Mantronic

Overall Rating
 5 of 5

Value Rating
 4 of 5

Used product for
3 Months to 1 year

Visitors rate this review
5.00 of 5, 1.00 votes

Price Paid:  $320.00 from Centre Hi-Fi

Summary:
The receiver is a very good receiver, I really like it. It sound very well. I prefer the Harman Kardon sound to the Marantz and other comparable compagny one. May be the sound is a little bit agressive but with a softer speaker it's doing a very nice mix. The amplifier is simple but powerful. I would recomand this receiver to anybody seeking for stereo with a lower budget.

Strengths:
Very Nice sounding. Simple and effective Powerful!

Weaknesses:
May be a small leak between different source. So idiot problem that it doesn't count at my eyes.

Similar Products Used:
Older Harman, Yamaha, Pioneer, technic.

Price Paid:  $230.00 from B and H

Summary:
Here is an update to my last review. I’ve isolated the problem I mentioned below to the transformer within the receiver. It was most Annoying!! The first time I plugged it in it sounded like a Bi Plane’s Radial Engine was running in my room. How Awful!!! I read a lot about this companies fine reputation, but reputation for what? Most of the reviews I have read by those who bought Harman Kardon’s, support the company’s LACK of ATTENTION to QUALITY CONTROL. I don’t think this receiver is badly designed, just BADLY ASSEMBLED. A dollars worth of attention would have made the difference. I only paid $230 for this unit, so it wasn’t worth paying the shipping to send it back. I figured, if all the Electronic techs in my company couldn’t help me fix it, I would just chuck it in the local garbage bin and taken it as a lesson learned, NEVER TO BUY HARMAN KARDON!!! This is just a simple receiver, so I won’t recommend this approach to someone who made the mistake of buying their $1200 AVR’s, BUYER BEWARE!!! Anyway after 12hrs of research, and $4 dollars in parts, I removed the housing, voiding the warranty, naturally, and removed the transformer. Can you believe that it was hard mounted to the frame, creating a sound short? Well it was. I placed four soft rubber cubes (GROMMETS) and with longer screws I remounted the transformer. It’s as quiet as a church mouse now. Another problem I encountered was related to poor audio dynamics. This was easily fixed by removing the pre out / main in jumper pins, that are made of CHEAP chrome plated brass, and replacing them with average gold plated RCA jacks costing $ 7 dollars. I tell you, what a difference these painful, and risky steps have made. I have not the patience to wait for a TWO-month turn around from an authorized dealer, who may or may not have been able to fix my ills. (Depending on which review you lean towards?). So with my voided warranty, home modified unit, I can now say that I am pleased with the sound quality. For the money, it has a lot of potential, if you have the stomach for problems. Hopefully my listening pleasure will last, because if anything else goes wrong? I MIGHT BE S.O.L.???? Incidentally, some BOZO, possibly a company REP, is posting on the review boards that this receiver is a must have and to ignore all others complaints because the models after the 1100 serial number series have no problem. So guess which number I have, hint its way after 1100’s. Don’t fall for this unless you’re a technician, and have money to burn.

Strengths:
Has potential?

Weaknesses:
QA (Quality Assurance, NOT!!)

Similar Products Used:
Yamaha Onkyo Dennon

Price Paid:  $220.00 from B and H

Summary:
I recently bought a home theatre (HT) system, a self-gratification for acquiring recently my Bachelor’s in Computer Science. In all I did quite well because I opted for this instead of a Harley. Needless to say, something was still missing, even thought my HT was complete. It didn’t lend itself well physically to the enjoyment of my records. I probably want the turntable around the HT. So I was back to audioreview.com trying find a low cost receiver that would do well with my phonograph. Within a few weeks I settled on the HK 3375 based on the 3475 reviews as well as others from google.com When the unit arrived I marveled at its beauty, it is quite a looker. I was quickly disappointed by a nasty hum that resonated when powered. After changing transformers I found that this problem was not, luckily related to the receiver. Later I study its musicality, first with a pair of Axiom mt3i bookshelf’s, which did not, impressed me. I must admit I have been spoiled these last few months by my Denon AV 1803 and Bose 601. These two really bring the Opera to my saloon. I read that the HK’s are neutral in color and this must be true because the imaging was a little flat with my, much-loved Axioms. So I connected the HK to my Bose and wow, I believe they’re a good match. My 601’s are a bit bright and combined with the HK’s neutrality they seem to image much like my Axioms do with the Denon. The effect they produced is very near sound stage, which is unlike my Denon and Bose combination that when together produce wonderfully, and with amazing depth my opera’s, and symphonies. This for me is acceptable since the intent is to use this setup to play my 80’s collection of records, which the HK does do nicely. The highs are crisp; mids are clear and the lows tight. This one aspect did surprise me since my Bose are normally a bit soft in base, much like live symphonies. I have read quite a few reviews during the course of several months, and have found that placement is important, but not the only factor. The combination of speaker and amps is probably a more important a concern to the audiophile since the same speaker with different amps will likely produce varying sonic images. Another point of note is the environment. Case in point I live in a villa made of Italian tufa stone that is 18 inches thick. The music room is 18 by 30 feet long and has a twelve-foot height. Naturally the sound produced here will be quite different from those produced in a wooden home with thin sheet rock walls. So feel free to experiment. These variables here mentioned, I believe are in large part responsible for such widely different opinions to audio equipment. In any event I’m quite happy with the purchase. This unit is simple has easy to navigate buttons. Unfortunately it does not have optical inputs. I’m a big fan of such because the transfer of digital data is pure and not subject to lose as with inferior metal cables. The build is strong with a nice heft. It has an uncluttered array of option in the rear unlike my Denon, which is complicated. The remote is nice simple and solid.

Strengths:
build power looks sound

Weaknesses:
no optical input

Similar Products Used:
none