system: h/k pt2500 & pa5800, sony ca7es (cd changer), ar9 ls (old, but beautiful), and aiwa ad-f1000u casette deck. no power conditioner and probablyexplains a hum heard in the amp/preamp, but not thru speakers. bought from j&r
on 12/23/97, received in 3 days. sounds better now than initially and indicates that a short term listening test would have been inadequate. system surpasses the replaced onkyo receiver tx890 which had more loudness, but a sorry bass. listen for yourself! this system has almost makes me forget my old marantz 19
(circa 1971). did not compare with some of the high end systems, because it is
difficult to see a complete system, such as parasound amp & preamp. but the
lower price (~$930) means i don't have to worry about keeping it when it is old.

At the time of this writing the HK PA5800 just about has to be the best 5-channel amp for the money!(mail order 550.00). I paid 200.00 more for mine a couple of months ago and I am still very pleased with my decision. This amp does everything good(not great). If your in the market for an inexspensive HT amp you really can't go wrong with this one. Ifyou don't beleive me try demoing it against amps in the 1000-1300 range and see if you hear $450 to $750 dollars worth of better sound (though you will get more power). You probably won't unless you find a more exspensive amp on sale in that range!!

I wanted an inexpensive 5 channel amp for HT, and this H/K fit the bill. I paid $600 delivered, and I feel it's a steal. At the list price of $1000, the amp not a steal, but still an okay buy, (for $1500 you could get a great B&K) but for $600 I'd like to see anything come close to this H/K. It's driving Paradigm Minimonitors, and I will definately upgrade the speakers before the amp. It has enough power for just about any HT speaker I can think of (even the NHT VT-2!). It is fairly detailed in sound quality, and seems to match well with a variety of speakers and pre-amps. The build quality is superb and it looks gorgeous. It's also made in the U.S., something you NEVER see in a $600 amp! Harman/Kardon has gotten a bad reputation lately. On their cheaper receivers (and the pre-amp that this amp is supposed to be matched to), I feel this bad reputation is applicable. The Chinese stuff just doesn't cut it. However, their better Japanese receivers and, especially, their U.S. amps are great! Better power supplies, I think, than any of the Japanese receier and amp manufacturers. For the list price, they are okay, but for the street price they are a bargain.
4 speakers for absolute sound
5 because of value (list, but mostly street price)

I have had this amp for a few months now and I will say that I do like it. The sound is warm and nice. I have it hooked up to the pre outs of a AVR20 II. Two details to note: There is a hum if you are close to the unit (mine is in a glass door cabinet so it is not an issue with me) and when the unit is first powered up the sound from the preamp is distorted for a moument until the power amp stabilizes. I mute the preamp for a few mouments at startup. Both are minor things. The big thing is the sound. In both stereo and surround it is nice. I think this unit is a good value for the money.

Crutchfield has these for 599, a smokin deal. Clean sounding and powerful. It does not get as hot as other amps I have tried and though there is a hum it is not a loud one. For the money there is no HT amp that compares. I was split between this and a Rotel 985. The store I shop at would not budge from retail on the Rotel so I looked elsewhere and am glad I did. I have NHT's all around and this thing lights them up.

"jandr.com" has the HK PA-5800 for $400 + shipping!!! I thinking of getting one.

I bought my PA5800 about a month ago and am very happy with it's performance. It is hooked up to a H/K AVR20 reciever and the combination
is now much better than what I had before. The sound is clean, dynamic,
and free of harshness found in lesser brands. One thing I noticed is that
it has a longer break in period than most amps. But when it finally breaks
in (about 4 weeks for mine) it sounds like a totally different amp!. Very
warm and the dialog becomes more natural. I'm very happy with it's sound
now and am ready to enjoy!. One note, if you are planning on hooking it up
to a H/K reciever such as the AVR20, your center channel and rear channels
noise level will increase due to the increase in power. I'm not sure if this
is just my system, but I will say that it is audible during quite scenes.
Besides, that one small distraction this amp is an absolute steal at $499
from J@R music world (jandr.com). I absolutely agree with Al Griffin from
Home Theater that "This is the multichannel amp to beat for around a grand".
It was reviewed in the July 97 issue. Highly recommended.

At $999 Home theater said it was an excellent buy.For $399.00 this amp is the audio buy of the year.

I'm using an HK-AVR30 as a preamp to the PA-5800. It drives four Optimus LX-10s and and an Optimus Pro-CS5 center channel. The AVR-30 drives the two subwoofers.
The sound is really to my liking in stereo and home theater mode.
Clear and detailed but still warm, not shrill. For this reason I much prefer this amp over my Carver amps. When you compare the Harman to the Carvers the sound is not only more listener friendly, it is less fatigueing and presents a better soundstage.
This amp cannot be bridged. Its specs read 80 WPC into five channels and that has supplied all of my needs so far. It should be enough for most systems.

At $999 this amp was four stars. AT $399 this amp is ten stars.
Webmaster we need more stars here!!!!!!!!!



http://www.jandr.com/Audio/Power_Amplifiers/

I've had it hooked up for 5-days and the following is what I have to say:

A. Price - can't beat it
B. Looks - very simple attractive piece
------5 stars

C. Sound - So far so good - I hope with time - the BASS will improve a little
D. Power - I think I would like to have more
------4 stars but if you look at the price make it 5

E. Home Theater - excellent (see D. though - with the volume up enough it is OK)
------4.5 stars but if you look at the price make it 5

F. Stereo - see C. and D.
------3 stars but if you look at the price make it 5

G. Connections - Fine except for Bi-wiring - need banana plugs for that - to have remote turn on is easy but annoying - need an A/c adapter and extension plug.
-----3 stars but if you look at the price make it 5


So really I'll give it 4.5 stars and remember you won't touch it for anything near twice the PRICE!

I have the AVR30 and hooked it up to this PA5800 and although it is booming like a son-of-a-B, it is humming likewise, even through the Center speaker when it is in stereo mode, even the surrounds humm, it is especially annoying when listening to soft sounds at dinner, do I have this thing hooked up right or what? Anybody else with this background "noise"? Thanks and please e-mail me!Adam K.