Great sound!

5 or 6 discs if a beautiful thing, but multiple changers do not sound good....

bad build quality.....

I owned this cd player years ago, and I thought it sounded pretty good, that is until it stopped reading discs. Then I had to fight with Harmon for months to get me a new one, finally they sent me a 8350 and for some reason, probably because I called every morning for a month, I was also sent a check for the 350-With the money I was sent, I bought a california audio labs Cal Ikon2-with HDCD and upgrade. In comparison tests the Ikon sounded much better, in fact it was no contest...the 8350 they sent me sounded so bad, and 2 dimensional that I gave it to a friend. As typical low quality doo-doo that one buys from the "big box retailer" it does sound good. The Ikon sounded so much better it was amazing, and when I bought a BAT cd player, well, I now feel that I am finally hearing what music is supposed to sound like, and quite frankly the 8550 sounds quite sad. If you care at all about quality of sound, stay away from this stuff. Or if you have a digital out, get an inexpensive outboard processor.

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Sony, technics, onkyo, etc.

Outstanding, I mean outstanding sound quality! Later models seem to perform well!! Stay away from April 1999 and before!

Somewhat noisy on the changer but nothing to worry about!! Power Cord.

I have to agree with Markymark on his take on this player. It definitely got a bad rap because of mechanical issues and deservedly so. However, if you can get your hands on a later production model of one of these units you will be thrilled with the sound quality and maybe even the performance. Mine has functioned flawlessly for over a year and I purchased it used. Anything after April 1999 manufacture date is supposed to have the problems rectified. I have had some very high end players and this one is the best sounding unit I have ever owned!! If you like very smooth, warm sound this is the player for you. Needs good vibration isolation and power conditionig to really make it a giant killer. A new power cord also helps! If you can find one reasonable after April 1999 buy it but make sure it wasn't abused or in a smoking environment. I think you will be very pleased. It could break tommorow and it would be worth every penny of the sound it has provided me with. Awesome sound!!

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Rotel Sony Carver Technics JVC

Sound quality. Dependability (mine never misbehaves). A play while you re-load changer is a good thing.

The unit could weigh more so it wouldn't be pushed back by heavy handed button jabbers, otherwise I would have left this blank.

I have had zero problems of any type concerning this unit, it must have built after HK handled earlier production problems. Lucky me. This player/changer is a quality piece for the audio enthusiast. While it's true that there are a couple of reasons it may not satisfy all grey poupon-ish audiophiles (such as the lack of an anti-harmonic earth rotational-dampened 400 pound granite pedestal base), for most regular ol' music lovers it will probably be as fine a sounding CD unit as they may ever own. It has excellent DACs and great spec's. It's HDCD compatabile and fully programmable, with digital and analog outputs and a remote link input. Prices go down and technology advances each year, but less than outrageous priced CD decks have not really advanced much beyond this point. To music lovers who are picky, but don't feel the need to spend a thousand or two or ten on a true audiophile CD player, I say: "If you find one for sale in good shape and at a decent price, buy it- you won't regret it."

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Denon 3700 CD/DVD changer; Harman Kardon CDR2 dual tray CD recorder;

For me, only one is that the carousel certainly isn't quite when rotating.

Compared to other reviewer's product since I bought it, 8/2001, has performed fine. Understood when it was purchased that it would be a conpromise unit and while build quality is cheesy I have the coax out going to an external dac...sound has always been very good.

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2 different Sony models

AVOID !!!!!

Poor quality control in the manufacturing process. Below average workmanship. AVOID !!!!!

Good design. Poor craftsmanship. Overall quality is below average. This CD player lasted about a year and then became "jittery". Advised by HK Product Support 800 phone # a repair would cost about $150. Forget about it !!! Not worth fixing for at that price. This IS NOT a well component. I agree with many of the reviewers. Harmon Kardon designs their "stuff" in the USA and manufactures it in Asia. Quality control is lacking !!! The sound quality was good when it worked. However, it didn't last very long with "normal use". Cheap, plastic, assembly. AVOID !!!!!

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SONY ES is made better and lasts much longer.

Excellent cd player...very smooth. So far I guess I have been lucky.

Sounds great.

Reliability of carousel mechanism.

I posted on this product a couple of years ago. The original player that I bought had the disc skipping problem. So I took it back and it was replaced, but the new had exactly the same problem. I put up with it for a long time, but recently applied a fix myself and it has worked perfectly ever since. What I did was this. Open the tray and you'll notice that the carousel rotates on some rubber rollers. What I did was to cut about a 1x2cm piece of fairly stiff platisic (from a food container) and super-glue one end to the tray with the other resting against the roller. This provides a bit of resistance and the tray now stops when it is supposed to instead of spinning endlessly. My only concern is that it is putting some extra strain on the motor, but at least I can use it now until it wears out.. at which time I will not by another HK product.

Um... matches my receiver remote control?

Noisy, laser head dies every 11 months.

Broke twice, but in a different way than all the other posters'' units... I bought this new unit in some sort of clearance at J&R. It worked fine for 11 months, and died. Took it to the service center with the receipt, just under the one year warranty period, and they diagnosed and fized a laser head problem. Now, 12 months after I got it back from HK via the repair shop, the same thing seems to have happened again. Ninety day warranty on the parts, so I''m out of luck. They did offer to provide free parts if I''d pay labor, and I declined. Cheaper to buy a refurb unit on their web site. I bought a CDR2 there for $208 on the thinking that that unit had two laser heads, so at least I''ll get 23 months out of it. I suppose I should be happy that mine always read the discs OK. In fact they asked me if that was the problem when I first contacted them and mentioned the model number. Obviously, I like their products generally. But this one was a loser.

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HK CD player from 1988, which still works (I gave it away to buy the 8550!) and a reconditioned CDR2 which replaced the 8550.

sound is very good.

not reading disk. no direct track access.

I did a review last August and gave this unit a 5 for a rating. Well things have changed as I thought they might. I am now having problems with the FL 8550. The unit is not reading some or all the disk that are loaded. I have also had skipping while a disk is playing, like a fast forward mode. Have not had any luck getting through to HK customer service dept. yet. Called and get put on hold for a long time and hang up. Sent an e-mail today and I am waiting for their reply. Won't comment on how their customer service is yet, but will let you know. As I stated in my last review if you have a model # of yc0003-08667 or lower you will have problems sooner or later. My model # is yc0003-07805 and made in Dec. 1998. My rating may go to a 3 or lower if I don't get any satisfaction from the service Dept. For now I'll give the unit a 4. I do love the sound it produces.

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Pioneer PDM-500, old and still works great.