good features

fair sound quality

Just brought home a new system using Rotel RX975 reveiver and B&W DM601-S2 Speaker with this Harmon Kardon Receiver. It did not sound as good as what I had heard in the store and have found the sound quality of the ROtel RCC-935 to be far superior and have asked the store to exchange it for the ROtel. Natural sound with better highs and lows. Has better features than the ROtel which is why I initially took it.

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compared to Rotel RCC-935

HDCD decoding, fast changing consecutive disks, clean sound

somewhat loud changing mechanism, unattractive and blinking display, remote

I got this player just a couple weeks ago from Onecall for only 200 bucks. The sound is clearer sounding than my old Sony changer, but in my comparison, the Sony was running as a transport using the optical out to my Harmon/Kardon AVR 75's optical in. The AVR75 has a pretty bad DAC, it has some hiss and has much less definition than even the standard DAC in my Sony CD player. Regardless, the HK when it's using HDCD sounds very good, instruments become more defined, soundstage depth increases. I probably wouldn't have noticed had I not done A/B comparisons, but the new player is significantly better even in standard disks. I believe that the interconnects I bought played a role in this too, Kimber Kable PBJ is a very good interconnect and I would recommend this combo for anyone who wants to hear 20 bit CD sound for under 300 dollars. I'm surprised that HDCD recording isn't more widespread given the improvement in sound quality. Regarding the inability to recognize disks, I don't think it'll be a problem as my unit was built in January of 2000. The weaknesses I pointed out are minor...I buy a CD player to play music, not to stare at the display and play with the remote. For a 200 dollar player I give a solid 5 stars for value, and an equally solid 5 stars overall.

Andrew

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Sony CDP-CE335

HDCD playback is great.

Problems with earlier models.

I came across this website after I had ordered this CD changer online. As you can see from some of the comments below some people have had trouble with their units. I found out that the problems were only in units with a serial number lower than YC0003-08667 (I also confirmed this with HK). Mine was in the YC0003-73000's, so I am sure that any problems have been fixed for quite some time (since May 99 according to HK). Just be sure to check the serial number with who ever you are buying it from.

Anyway, this CD changer is very good. The HDCD playback is unreal. There are a lot of HDCDs out there and I'm seeing more and more each week. (check out the www.hdcd.com website to find out what titles are available) The 20 bit sound is amazing, it makes me look forward to the future of Super Audio CD's and DVD-Audio. You will hear things that you never heard before.

The regular CD playback is topnotch, and very satisfying.

True, the buttons on the faceplate are difficult to read, but that is not why I buy a piece of audio equipment. Overall I would say that this is a very attractive unit.

If you can get one for around $250, this is one heck of a buy. (list is $799)

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Sony ES
Denon

Love the sound! Isn't that why we buy this stuff?

Had some problems with the last unit. Not reading the disk

I have done two other reviews on the fl8550 and in the last I said I would do an update to let everyone know how I made out with the customer service of HK. Well they have stood behind their product and replaced my last unit with a new one. There was no cost to me. They paid all shipping to and from the warranty center. I am listening to the new unit as I write this. The sound is the main reason I have stayed with this unit. It is GREAT. My hat is off to HK for standing by me and treating me right! It is because of this that I will buy KH equipment again!!! Thanks James ( HK customer service )for all the help!!!! This puts the FL8550 back to a FIVE.

Sorry for doing three post but HK deserves a fair shake.

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Same kind, HK came through and replaced it.

Great sound

Loud Changing Mechanism

I just got this player a few weeks ago and it sounds tons better than my 8300 did. I only hope that it holds up better than my 8300 did. After a year of use it wouldn't read disks. Anyway, the HDCD is great and I haven't had any problems with it at all.

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H/K FL8300

Beautiful sound, gorgeous looks, and these days, a low-fi price.

Reliability issues

I originally reviewed this player back in May of 1999. At the time the player was still pretty new on the market and was hard to find discounted, so when I picked mine up for $324 w/tax I felt like I had a real bargain. That feeling changed dramatically in about a month, when my player, like that of the 90 or so people who have written since then, died abruptly after several days of progressively worse malfunctions.

That’s about where my previous review left off. Since then I’ve seen the steadily worsening reviews of the player mount up and I’ve felt just a tinge guilty for never following up.

It turned out that I lived only 30-40 minutes from an authorized service center. I took my player in for repair, which was performed under warranty and ready to pick up in about four days. I remember the tech telling me it was just a “bad disc sensing diode”. I don’t know if that’s what it was or even if there is such a thing, but my player has worked perfectly ever since.

Of course if it were to break down today I’d be out of luck since the warranty has long since expired, but it’s been playing well for almost two years now so I guess I’ll just keep my fingers crossed. Now it’s pretty obvious that this player has major reliability problems judging from nearly everyone below. And it’s clear that not everyone who had problems was able to resolve them to their satisfaction, and that all just basically sucks. Even though almost everybody said it sounded great some people even had broken players right out of the box. Yes, it’s pretty unacceptable and I have a hard time finding any redeeming value, except that my own experience has been, on the balance, pretty good.

As far as the noisy tray mechanism, I’ve never really noticed it, and I absolutely love the styling, partly because it’s a perfect match to my H/K AVR40 receiver. And while lately I’ve been thinking of upgrading to a single disc player like the Pioneer Elite PD-65 or maybe one of the new Ah! Njoe Tjoeb 4000s, every time I get close to placing an order or writing that check I ask myself, “Just what exactly am I upgrading?” I mean this player sounds incredible and I really like the HDCD and I know that if I had the room to fine-tune my speaker placement it could sound even better. As it is the player is very precise and revealing without being analytical like a Parasound ProAc combo I auditioned recently.

Buying one of these today really does seem like a risky proposition unless you can absolutely get a warranty. But if you do get a warranty and a good price, say $150 or less you’ll have one great little player.

Also I listen almost exclusively to Blues and Jazz, vocals and acoustic instruments are particularly well done.

My current system:
H/K AVR40
H/K FL8550
Infinity Crescendo 3007
Acoustic Research Pro series cables

My oft contemplated system:
Acurus A150
Ah! Njoe Tjoeb 4000
Magnepan MMG
DH Labs Silver-Sonic cables

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Old Kenwood changer, DVD players, and portables.

Only had the product for 6 months and its just gone back to the shop for repairs. The turntable keeps spinning, sometimes doing 4 or 5 complete revolutions, before stopping on the right CD. No problem with reading CDs, just selecting them. Also have a Harman AVR45 receiver that today has developed a volume control problem - it has a mind of its own and the volume goes up or down (usually up, and usually by a lot). Looks like it will be going back too. Seems I'm not the first to return a Hardman product though.

HDCD capability, quick disc changing

doesn't sound any different on non-HDCD's than cheaper CD players

I recently upgraded my Sony 5-Disc CD changer to the Harman/Kardon 8550 because it was starting to show it's age (over 7 years old). I was thinking about getting a Sony ES changer but went with the H/K 8550. Overall, I am pleased with the 8550 (especially when I payed only $340 for it). I found out that I own several HDCDs and they sound awesome on the 8550. Regular CDs don't sound any different than they did on my Sony. I do like how fast the 8550 changes from disc to disc and I also like the disc ex-change feature (my Sony didn't have that).

I give this 4 stars on value because of the sweet deal I got, otherwise 3 stars on value.

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Sony 5-disc CD changer

Sounded good while alive

No longer alive

This is a follow-up to my reviews of 1/1 and 1/14/01.
I upgraded my receiver and the "crackling" noises stopped, so I decided to keep the 8550. No trouble getting a refund on the dead 8350 though.
After 6 months of very light use the 8550 suffered the same sudden death that many others report-- first there were odd noises during playback, then within a few hours of use it stopped recognizing discs at all.
Not sure what I'm going to do with it, these things only had a 30 day warranty.
Anyone here paid to have a similar problem fixed? Please e-mail me with an approximate repair cost, and whether the repair held.

Similar Products Used:

FL8300, 8350, portables

Sounds great, available at low prices

Disc changing mechanism, realability concerns

At the prices for which one can find this unit, it may be a worthwhile purchase, but I would never buy one for anywhere near full price. I bought this one in March of 2000 for less than half of the recommended price thinking that it would be worth taking the risk for such a great deal.

This cd player was part of a system incorporating a Pioneer Elite VSX26TX receiver and a pair of Snell K-5 speakers. When the player was functioning, the sound was excellent. Piano music, in particular, sounded so vivid and realistic that on one or two occassions I had to look to see whether someone was actually playing the piano in the other room.

Unfortunately, this cd player barely survived its warranty period. By June of 2001, the player was barely usable at all. From day one, the disc changing mechanism had been noisy and had trouble finding discs. It would frequently go back and forth or have to turn a complete revolution multiple times to find where the disc in a given space was before it could begin to play. It had always been noisy when it did it as well. By June it could no longer find discs at all. It would simply spin and spin without stopping.

I have replaced this cd player with a Marantz CC-4000OSE and so far the sound is slightly better, the changing is quieter and it seems to have far less trouble finding and recognizing a disc.

If you are able to find the Harman Kardon FL8550 for a truly low price (less than $100) then it may be a very worthwhile purchase, but you should be aware of the risks that you take by purchasing it. It seems that the reliability problems associated with this machine are not wide spread and not isolated. I would suggest choosing another machine from the beginning and avoiding the problems associated with this machine altogether.

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Yamaha, Technics, Sony, Marantz