and the board of pre-amp of MM/MC driver is considered as an option and it isn't included but purchased separately. Structurally, the amplifier is made at a high level. A big ribbed radiator, where output transistors and rectifier bridge are mounted, takes almost the whole middle of the body. EI-shaped power transformer is located next to it. The most part of the amplifier is mounted on the single board together with the regulations of tone, balance and two audio capacitors of high-volume filter - 12000uF/50V. The company doesn't try to impress by a significant output power and gives 60W per channel. But at the same time this is done with a very good reserve (unlike some other firms) and the real measured power is 78 W (!); considering a good ability of "pumping" the decent current, it is perfectly suit for the work with low-resistance speaker systems. Such features allow the amplifier to provide clear sounding in wide dynamic range and cope easily with different music bridges and with good detailing. But in comparison with other tested devices, bass attack was a bit flattened; we can say that the kick was less clear and less elastic. Summarizing all of these we can say that the amplifier definitely has music talents and is remembered. Amazing lightness in the transfer of subtle nuances in the background of scaled bass is the main feature of the sound from Harman/Kardon HK620.