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Amp/Preamp Asylum: REVIEW: Harmon Kardon Amplifier (Tube) by dls123

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REVIEW: Harmon Kardon Amplifier (Tube)

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Model:
Category: Amplifier (Tube)
Suggested Retail Price: Varies
Description: Rebuild of classic design
Manufacturer URL: Not Available
Model Picture: View

Review by dls123 on March 18, 2008 at 07:55:05
IP Address: 207.216.216.94
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Hi, Pardon if this was posted twice, but I am trying to get it in the right spot and it wasn't showing up under the Citation II review category so I am trying again!
Don

A Citation II review and a tale of II Citations....

Hi all,
OK, first the caveats: I have never met Jim McShane, although we have become friends through a number of phone conversations. I don't work for him, own stock in his company, etc...... I have bought quite a few parts from him for several projects and always gotten first rate service, but no affiliation whatsoever. OK, now we can proceed.

A few months ago I posted a review of a Harman Kardon Citation V amplifier that I completely rebuilt using all of Jim McShane's upgrade kits. I replaced the entire power supply, some resistors, all the caps, the jacks, and all of the wiring. I also added one more McShane tweak, converting the filament supply of the two input tubes to regulated DC. The resulting amp was astoundingly good and far exceeded my expectations. Especially since the entire project cost me about $750 plus my labour. There simply cannot be a power amp out there under $1000 that can touch this thing. So... I did the V because I couldn't find a Citation II to rebuild for any sort of reasonable cost. A couple of months ago I managed to get a II core for about $700. So I took the leap. I installed all of Jim's kits, completely re-wired the amp and also bought Jim's resistor kit to replace every resistor in the amp. I figured this might be my last amp for a while so I'd just do everything. In for a penny, in for a pound. I also installed a pair of switches to allow me to go from ultra linear to triode connected on the fly. As usual Jim was very helpful in custom designing the cap kit for me to suit my system and tastes. I went for Russian K40 PIO caps for the big coupling caps, and Jim's better quality ones elsewhere. I also replaced the AC balance pots, all the jacks, and all the tube sockets. It really wasn't all that hard to work on. Once you pull the power supply bracket on a Citation you can "climb in under the hood" like on an old chevy and easily work on everything. First off, lots of people own these amps and many are happy customers of Jim McShane. This has been stated on these boards by many inmates, but I will say it again. These amps are 40 - 50 years old and many parts are well out of spec, well past their life expectancies, and some are barely functioning, if at all. If you don't replace failing parts you will never hear how the amp was designed to sound. You have to at least replace all the caps in the power supply and the coupling caps or you are risking a serious failure. I will say that most of the resistors I measured were still within spec, but I felt like updating the whole amp so I went for it. I think the total cost with all parts and shipping of the core to me was around $1400 or so. I already had a nice collection of KT88's so I saved some money there. Now the amp has at least 80 - 100 hours on it and has completely settled down so I thought I'd write a review.

Many have said this before....but this is one amazing amplifier! It is without a doubt the finest amplifier I have ever heard. Anywhere, at any price. Period. Channel separation with Jim's level I and II plus kits sounds like a pair of mono blocks. I can't think of much to write that hasn't already been said about this amp, but here are my impressions. Remember they are from a 50 year-old male whose hearing is probably rolling off! First, two words: Woofer control! The bass response of this amplifier is like a very large solid state amp. Extremely tight and accurate. Yet it retains the soul, air, and three dimensionality of a tube amp. Huge power supply (with McShane mods) and legendary output iron. It was designed to have flat frequency response from 20 Hz to over 40,000 Hz. You can tell. There is absolutely no high frequency roll off. Therefore the amp has stunning air and detail, yet it is not bright at all. In fact, I have gone out of my way to play some of the harsher, brighter recordings in my collection and they are all quite listenable with the II. I have had some very good amps in this same system, including the Citation V, and I have never heard the subtleties and details in my recordings presented like this. There are very subtle things I am picking up that I never noticed in any incarnation of the stereo. For example, as I type I am listening to an old favourite recording by the Brazilian guitarist Luiz Bonfa. On one track there is a background percussion instrument that is clearly one of those little things with wooden chimes suspended that the player runs their finger or a drumstick along. You can hear this with any good amp, but with the II you can hear that the percussionist is actually moving very slightly from left to right and fades out to stage right. Like they kept playing as they left the soundstage. This was sort of blurry before, sort of fading out to the right somewhere, but now is very apparent. I have heard this recording a million times and never really noticed that. I could list many other examples. The amp is extremely dynamic, capable of subtle detail one moment with extreme power on the next beat. Acoustic guitar strings just leap out of the speakers. It is extremely fast, but yet it doesn't sound too fast. Very hard to describe. The other thing about the II that strikes you immediately is that it is somehow harmonically more correct than any other amp. The piano sounds more like a piano, the banjo more like a banjo, etc... There is simply no colouration that I can hear. This takes a bit of getting used to. I can see how some would say it is dry sounding or some such. However, after you live with it a while you realize that the instruments somehow sound more realistic than you have ever heard. A Citation II doesn't editorialize, it just plays what you feed it with great clarity and detail, no harshness, amazing dynamic range, and stunning bass control. You can just hear how good it would be for driving difficult, "tube unfriendly" loads. I would love to hear this thing driving a big warm pair of KEF 105's or something like that. Just for fun. Or a big pair of electrostatics, just for the hell of it. Having a tube amp with 65 watts/ch with huge peak capability that is stable into most any load opens all sorts of speaker possibilities.

If I run it in triode it sounds just a bit sweeter, as expected, and is very nice. I can make it clip, but only by playing bass heavy music at live levels. However I find myself listening mostly in ultra linear. It is just more dynamic and only loses just a hint of sweetness. I have heard no trace of clipping whatsoever in ultra linear with any music at any volume level I would ever listen to. I would be afraid of either destroying my speakers or ear drums to play it any louder. I am driving a pair of Joseph Audio RM25si MkII speakers. These are 88dB, but a true 8 ohm design that is very tube friendly, never dropping below 6 ohms all the way down to 35 Hz. I have a fairly large listening room and I suppose the speakers like the extra power of ultra linear. I put the amp on my scope and it produces over 34 watts/ch in triode and a bit over 65 watts/ch in ultra linear, both channels driven, at any frequency I tried. By contrast the Citation V puts out about 54 watts/ch and it also sounds very dynamic and never showed any trace of clipping. So I guess the magic number for very dynamic sound in my room with my speakers is somewhere between 34 and 54 watts/ch. In a smaller room I am sure that triode would be more than enough power. It really is in this room at any sane volume level. But the speakers just have that little extra jump in ultra linear ... In your system who knows. The pair of nice switches was under $20. It's nice to be able to choose between triode and ultra linear on the fly.

When comparing the Citation II to the Citation V you can hear the family resemblance. Both have great dynamic range. The Citation V is a bit sweeter sounding and although it is very detailed, it just can't get the subtleties like the II. The V has great bass response, but it cannot control a woofer like the II. However, the Citation V images better than any amp I have ever heard, including the II. There are times when the music seems to almost wrap around behind you. The Citation II images as well or better than any good tube amplifier I have heard, except the V. The image on the II is several feet wider than the speakers, floor to ceiling, and has very nice depth. It just doesn't quite do the wrap around trick of the V. If I had to put numbers on it I would say for imaging the V is a "10" and the II is a "9". Beyond that, I would pick the II as my everyday amp. Especially if I had speakers that were a more difficult load. The individual vocals and instruments are more clearly defined in the space than with the V, or any other amp I have heard. They are also better defined harmonically for lack of any other way to describe it. So to sum up, if you find a Citation V for cheap and rebuild it you will have a wonderful amp, the equal of most any push pull amp there is, except one....the Citation II. Really, you have to hear one of these. Even if you don't keep it, just the chance to live with it for a while is an experience not to be missed for anyone who is into this crazy hobby. If you do the work yourself you can have a completely restored (and updated) Citation II for under $1500. I don't know, but if there is any amp out there under $5,000 that can touch this thing I would love to hear it. Yeah, it's that good. Perhaps you are into low powered single ended amps and very efficient speakers. More power to you as there are many roads to true enlightenment... However, if you want to go down the push-pull path with normal multi-driver dynamic speakers, or electrostatics or whatever, then I really can't see that you could get a much better amp. Happy listening!


Product Weakness: Runs a tad bit warm, but that is really no big deal.
Product Strengths: Hugely dynamic, amazing bass control, while retaining all those wonderful tube qualities.


Associated Equipment for this Review:

Amplifier: H-K Citation II
Preamplifier (or None if Integrated): Space-Tech Labs QA-115-Reg
Sources (CDP/Turntable): Consonance Ref. 2.2 CD
Speakers: Joseph Audio RM25si Mk2
Cables/Interconnects: Di Marzio
Music Used (Genre/Selections): jazz, classical, rock, pop
Room Size (LxWxH): 16 x 24 x 8
Time Period/Length of Audition: 3 months
Type of Audition/Review: Product Owner




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Topic - REVIEW: Harmon Kardon Amplifier (Tube) - dls123 07:55:05 03/18/08 ( 3)