Harman Kardon AVR 7550HD (2008 announcement) - Page 39

^^^Glad to hear from you again. I'm getting a brand new one in either today or tomorrow. Decided it can have the very minor bugs, I'll put up with them. If the fans squeal, I'll change them. If I miss the first few seconds of audio when changing inputs, I'll put up with that also. Just has "something" that the Yamaha A3000 is missing. Ease of use is one, power is another and something I can't quite determine. But I know my wife also wanted the H/K back, so I ordered a new one. A3000 is sold and just waiting for the 7550 to get in so the friend can pick up his A3000. Glad you are enjoying it and hope it gives you many years of service. I can't wait to get my hands back on one of them.

I have the 7550 and the video fan started squealing about 2 weeks ago.
As per one of Mcode's suggestion in an earlier post I removed the cover and added a drop of oil.....worked perfectly. So far it's still good ........

And this is exactly what I will do if needed. I'll also deal with H/K with any other problems(if they are major). I'm not griping any more on the minor crap. None are perfect and I need to realize that. However, in my room, with my speakers, and with EZSet EQII, it does sound all around better than the A3000 and way better than the Onkyo 876(especially for music). Dolby Volume, Logic 7, and ease of use are worth the money alone. Also I like that I-Pod Bridge, good looking docking station IMO.

Wow Phantom - That's cool that you made the move back. Funny - my wife thanked me for changing out the receiver. She likes the new receiver's 'voice' much better - the yammie had some problems with select songs with the highs, actually hurt her ears even at normal volumes - I couldn't completely tame that with the RX-A 2010. HK was actually sounding clear and detailed without any overly bright sound right out of the box - even better after manual adjustment.

I'm also enjoying the ease of use, 2 listening positions and sound choices according to input, ipod dock with on-screen controls and too many other well-thought-out design aspects to mention here. Besides the 2 channel bliss, logic 7 is great, using the 'AVR selects best mode' setting works well for most movies and TV.

I did use Dolby volume a lot on the 3600 but not much on the 7550. Not using it at all for music - even at low volumes music is superb. 3600 seemed to benefit from slight boost from Dolby volume, actually sounds better with DV set to off on the 7550.

No fan squeal here at all but one of the weird bugs with the apple tv hooked up was that the tunnel fan cranked on high randomly, and wouldn't shut off. I had to shut down and restart the receiver. Haven't had that problem after disconnecting Apple tv. The tunnel fan has come on high only when really pushing the receiver to high volumes. Just as Mcode described it auto adjusts according to temp, when I turn down the volume to a level where I can hear the fan, it slows within a few seconds to an inaudible fan speed. No cutoff when changing inputs either. I'll be curious about your experience with the unit.

I'm also really curious about that 'other something' you mention. Is it the amp, high current, DAC, or just marketing smoke and mirrors that all those nay sayers talk about when comparing SQ between amplifiers/processors? I just smile when I read that there is absolutely no difference. I can barley tear myself away when listening to music. Wasn't quite like that with the yamaha.

May be that other something is the difference in the build quality of the two. I know the 7550 is a much better put together AVR than the A3000. Speaker terminals are much more solid for one thing. Now if the 7550 had that "fifth foot" it would be impossible to find a better product. I also like the H/K Eq program more. Power wise is also much better on the H/K as you know. We miss Dolby Volume for commercial TV, and we also miss the overall better sound with whatever source we are using. IMO the Yamaha is a good AVR but not in the same class as some their older models and certainly not in the 7550's realm. I actually feel that the Yamaha 2600 that my daughter is now using was a better AVR. Just felt more solidly made. Now if the 2600 would have had the current YPAO program then it would be closer to the 7550. Closer only, just not there. Mine didn't arrive today so it will be here tomorrow. It will be in the place of the A3000 tomorrow evening some time. Calibrate after the wife goes to bed. Cranked up and going strong with music on Friday early morning. Then Friday evening it's Pinks BD "Funhouse, Live in Australia. Awesome sounding BD on the 7550. Already planning on what to watch and listen to with the thing and its not even here yet. Worse than a little kid sometimes. This hobby has a way of making grown ups crazy.

If someone can clarify on the fan noise, when you guys mention squalling noise you’re talking dry bearing type noise. I ask because I can hear the fan when at high speed if I turn the volume down but it feels like echoed type noise provably due to the tunnel. Am I correct on this or you guys suggest I should apply some oil to the fan. Is the fan noise always audible no matter what on this model?

There are (2) fans in the 7550HD, 1 in the amplifier tunnel and 1 for the video processor. The tunnel fan will cycle on/off depending upon thermal conditions and can be heard (blade air velocity) if the levels are low.. The squeal comes from the small video fan is high pitched and very audible, and annoying. In the 1st production run some fans that squealed were shipped out. As mentioned previously, a very small drop of lite lubricant should fix this. Note that we came up with this mod, nobody @ HK is aware of the fix to my knowledge..

Just my $0.02..

Dammit phantom i was getting the 7550 till you talked me into getting the yammy, i got the a2000 but wth im happy with it running a emotiva 5 ch amp. I had a harman 430 before my yammy but now im running 9.1 and its great.... I guess im spoiled now with my presence speakers, just doesnt sound the same without it

About refurbs, when i bought my first hk refurb on ebay it would power off after about 10 seconds, it went from maui to california repair shop 3-4 times in a row for about 1-2 months. Hk finally gave me a new one which was a better model then the one i purchased.. Bad experience with refurb . The new one lasted 6-7 years till i sold it for my yamaha 2000..

And well you should be, I'm not saying the Yammies aren't good by any means. They are very good, reliable more so than any other brand out there. Build quality is there, sound is there, DSP programs that work, no heat issues at all. Just about everything that an excellent AVR needs. For what the A2000/3000 is selling for it is a bargain compared to other brands and models. There was just something about the 7550 that made me have buyers remorse over the A3000. Your A2000 with the XPA5 will bring you many years of enjoyment, and be trouble free doing it. There's a trade off to me. I've used a Parasound HCA2205AT with a Onkyo 696,Yamaha 2600, Onkyo 876, and even with the A3000. Did I need it,no, but it was one of those buys we just have to try. Bi-amped with it on each and every one of them, just to try of course, and didn't sound any better. The 7550 on the other hand has something the others did not have. No need for the additional amp, the Eq program worked for my room better than any of the others, Dolby Volume for commercial TV is awesome, Logic 7 is another big plus. None of the others did these things. I missed them right away. My wife missed them more than I did, especially DV. So it's back to the 7550 for us. I've got some light oil to fix those fans if needed, I've got an excellent cooling fan that I will place on the top of the 7550 to help keep that tunnel fan off. Needed it for the Onkyo 876, it's very quiet and very efficient. The two 7550's I used never had a heat problem though. My problem is that I'm hard headed, hard to please when it comes to this hobby and the 7550 came closer to satisfaction than any I've ever used. This hobby has cost me a small fortune, especially in the last year. 2 7550's(both returned) and now the A3000(sold). Hell, UPS should put me on their payroll. Hopefully this 7550 will be trouble free. If it is I'm through for a while at least buying sound equipment. Sorry I talked you into the A2000. The 7550's are hard to find now, I got lucky and found a brand new in box one and snatched it up. Sold the A3000 the same day. If you can find a 7550 and you have buyers remorse with the A2000, I'd sell it and get the 7550. Keep your amp. There's always use for it down the road. Right now my extra bedroom looks like a small BestBuy. Damn I'm goofy.

Picked one up and I noticed right away the gain out of the box is pretty high compared to my other receivers and so line noise is amplified. The ambient hiss/hum level is at least 6+ dB compared to my other receivers (Yammy Z11 and Onkyo 906) I didn't even know I had a ground loop problem until I hooked these up.

The hum is annoying enough (I can hear it from 25ft away) I'm gonna get the cable guy to check if the coax is grounded and an electrician to see if they can make sure everything is grounded at home. Or I guess the other option is to get a receiver with much lower pre-amp gain out of box.

Been keeping up with this thread for awhile now.

As I have said it before and I will say it again.. the 7550HD is hands down the best sounding receiver I have had the pleasure to own. It's so good and so powerful that I have packed up my my Marantz/Rotel separates and put them in storage. With 200 watts per channel that combo did not sound as good as the 7550HD to me. My 7550 is about 6 months old now and I am pleased to report no issues.

My unit is in an AV cabinet with the doors closed all the time. The only thing I did was to place a small very quiet low speed fan on top of the unit towards the back. I now hardly ever hear the 7550's fan go on now no matter how hard I push it. Such a minor inconvenience compared to the reward of quality sound.

just my two cents!

M-Code
Thanks for the reply; I was more curies then anything. My 7550 HD is about 7 months old and it has worked flawless! I love this thing...

astrallite
I had a hum coming from my SUB and an inexpensive coaxial ground did the job. 100% hum free. Just some info...

Work-around for digital streams to be used for Multi-room/ZoneII -
As most of us know the "DSP Downmix" feature found on the 645/745 for ZoneII audio input is gone. However, the "DSP Downmix" DOES remain for the analog record outputs.
If you MUST use a digital input source in ZoneII, loop the analog record output to an unused Analog audio input. With that source selected in the main room press info (or go to the source setup menu and select that source) and change the record output to DSP downmix, and change the ZoneII audio input to the analog input you connected the loop to. You can now listen to a downmixed 2-channel version of any digital source from ZoneII.
Catch is, the main zone/room MUST also be playing the same source simultaneously for this to work.

Repeat for any other digital-only sources (Change record out to DSP Downmix, ZoneII audio input to the same looped analog input) you want to use for ZoneII- the ZoneII source will change to whatever the main source is switched to.

#3 got here yesterday[Monday],set it up last night, all came on as it should and it was great! Even though it was a refurb it was absolutely spotless looking like new. I was thrilled----For about 30 minutes then no audio. Video was fine. Turned it off , then on and all came back on ---for about 15 minutes then no audio. Turned it off, then on and nothing happened. It died. I cannot believe I have had 3 defective units. Called HK and they are sending another. I am guessing the prior owner returned this one having that same problem and the tech did not catch the problem due to the time it took to develop after being powered on. I got the impression the service guy at HK was familiar with the problem. I called the kids last night asking if I could have my old 635 back------they are attached to it. Not sure what I will do if #4 does not function correctly...........Jim

Nah mine isn't anything like that, I have a couple of receivers in the house, the ones with the crappy weak amps have no noise at all, whereas the more powerful receivers I have have progressively louder hum. I think bigger amp = more voltage ripple and this amplifies existing noise in a circuit.

For me its like this in my house (with nothing connected to amp except speakers):

18lb Pioneer receiver: ~inaudible
20lb Yamaha receiver: ~inaudible
55lb Onkyo 906: ~5db hum
73lb Yamaha Z11: ~8db hum
44lb HK 7550HD: ~30db hum

For whatever reason the HK has much higher gain than all my other receivers resulting in a much higher noise floor. Most likely Harman Kardon cheaped out while building the 7550 because you can push this kind of noise down with capacitor caps/resistors.

astrallite - do you have the same noise from ALL channels?

My first 7550 had virtually no audible noise from any channel. With my ear right up to the tweeters I could just barely make out a faint hiss with the volume up / analog source with no signal.
My replacement 7550 is the same for the L/C/R and surround channels, however there IS some audible noise from the surround back channels even a couple feet away, particularly SBL. (The center channel, although sharing the SBL/SBR 'amp board', is fine)

I know the amp idling bias is adjustable for each channel (spec is to adjust each channel 23mv +/- 2 no signal/no load on completely warmed up unit), which I assume is the issue? not something I want to mess with, however (and not something I want to deal with exchanging it over)

I have had the 7550HD for a few months...recently I am experiencing problems similar to Surfcane. I power on the receive and in a few seconds it turns off...I press power again and it come on an stays on.

Called the tech support, according to them (1) your speakers could be bad - disconnect and reconnect one at a time, (2) connection to components could be bad - disconnect and reconnect a/v components one at a time, (3) and finally reset the HK machine if nothing works.

I have tried 1, and 2...still same problem...hesitant to do a reset...any suggestions or advice? Thanks in advance.

Astrallite,
I am curious about your comments on the hum and line noise on the 7550. I find quite the opposite. I don't hear any noise in my system, or very negligible. Maybe you are more sensitive or have higher standards than I do (no kidding). I run the 7550 and almost all my sources through a Monster HTS1000 MKIII, which is not a particularly special peice of hardware. I am just wondering what you are using for power filtering.

Well regardless, I returned the HK7550HD and got a Yamaha RX-A3000 and it's quiet as a whistle.

And power filtering was not the issue, I have a medical grade 1.2kVA iso transformer and it didn't solve my problem with the HK.

I just ordered a 7550HD, based mainly on M Code's comments, and reading through this thread. So, M Code, if you secretly work for HK, then they owe you a commission

One of the big reasons why I bought the 7550HD, was for the handling of the subwoofers. However, I have two different subs, and am wondering if that will be a problem. I have a Velodyne DD10, and a Boston Acoustics DPS-1000. Both have a 10 inch driver, but are quite different in design.

The DD10 is a small sealed box with a 1000 watt amp. The DPS is a 10 inch with a bit bigger box, two 8 inch passive radiators, and a 500 watt amp.

The best frequency response charts I could find are as follows:

http://www.hometheater.com/content/b...-labs-measures

http://www.avtalk.co.uk/showthread.p...ad.php?t=19280

Im not an expert at reading these charts, but they look to have similar frequency response down to around 27hz. After that, the DPS drops off dramatically.

Is the 7550HD going to be able to integrate the two different subs well into the system? The other speakers are:

Front: Focal Audio Profile 908 (89db) 8 ohm
Center: Totem Dreamcatcher (88db) 8 ohm
Rear: PSB S50 bipolar (93db) 6 0hm

I am afraid #3 wont help either...I had to send it back and got a new unit (same exact issue of shutting down...gets worse as time goes by),

Z

Sent the 3rd 7550 back Dec. 6 and as of today no replacement. The web site tells me my order is pending. The rep told me it was being shipped the 26th but that has not happened.
Wonder if they are out of replacements??
Is a new model replaceing the 7550 out yet? HK mentions an advanced model is to be out soon on their web site.
Sure am tired of the speakers in my tv.
Anyone have any knowledge of a new model??

Send the $ via Paypal to Needs$@M-Code.com... j/k

Just my $0.02...

New models are 1 year away, Fall 2012....

Just my $0.02...

Pick up a new H/K 3600 on the cheap and wait for that new model to fall in price. As M Code states Fall of 2013. Use a 3600 until the price drops on that 7550HD replacement. Just another option.

I asked the rep about a 3650 replacement earlier but he .told me the 7550 was much better than the 3650 and basically not to switch----I did not ask about the 3600. Any problems with the 3600 like I am having with the 7550?
My kids love my old 635.

The 3600 is a better AVR than the 3650. The 3650 is measured like most of the newer models from everyone else. The 3600 was measured like H/K measured there previous models. Check out the dedicated thread for the 3600 for answers. Seems like most really like theirs. MCode can provide a better answer than I can. Is it in the 7550 class, no, but my bet is it's much closer than the 3650.

These are quotes from this thread within the past year.
M Code, you have the most detailed knowledge of this receiver on the board. I see the two 10,000uf/63v caps on the power supply board. Buried on the 4ch amp board there also appears to be two 15,000uf/63v caps near the preouts. After glancing at the x30 and x45 SMs they look to have the same arrangement (2 10,000uf/63v on supply board for surround amp, 2 15,000uf/63 directly on main/4ch amp board (8200uf/63v and 12000uf/63v for 4xx))

Does this mean the 7550 also had a "dual secondary" type supply like it's predecessors?

With the 7550 having the same secondary capacitance as the 745 but with the larger power supply, the 7550 should not only have a very slightly higher all-channels-driven spec but legitimately net a marginally higher HCC current spec (similar to comparing the 745 to the 645), no? What is your opinion?

Would you happen to know which team worked on the 7550HD replacement?

Thanks