All the inputs you could need. Well featured.

Remote control would be nice, but I'm not complaining. The buttons are a little 'clunky'.

I stumbled on the Citation 21 on good ol' ebay whilst looking for a pre-amp to replace a blown Quad 34 which I didn't feel was an economic repair. I was familiar with HK gear from the '90's and it always seemed to have a good reputation. Happy as hell when nobody bid on it, and I got it for £85.

As many inputs as you could possibly need, useful features such as a subsonic filter to remove unwanted extreme sub-bass, MM/MC phono inputs, true bypass on the tone controls, CD direct in and excellent build quality.
I've no idea on the build date, but that's kind of irrelavent for good audio gear (how many old Quad amps are still around?) - and it matches my HK cd7500 player.
I've tried running the cd7500 direct into the pre-amp to bypass the control circuitry and the sound is seemingly unaffected.

This feeds a Quad 306 amp and Ruark Talisman 2 speakers. The sound is very transparent and all in all, it's a very good pre-amp.

harmon kardon citation 21 preamp and 22 power amp for sale
$400 canadian cardz0000@yahoo.ca
works and looks great

Sound quality, eBay

None...remote control would be good

I fist heard the 21 at a friends house hooked up to Klipsch KLF 30's through an Ampzilla....was completly blow away. He told me that it was the pre amp but I did not beleive him so I got one for $87 on eBay. As soon as I truned it on and the 1st sound I heard, I knew this was something special. What a diffrence it made. I have it currenly hooked up to my JBL L100T through and Onkyo 777 (used as an amp). Using HK 7525 CD player (closest sounding to phono)....man what sound...By the end of this week I will be getting some McIntosh equipment from my x-boss (C35 pre, MC-782 amp, and MR-7082 tuner). I will let you know how that sounds....thill then, this preamp is the best sound I have heard yet...

Similar Products Used:

Stated above

Both MM/MC, Clearness

none so far

I bought my 21 from a guy who didn''t know what he was selling, so I only paid 200 DM. I can listen to my records and CDs with my Brinkmann-Amplifier and also use my Denon 3801 7-Channel by using the CD-direct-channel of the Citation. Excellent buy for everyone who wants both high-end-stereo AND 5.1 or 7.1 amplification.

Similar Products Used:

Denon PRA 2500, NAD 3120 Pre-Section 5 x ProAc Super EBT, 2 x ProAc Supertower Teufel 4000 sub, Thorens 320/II, Denon 3801, Denon dcd 920 with alchemy dac

Flexibility; build; features; bass

sterile sound; CD direct is of limited value

This product dates back to the 1984-1988 timeframe. It's got everything but a remote. I can't vouch for the phono stage since I haven't used it. It is overbuilt, but the sound is definitely solid state. Some graininess in the treble and the mids are cold. Has CD direct input, which is swell if you have a volume control on the cd, but otherwise is useless. Bass is the strong point. Generally uninvolving sound. If you have a tube amp that is overly warm, this would be a good match. It can't compete with any of the above preamps in a neutral system, but they all cost more. Five stars for features and flexibility, but only 3 for sound....

used with:
HK Citation 22 amp
HK Citation 2 amp
HK Citation 23 tuner
Quicksilver 8417 Monos
HK 8550 CD Player/Theta DS Pro Basic II D/A
Vandersteen 3 speakers

Similar Products Used:

Forte 40; McCormack TLC-1; HK Citation 1

Needed a basic preamp to drive my new Marantz SM500 i picked up for about $250,-(new)ended up buying the twenty one.
well what can I say: I weighs as much as my previous amplifier (not pre- that is).Has more 24k gold inputs than you can shake a stick at and sounds well,
very good..
But here comes the best part :bought it (used) for about $260,-.
It has a basic hisss , audiable only when you stick your ear in the tweeter..
But I currently use studio nearfield monitors (Spirit Absolute Zero's) which are built for high SPL's and have a 98db or so sensitivity so on HiFi speakers this is most likely less audiable.well you can't hear it at listening distance anyway
The hiss is not affected by the level of the amp.when crancked a 90 watts RMS it does not change ..

if you bump into one for a similar or higher price buy it!
four out of five because of the hiss and considering the price it must have retailed for..
p.s
all the pots are elp's so I does not snap,crackle or pop (after all your preamp is no rice crispie)

(I still haven't found out how old it is , but my guess is that it is far from new)