harman/kardon HK 3490 Introduction

There comes a time in everyone's lives where one needs to reboot and get back to the basics.  We see this all the time in the movie industry with successful remakes such as Batman Begins, as well as the car industry by revitalizing the classic spirit of models that seemed to lose their way over the new generation of successors (ie. Mustang, Camaro).  Getting back to the basics is usually a good thing and something I often yearn for in the overly complex home theater world laced in HDMI mishaps, and MP3 compression.  Harman/kardon understands this well as their products have traditionally been more audiophile focused than many of their competitors.  Enter the HK 3490 Stereo A/V Receiver.  On paper, the HK 3490 seems to have great performance and features that would please the audiophile and techno-geek alike.  When one of my close friends was looking for a two-channel receiver for his bedroom system, I selfishly suggested this model simply because I wanted the chance to test it first hand.  Little did I know, the HK 3490 would dazzle me with a performance and feature set not found on any of its peers. 

Design Overview

harman/kardon HK 3490 Top View

The HK 3490 power supply is sized like a typical mid to high priced 7.1 receiver yet it's only sporting two channels of amplification!  I couldn't read the ratings of the power supply capacitors but they were quite thick and hefty.  The power transistors were not the typical run of the mill ones found on most A/V receivers.  These babies had some real size to them reminding me of how high end two-channel receivers used to be made when companies cared more about audio quality over cutting corners for profit margins.  What was surprising to find in this two-channel receiver was a pair of AKM PCM DAC's.  That's right, the HK 3490 has digital inputs and internal D/A converters on-board, a critically useful feature I've not been able to find on any other two-channel receivers.

harman/kardon HK 3490 Back View

The HK 3490 back panel is cleanly laid out.  There are two pairs of speaker outputs utilizing 5-way binding post connections.  They are wired in parallel so no sound degradation will result by running two-pairs of speakers simultaneously.  We do however caution users to stick with 8-ohm speakers if running two sets simultaneously.  Otherwise, feel safe running a pair of 4-ohm speakers for stereo.  As you will see in my measurements, the amp section of the HK 3490 is very stable at 4-ohms.   The HK 3490 provides composite video switching, analog RCA audio connections and two digital inputs (1 coax, 1 toslink).  It also provisions for dual subwoofer output connections but with no bass management provisions, which is typical of two-channel receivers.  There is a Bridge II connector for iPod users and a master on/off power switch on the back, two switched outlets, and a non-detachable power cord

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harman/kardon HK 3490 Front panel View

You can tell at first glance of the HK 3490 front panel, that this product means business. The chassis has a solid feel and heft to it and the layout of the front panel is quite elegant and simple.   I have only a few cosmetic gripes which include the flimsy O-ring volume control, lack of backlighting on the input buttons and the tiny pop out balance and tone controls underneath the removable front panel flaps.  I found it quite difficult to adjust the bass/treble controls but they luckily had a center click detent to make it easier to set to the zero or neutral position.  Honestly if you've got really linear speakers and high quality amplification, you should have very little need to use tone controls which typically only color the sound and make it less accurate. 

Product Features

The harman/kardon HK 3490 has some very unique features not typically found on any of its competitors such as:

• Digital audio inputs - this allows the user to take an inexpensive DVD player and turn it into a high end CD player by utilizing the internal AKM DAC's to handle the D/A conversion.
• Dual subwoofer outputs - this provides the end user the ability to line level connect up to two powered subwoofers in stereo, or one in mono using the right output, to extend bass frequencies of the system.
• Bridge II iPod interface - allows you to interface and operate your iPod device via the HK 3490 remote control while it also charging it during operation.
• Dolby Virtual Speaker - DSP mode for enhanced surround sound listening with two speakers.
• Dolby Headphone - provides surround sound effects with standard headphones using a stereo source.
• XM Radio ready - interfaces with optional XM tuner to receive highly compressed and nasty sounding XM radio broadcasts for those who care more about convenience than sound quality.
• Phone input support MM-type cartridges. 
• Preamp Outputs and Main Power Amp Input couplers - allows you to connect external amplification, or an external processor or equalizer.

 
About the only features I found missing on the HK 3490 which are available on some competitor models were:

• Loudness control - bass & treble boost used at low volume to compensate for human hearing losses
• Multi zone - ability to connect external amplification to provide sound in other areas of the home using the receiver as the preamp and switcher. 

I rarely find the need to use loudness controls, especially when utilizing a powered subwoofer in the system.  I also don't see much value of the multi-zone feature for most people purchasing two-channel receivers but if that is an important feature for you, you may have to look elsewhere.  It is important to mention however, that although the HK 3490 doesn't have a dedicated Zone2 output, you can in fact use the dual subwoofer outputs (which are full-range signals) in conjunction with an external preamp and power amp to route audio to another room.