AVR7300 & 412 Report

[PaulB]

OK, so the rack O gear is dwindling away on Ebay and the new HK receiver: AVR 7300 arrived yesterday and the 412's arrived today. First the bad news...
The 412's arrived damaged, one badly. One was clearly a return, the box was fine but the speaker had obviously been dropped hard. One corner was damaged to the point where there's a "crumple" line visible on the side of the cab. The other was seemingly brand new, but it arrived with a damaged grille (one pin broken off). I haven't been able to reach JBL yet, but since this was evidentally the lasttttt pair on Earth, and since I can't hear the slightest effect to the sound... I'm prolly going to keep them.

Now for the goods. This receiver KICKS ASS. I haven't owned an receiver in many years, so I'm likely out of date, but holy smokes! More flexibility than a Morrocan belly dancer, built like a Panzer and with titanium cajones. It does run hot as heck, and the cooling fan is just the tiniest bit noticeable BUT if you are in the market for a receiver get this on the HK clearance website TODAY! The Faroujda video processing is truly startling in it's effect, the various surround modes are fantastic, and it has tonssssssss of headroom. Couldn't be happier with the purchase, and for under a grand it's insane.

The 412's are very very nice, but certainly they aren't my old 4343's. Much brighter, and not as effortless sounding when it's time to really move some air. But, they have a great nicely balanced sound with beacoup bass (albeit not what I'm used to). In the lower mids they are beautiful, giving outstanding vocals. The upper mids are just the tiniest bit harsh but again, I've been listening to 4343's for 30 years . These ain't no anorexic sounding pencil speakers, nice full JBL sound with great staging, plenty of bass, and nice crystaline treble. And... 500 bucks for the pair? I guess I'm gonna live with the crumpled edge and do some repair work. I'm looking forward to breaking em in (but I already got a knock on the door, so maybe I'll take my time )

PaulB

[Titanium Dome]

Give yourself at least a couple of weeks to "break in" to your new speakers. You're going cold turkey from years of 4343 use, so you'll likely endure some changes.

The AVR7300 can help you with its amazing abilities to make the sound what you want, but give yourself a couple of weeks first.

[Rusnzha]

It's been about a month since you got those 412s. This 412 owner has been watching for your comments after letting go of your 4343s. Dammit, I wish I got them. But, the truth is, I get a big shit eating grin when I listen to mine.

[PaulB]

Well, listen... they aren't 4343's. Butttttttttttttttttttttttt for the price (especially the price I paid) I think they are fantastic. Nice tight abundant bass, very crystalline highs, great sound stage. I don't understand why they were discontinued, or why they weren't more appreciated.

[Rusnzha]

It's good to know there is life after owning 4343s and that the 412s seem to be doing it for you. The break in period on mine was a few months and they have aged well. Thanks for the update.

[Rusnzha]

PaulB -- How are your S412s doing? I just ordered an AVR 7300 to replace my Onkyo which is now on sale. I am dropping it into a 6.1 setup with a single rear speaker for now. I'm studying the owners manual so I don't have to waste a huge amount of time when it gets here.

There is one question I can't find an answer to that I hope you can help me with. They talk about 6.1/7.1, but I can't find anything that speciifcally deals with setting it up as a 6.1. Since you have been using one of these for a while, maybe you can fill me in on this?

Thanks,

Russ

[Rolf]

Give yourself at least a couple of weeks to "break in" to your new speakers.

The last time we discussed break in time I was accused for this: "oh no" "the first recorded albums was SVADA".

NOT by you TD

[PaulB]

Russ,
I'm sorry to say I don't know that I'll be much help to you. I run mine right now as 5.1, and will be adding my tag sale coup B&Ws for 7.1. But I'll tell you, you will be blown away by the 7300, it's an amazing receiver.

[Rusnzha]

Originally posted by PaulB

But I'll tell you, you will be blown away by the 7300, it's an amazing receiver.

You can take that to the bank -- It was there when I got home from work yesterday. I hooked everything up and I went into the menus (the instructions were driving me crazy, I probably have some kind of learning disability) and setup went easily and quickly. I used my SPL meter rather than using the automated setup. I also compared the SPL meter built into the remote with my Rat Shack meter. The Rat Shack read about 3 db higher, but this didn't have any effect on my level settings.

I finally played something and before 2 notes played, I was amazed by the sound. My Studio Series stuff rewarded me big time for feeding them better. This thing has the warmth and balls of a Mac and the soul of a Lexicon. Getting all this in a new unit for 900 bucks is a steal.

Logic 7 doesn't work with everything anymore than Neo 6 or PL2, but on the stuff it works with, it is a great additional choice. The Patricia Barber 2 channel SACDs really benefitted from Logic 7. All the surround modes sound a lot better than my retired Onkyo TX-DS 797. PL2x murders PL2. The one thing I didn't want when I upgraded was just an incremental improvement. I wanted something orders of magnitude better. I am as happy as a pig in crap.

On Friday, I will get the pair of indoor/outdoor S36s that I ordered. This will solve my rear channel issues and should make it sound even better.

[hjames]

Whoa - this puppy has separate Preamp level outputs for ALL CHANNELS??

So - you could feed LF & RF (left front & Right Front, e.g, the "stereo mains")
into an active crossover, and use that to feed a pair of biamped monitors?!

Way too cool This may be the thing that encourages me to finally give up my old stereo/theatre system JVC receiver with Dolby Pro, DTS, optical switching (and all of that environmental room create stuff that I've never used)...

Dang! It really does sound like a sweet system!

[Rusnzha]

It has 8 channels worth of pre-amp level outputs. There are probably a few ways to set up your stuff with this receiver.

http://www.onecall.com/ProductDetails.aspx?id=23716

http://www.ubid.com/actn/opn/getpage...&uwb=uwbc10052

Check these out for best price. I believe that these are new and not refurbs. Good luck!

I got mine from One Call, I had an email within an hour that it had shipped. Good place to get stuff from.

[johnaec]

Will those things drive 4 ohm loads safely? It seems like most the current home theater receivers/amps are restricted to 8 ohms. I've run into this problem numerous times driving my 4315A's. Even though they're rated 8 ohms, the impedence curve actually approaches 2 ohms at places, and I've tripped the breakers on a number of different receivers when pushing them.

I did finally pick up a JVC home theater receiver that has a switch in back for 4 or 8 ohms. Other than dedicated amps, this is the only one I've found that will let me consistently play the 4315A's at high level, if desired.

John

[Rusnzha]

There is nothing in the documentation that answers your question. Try calling Harmon product support @ 516-682-6438.

[Rusnzha]

I got the S36s up on the back wall today to complete my 7.1. I discovered that the AVR 7300 has individual channel level settings for each surround mode. This is a great feature. Anyway, I got everything adjusted and put on my Santana Caravansarai SACD -- This setup gets into your brain like a 4-way hit of LSD. I will have many eargasms!

[Rusnzha]

Just to follow up on this with a slightly better answer -- All the specs in stereo and multichannel are given at 8 ohms only. I don't suppose this would be good news for those of you who have speakers that present difficult loads. On the other hand, there is nothing saying you should only use only 8 ohm speakers. I guess it's the same answer with a little better explaination. Probably still doesn't help. I wish I had something better, but it won't come from this documentation. Anyone talk to Harman on this?