Looks, sound quality, HDCD

Noisy transport, loading difficulties, no open button on the remote

The looks are stikeingly good with a nice display and warm blue lighting. The unit is somewhat noisy and very clunky and is very slow to open. Only 1 disc can be inserted at a time though 1/2 of 2 other tray spaces are visible but not recommended for loading. You'll have to use the skip function to load discs properly. Another annoyance is the absence of an open tray button on the remote. Thye added a power on and off but not a open button.. what gives HK??
Playback in random is also sporadic as not all the tracks from all the discs play. This has happened on several different load of CD's, factory or home recorded.
The sound quality is quite good using the Burr-Brown DAC'S but not as good to my ears as the older Denon DCM 420/460 or 520/560, especially the latter 2! maybe it;s the 20 bit DAC'S on the Denon 520/560??
Overall.. these are good players.. they look great, perform decently and can be found at a heavy discount. I hear the dependability isn't all that hot.. but that's yet to be determined. I may have the mfg warranty check out the random situation..They really need to wotk on their remotes a bit.. This one and others on their DVD layers really lack basic intuitive layouts and buttons!! Grade C+/B-

PS: the price shown includes Calif sales tax and ground shipping

Customer Service

7-8/10...Can be difficult to deal with as they have some that aren't the sharpest knives in the drawer!

Similar Products Used:

Denon DCM 4204/60 520/560, Sony ES, Onkyo 6 disc (yuck)

Attractive Piece paired with HK Receiver

Everything else

I also am pained to have to pan this piece but...This is the least reliable piece of audio equipment I have ever purchased. HK replaced it 3 times. I finaly took the last unit and threw it away.

Now I know CD changers are not the future for any electronics manufacturer but this unit has caused much bad will and should be withdrawn from the market unless or until it can be replaced with a quality piece customers expect from HK.

Similar Products Used:

Yamaha

Looks, Looks, Looks! Sounds very good when I'm able to play it. HDCD

Vibration Cost Questionable build quality No optical output

The Harman Kardon FL 8385 CD changer is a product that I really did not want to leave a negative review on. It is a beautiful piece of electronic art and is a wonderful compliment to my HK receiver. My gripe with this unit is that it contains no vibration dampening system at all (I thought every CD player made in the last 20 years had anti-vibration). While it is nice to look at, I really have not gotten a lot of use out of it because no matter where I place it in my room the vibration from my subwoofer makes the unit skip like crazy. I actually had the first unit that I purchased replaced by HK but the replacement unit does exactly the same thing. It should be noted that I do not have an extremely powerful subwoofer and I do not play it at thunderous levels. The vibration affects the CD player when I turn the receiver higher than -24 db. Unless you want this CD player for cosmetic purposes I can not recommend purchasing it.

Similar Products Used:

Denon DCM-30 Sony CDP-375