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Reviews 1 - 5 (7 Reviews Total)
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Submitted by
howardkipfer
a Audio EnthusiastDate Reviewed: February 5, 2013
Bottom Line: I picked up two units of the HK DC520 on ebay for $60 and $75. Back in the 90's these were expensive audiophile decks. Compared to Tascams and Teac's that are selling used for $300 to $900, the HK DC520 has better or the same freq specs. The big test is sound which is very very good. Only the HK TD4400 has better sound with an amazing 20-20khz freq response for ALL tape types (Normal/Hi Bias/Metal). Unfortunately the HK TD 4400 does not have auto reverse because of it's 3 head design. Both units are a steal for under $100 on EBAY. Recording your own will also improve sound quality immensly over any pre-recorded tape.
Used product for: More than 1 year
Duration Product Used: Audio Enthusiast
Product model year: 1995
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Submitted by
ramvem
a Audio EnthusiastDate Reviewed: June 27, 2005
Bottom Line: Like a lot of us, I have a bunch of music collected during high school & college, all in tapes. Instead of going on a CD buying spree to replace them I opted for a deck to hook up to my receiver. I considered Yamaha, Denon, Sony, Onkyo & HK. Sony was eliminated quickly. Among the others it was a close call. The Harman Kardon DC520 edged out the others at least partly due to its good looks. If not this it would have been the Denon DRM-555. I couldn't make out difference in sound quality between HK, Denon & Onkyo.
I've had it for a few months and listen to it every day. I made some recordings too. Frequency response is very good. Bass response is very good. This deck loves high bias tapes. Some of my old recordings on normal bias tapes had flat bass response but I would have to blame it on the tape, since others are good.
As for the whiz-bang features like dual deck, auto-reverse, high-speed dubbing etc. - I never use them. Some reviewers have complained about recording with dolby C. Its true that the results are terrible. In general I use only dolby B for compatibility, and when recording I switch dolby off. I wouldn't advise recording with *any* dolby on. If you have a good quality deck it should be able to do faithful reproduction.
Used product for: 3 Months to 1 year
Duration Product Used: Audio Enthusiast
Product model year: 2004
Purchased At: Harman Audio (factor
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Submitted by
Erik Friend
a Audio EnthusiastDate Reviewed: December 9, 1999
Bottom Line: I bought the DC520 for aesthetic reasons. Harman Kardon has great looking equipment.
I hooked the unit up and was amazed by how solidly it performs. Tapes play with very little hiss, and dubs from CD come out virtually noise free even when I dont enable dolby nr.
When copying from one tape to a blank, the dc 520 will automatically fill excess tape on the recording side with silence, then it flips the tape and starts recording the other side. That way your new tape will never have long silent periods at the beginning.
Unfortunately, there is no remote even though it has a remote sensor. I just bought a Harman Kardon AVR35 receiver w/universal remote so I'm hoping that the remote will also control the DC520. If it does, then I give this deck 5 stars.
Also, the deck costs more than other decks, but I've had nothing but good results using it. It is worth every penny.
Used product for: More than 1 year
Duration Product Used: Audio Enthusiast
Product model year: 1997
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Submitted by
Iceman
a an Audio EnthusiastDate Reviewed: October 6, 1999
Bottom Line: I got the H/K DC520 for 50 bucks at Best Buy (combination of instore credit from my JVC TD354 which sucked, and scratch and dent). It sounds good, but doesn't have dolby S, something I think HK should look into. Still, I have my deck playing though a vintage (but classic) set of Pioneer three way towers, and people have asked me where I put my cd player. Hah. This has happened on several occaisons. The 520 makes a very good dub from a cd, but dolby c nr has adverse effects on high frequency response, and can be rather annoying. Still, if you can get it for cheap, like me, its a good deck. Plus, its got good looks and decent build quality.
Duration Product Used: an Audio Enthusiast
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Submitted by
<none>
a Date Reviewed: March 4, 1999
Bottom Line: harmon kardon dc 520
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