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Harman Kardon HK500 Tuner HK 500

72.70.146.180
Posted on December 29, 2011 at 15:15:34
Neff


 
Interesting no info on this site on the HK500 tuner. Nothing on fmtunerinfo either. Little info exists anywhere. The HK500 peaked my interest due to owning a HK Citation 18. My previous tuners was a Pioneer TX-9500II that lost to a Kenwood KT-990D. The Citation 18 unseated the Kenwood, however the KT-990D is an excellent tuner. I have owned many tuners before the group listed above in both tube & SS design.

I am guessing the HK500 was built from 1977 to 1980. These tuners are inexpensive from about $30-$100. I was kind of hoping, but knew better that the HK500 was a different construction than the Citation 18. And, it is very different. The Citation 18 price was $595 and guess the KH500 was about $239.

The HK500 tuner has a standard FET front-end, four gains, Hitachi HA11211 stereo receiver IC, pair of BA401 three stage differential I.F. amplifiers with peak detector, three Mirata E107A (left dot) 280kHz ceramic I.F. filters and a Toko 4437 stereo decoder. Audio amplifier is decrete transistor (no op-amps). Nothing special here.

Front controls are power off/on, weighted tuning dial, AM/FM mono or FM stereo, variable mute, high frequency filter and 25 uS with 75/50uS default switch on the interior pc board. Rear panel includes fixed or variable output with potentiometer, antenna connections for FM 75 ohm coax input, FM 300 ohm input and aux AM antenna. A built-in AM antenna is standard.

Considering the less than stellar KH500 design vs high-end tuners, the KH500 is sensitive, reasonably selective and produces very good sonics. It has the HK 'house' sound that is different than the Kenwood 'house' sound. I found the Kenwood KT-990D sonics very clear, but laid back lacking dynamics IMO. No doubt the Kenwood is a better receiver, but I am not requiring a DX machine. The Citation 18 & HK500 are simular. Both tuners are dynamic sounding, detailed and produces quality sonics with black space in-between instruments & singers. Every sonic detail stands out vs mixed together. The two tuners sounds simular with the Citation 18 having slightly stronger bass, but not that the KH500 is deficient.

I consider the HK500 a poor mans Citation 18. Actually, I do not detect much difference in-between the two tuners. I saw an add selling the HK500 due to an upgrade to a Rotel RT-940AX. I owned the superior RT-950BX with mods and prefer the HK500 by a fair amount. I also like analog dials, but if a digital synethized tuner outperforms an analog dial tuner, I would go the digital.

So, I consider the HK500 a sleeper tuner. A super deal for the money.

 

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RE: Harman Kardon HK500 Tuner HK 500, posted on December 29, 2011 at 16:10:15
Mortsnets
Audiophile

Posts: 309
Location: SF East Bay
Joined: September 27, 2006
 Great post, I love these sleeper tuner recommendations.

Among the modest tuners I've owned (Sony ST-J75, Pioneer F90, Proton 440, Hitachi FT-920) I liked the lowly NAD 4020A the best.

 

RE: Harman Kardon HK500 Tuner HK 500, posted on February 7, 2012 at 12:19:01
must
Audiophile

Posts: 437
Location: pacific northwest
Joined: December 22, 2003
 1999 Orion Blue Book lists the HK 500 being offered from 1978-82 and retailing at $250.

 

RE: Harman Kardon HK 500.....1978-82.......Tnx...........nt, posted on February 7, 2012 at 21:40:01
Neff


 
.

 

RE: Harman Kardon HK500 Tuner HK 500, posted on November 2, 2015 at 19:21:56
halvis
Audiophile

Posts: 9
Location: Georgia
Joined: November 2, 2015

"Nothing on fmtunerinfo either. Little info exists anywhere."

Apologize for bringing up such an old thread. There is little on this fine budget tuner because it truly did not excel in sound or for dxing purposes. Nor were there a zillion of them made. What it did excel at during its brief history were build quality and stunning good looks. I have owned a boatload of tuners over the years, but to me none of them came close the the brushed alumininum and white dial of this classic sleeper. During the time when I used this one a bit, my system was maybe "upper midfi" with a Hafler preamp, Electron kinetics EAGLE 7A amp, AR9 speakers, and my other 2 tuners at the tiome were a Sumo Charlie and McIntosh MR78, using the antennacraft fm10 on a rotor. Its impossible to compare it to the Sansuis, Kenwoods, Magnum Dynalabs, etc I have owned since, but I will say this, it was not as sensitive as the Sumo or McIntosh, but if the signal was good enough, it always sounded better than the Sumo, and depending on the source material, the MR-78 as well. None of these tuners had been modded, recently aligned, etc so who knows for sure, BUT the dang thing sounded pretty darn good! Maybe i got lucky and got a good one, but as i eventually owned 2 of them, and couldn't discern between them...

Back in the day before the weird wide web, I sold both the Sumo and McIntosh, as well as one of my HK 500s via a trading periodical published by Walt and Lennice. (*****mart) I still have 1 HK500 and it would never bring enough money to get me to part with it. I doubt its as good as any of the tuners I have left at dxing, and without sitting down and spending a few days listening, probably doesnt beat many there either. But its more than OK in every category, the tuning knob is perfectly weighted, its damn good lookin, and it was a bargain at its original price, as it is today in the secondary market, considering what you have to pay for one today doesnt buy much. Its the perfect bedroom, workbench, secondary tuner. just my humble opinion, your mileage may vary.

 

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