Harmon Kardon AVR 7300 for Aerius i

Hi guys,

I'm new "to be" to the M/L world...I'm looking to get my feet wet with something reasonable.

I'm looking at a pair of Aerius i that were built in Dec. 98. Original panels. I'm hoping they are in good shape.

What I really wanted to know was...
I have a Harmon Kardon AVR 7300 which was one of their to of the line 5 years ago. It runs about 125W into 2 channels and 110W into multi-channel AV modes.

Problem it is states @ 8 Ohms. I read a review that tested and saw the same wattage at 4 ohms. I don't want to look at investing into a dedicated amp right now.

The Aerius is 4 ohms and from what I read needs lots of dynamic headroom with drops down to 2.5 ohms.

I guess the question is 2 fold...
Will this receiver work or am I going to blow it up?
Will it sound good?

Any help is appreciated.

It will work, but you will want something better later.

A friend has an HK multi-channel receiver (don't know the model) that's supposed to be 100W/ch, but it's the wimpiest "100W" I've ever heard. Good thing it has preamp outputs.

shakham said:

Hi guys,

I'm new "to be" to the MK world...I'm looking to get my feet wet with something reasonable.

.

Click to expand...

Welcome ! ....BTW, were in the "M/L" world !!

As far as your receiver this has been discussed recently with regards to Vantage's, same thing basically applies with you, it will get you through the door, but if you want to dance with the prom Queen you will want to get a new suit !!

twich54 said:

Welcome ! ....BTW, were in the "M/L" world !!

As far as your receiver this has been discussed recently with regards to Vantage's, same thing basically applies with you, it will get you through the door, but if you want to dance with the prom Queen you will want to get a new suit !!

Click to expand...

Tosh: Great...working is good. Better? Yes...but I want to wade before I swim .

Heh..just realized I wrote MK...not sure what I was thinking .

I did a search on the forum before posting...I must have missed the thread. If you have a link to the thread, I'd appreciate you posting it.

So these thing are replacing a set of PSB 800 which are decent, but not audiophile level.

The key issue is I want to make sure my wife likes them. She's not to keen on M/L styling...I don't know why, cuz I love it. So want to convince her with the sound.

So as for the HK working and not being good enough....what should I notice as deficiencies in the sound powering them with my receiver?

Hello,
The place where your receiver will be most stressed is dealing with high frequency information at high volume levels. The result is usually the highs being rolled off. In addition, due to the impedance load, high volumes may result in the receiver going into thermal protection.

Depending on your listening levels and the types of things you listen to, the HK might work. In addition, the size of your room will have implications as well. If your room is smallish, it will be easier on your HK.

Assuming your HK has preamp outputs, you can find a used two channel amp fairly cheaply and might really give you much better sound.
Cheers,
ML

Mark Linkous said:

Hello,
The place where your receiver will be most stressed is dealing with high frequency information at high volume levels. The result is usually the highs being rolled off. In addition, due to the impedance load, high volumes may result in the receiver going into thermal protection.

Depending on your listening levels and the types of things you listen to, the HK might work. In addition, the size of your room will have implications as well. If your room is smallish, it will be easier on your HK.

Assuming your HK has preamp outputs, you can find a used two channel amp fairly cheaply and might really give you much better sound.
Cheers,
ML

Click to expand...

Okay...I went ahead and set it up with the receiver. It sounds great!

Only caveat is I notice that I have the turn up the receiver dial higher, compared to my old speakers, to get decent volume. Anyhow, I cranked it as high as I needed and I didn't notice the amp showing distortion, nor did I get thermal shutdown...so I'm happy so far :music:.

High frequency rolloff..I don't think I would be able to tell.

I tested it with some Celine Dion and some Cheb Khaled so far. All mellow stuff...I personally like heavy stuff, but sound quality is harder to discern in that genre.

Positioning...I really don't have much of a clue.

I found a placement where the sound appears to be coming from the middle. I had to get up a couple of times to make sure that the center speaker wasn't on. I don't know if this is "the sweet" spot folks are talking about..honestly I'm not enough of an audiophile to know.

The room is about 15 x 20. The speakers are set about 9 feet apart and I'm sitting about 8-9 feet away (thereabouts).

I want to change my center channel next....any opinions on what matches best?

I see some people talking about the old Logos. Is that overkill?
What about the Fresco?
The Encore seems pretty small IMO.

Are there any non-ML centers that work well?

shakham said:

If you have a link to the thread, I'd appreciate you posting it.

Click to expand...

here you go .......

http://www.martinloganowners.com/forum/showthread.php?t=9675

again, 99% of your questions regarding set-up, etc are here on the forum, continue to use the search function , reach out for more help when you need it !

The Hk to no surprise showed no upper frequency distortion as I had the same results with my 745 (7300 successor), yet still I gained significant improvements with the addition of my power amp. As far as placement goes 2 simple rules will get you most of the way there. keep speakers far from any large surfaces (walls, furniture; try for at least 5ft). Then run the famed flashlight test to tow them in (Id explain but its both in the manual and 20 million places on the sight, just search flashlight).