I recently purchased the FL-8300 at an online auction site, in order to complement the HK A/V Receiver I had also purchased. In testing the equipment, I was very happy with the sound clarity and quality, but was surprised that the unit also has a digital output. I called HK and was told that I can purchase a digital coaxial cable for the unit. Does anyone have any comments on whether it would be worth purchasing the digital cable?

Picked up a refurbished unit from uBid for $112 plus shipping. Some might say that a refurbished unit is a bad idea, especially given what others have said about the reliability of this changer. I figure that since somebody has already found the problem and fixed it, it should be better than new, right? :) And at the price, if it does break, I'm not going to pitch a fit.
Sounds worlds better than my Aiwa mini-system, and the carousel is a lot less cheezy. I replaced the Aiwa head unit with a HK AVR55 (also from uBid, $367 new), CD changer is now this one (HK FL8300) and picked up a Monster M350i to connect 'em. Even using the Aiwa speakers with their pencil-lead wires there is a huge difference in sound. I can't wait to hear what the Hales Rev 3's will sound like when I bring them home!

I'm sure there are much better CD changers on the market, but not for $112!!!

I ran into a great price on the HK 8300 at Circuit City...No wonder it was so well priced!It ran smoothly for the first hour or so, then...Blammo! There were error messages left and right and the machine would not respond to any commands. I tried unplugging it, replugging it...I finally figured out the problem. Inside the HK is a heatsync that gets so damn hot you can't even belive your fingers when you touch it! I also noticed there's no ventilation for this heat, so...If your running the HK in a semi heated environment it will malfunction... The heatsync is located directly under the plastic disc changer. (that's incredibly stupid!) Because with that type of concentrated heat the plastic is liable to warp...That may explain some the HK cd changer's mechanical problems. Why do I stay married to this machine?...The digital output! That's it!

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I bought this cd player about 14 months ago upon recommendation of friend and at www.goodsound.com. (I don't think it's there anymore) It worked flawless for about two months, after which it became a bit particular about which disks it wanted to recognize and play. I also noticed that if I forwarded rapidly through tracks it would sometimes lose its place. However, I was willing to live with these slight problems -I'm not a particular customer, and I won't complain if something isn't flawless.
However, about 10 months into my ownership it began to not recognize disks at all -oddly enough, it didn't seem to want to recognize them if they were in the slot for disk one, rarely any problems if the disk was in a different tray. I thought it was odd, and called crutchfield (where I bought it) to mention this to a technician. I asked about returning the item while it was still under warranty, but he said that I'd have to send it to H/K, and it would take 6-8 weeks. I wish I remembered the name of the guy I talked to, but he was quite rude, and not very helpful at all! He said it was probably that my cds were scratched, which didn't make much sense to me, but I figured I'd be the good customer, and try it. It seemed to make it marginally better. For awhile.

Now here I am, 14 months into owning this troublesome piece of gear, and it promptly stopped working altogether. It will not play any disks, and I'm out of luck because the warranty ran out 2 months ago. I found that the FL8300 has been a lemon in the H/K line, and many people have had problems with it. This unit, which I purchased for $300, can easily be found for under half of that, but I cannot recommend it, because while I really did enjoy its warm, clear sound, the trouble that it has been just hasn't been worth it. I've ordered things through Crutchfield before, and have always been very pleased with the service, but not on this one -I'm a rather dissapointed customer, and I don't think I'll shop there again. Harmon Kardon, you could have done much better, so I'm going to give one star on this one. And to think I overlooked a budget NAD because of reliability issues!

Hi..
I am paid $120, is it a good buy?

Thanks..
Joy

I got this CD player from onecall.com for $177 shipped. This is great CD player for someone on a budget looking for clean sound and upgradable features. Through the digital coax input the FL 8300 has. I would recommend this CD player to anyone.

I have owned this CD changer for 2+ years. I have never experienced any of the problems described below. It is totally reliably and no disc has ever skipped. The quality of the sound is excellent. Specially if you use the digital output. If I were in the market for a NEW, not refurbished, CD changer, I would buy the same unit again.

Naughty cd player...I bought it to use for the digital output. The damn thing snubbed me in the middle of an important mixdown! I also once opened the carousel and slammed my forehead into the damn thing causing it to come crashing down. Bloody player, it crashed into my guitar and also on another occasion crashed into my baby pet chihuaha...Damn!I think I'll deck it out in pink shag and and put a friggin' leash on the bastard.

I LUV THEIS SOUNDER METAL COOK. I THRINK IT GOOD FUN MUSIK. COOOL AND GUD.I REKOMENUMD IT TO U FOUR MUSIK GOOOD TYME PLAIBOI GOODIEZ.

IT GOOD SEAMUST GIT..