A US friend told me how great his HK Citation tuner was so when I spotted this HK500 for 10ukp, I decided to grab it and am glad I did as it sounds bloody lovely, far better than my Marantz ST-55 I bought back in 1994, in fact I didn't know FM could sound so nice.
It's a very pretty thing and built like a tank, very heavy with very thick aluminium faceplate, sadly mine has a few dents in the front.
I don't know anything about this tuner and can't find any info other than this from the audioasylum forum:
Does anyone know this model? It has two mysterious button - mpx fm noise filter and 25 microsec, the former doesn't appear to do anything, the latter seems to make the sound a little clearer, perhaps more treble.
Everything appears to work great apart from the little red LED to indicate stereo reception and the signal strength dial doesn't budge.
It's a very pretty thing and built like a tank, very heavy with very thick aluminium faceplate, sadly mine has a few dents in the front.
I don't know anything about this tuner and can't find any info other than this from the audioasylum forum:
Does anyone know this model? It has two mysterious button - mpx fm noise filter and 25 microsec, the former doesn't appear to do anything, the latter seems to make the sound a little clearer, perhaps more treble.
Everything appears to work great apart from the little red LED to indicate stereo reception and the signal strength dial doesn't budge.
Attachments
You will need to register, but all the info is here :-
https://www.hifiengine.com/manual_library/harman-kardon/hk500.shtml
https://www.hifiengine.com/manual_library/harman-kardon/hk500.shtml
MPX noise blends the highs to mono, reducing hiss on *weak* signals.
25uS was for an old plan to use Dolby on FM. A compromise so you could get best result with 25uS and Dolby, and have acceptable results with standard 75uS and no Dolby.
25uS was for an old plan to use Dolby on FM. A compromise so you could get best result with 25uS and Dolby, and have acceptable results with standard 75uS and no Dolby.
Thanks for that explanation, the manual isn't too clear on those features.
I expected to have to recap this beast, being 40 years old, but I can detect nothing amiss at all with the sound, so I'm happy to leave it be.
I expected to have to recap this beast, being 40 years old, but I can detect nothing amiss at all with the sound, so I'm happy to leave it be.
HiFiEngine is being slow; here's the snippet.
Dolby FM started in 1971 and was fading by 1974. I am sure you can not find a commercial Dolby FM signal (I did find a discussion about micro-transmitters).
75uS to 25uS is about 2 notches up on your Treble knob, audibly brighter but also boosts hiss.
Use either one any time you like. However there is no good reason to use 25uS. The MPX noise is a nice in-between for weak signals: you still have stereo midrange but the higher hiss is reduced. When that is not enough, use Mono ("plain FM").
Dolby FM started in 1971 and was fading by 1974. I am sure you can not find a commercial Dolby FM signal (I did find a discussion about micro-transmitters).
75uS to 25uS is about 2 notches up on your Treble knob, audibly brighter but also boosts hiss.
Use either one any time you like. However there is no good reason to use 25uS. The MPX noise is a nice in-between for weak signals: you still have stereo midrange but the higher hiss is reduced. When that is not enough, use Mono ("plain FM").
Attachments
Thankyou.
I live in a valley in a remote corner of northern England - Cumbria, the Lake District, so FM is restricted to the 7 stations on the local transmitter, which is a small relay mast. You may get a weak signal from more distant stations with an external antenna, but I'm just using a simple internal dipole wire.
I live in a valley in a remote corner of northern England - Cumbria, the Lake District, so FM is restricted to the 7 stations on the local transmitter, which is a small relay mast. You may get a weak signal from more distant stations with an external antenna, but I'm just using a simple internal dipole wire.
Who needs all that modern digital trickery with programmed presets when you can just use some stickers... and the super smooth tuning knob is a tactile joy to use. 🙂
For the non-UK peeps, the stations are BBC Radio 1, 2, 3 and 4, BBC Radio Cumbria (local station), Heart (local commercial station), and Classic FM. These are the only 7 stations on the local transmitter. Not hooked up an AM antenna to see what medium wave stations I can pick up yet.
For the non-UK peeps, the stations are BBC Radio 1, 2, 3 and 4, BBC Radio Cumbria (local station), Heart (local commercial station), and Classic FM. These are the only 7 stations on the local transmitter. Not hooked up an AM antenna to see what medium wave stations I can pick up yet.
Attachments
Last edited:
- Status
- Not open for further replies.