It's great to see this review. There's not much out there about this great amp. About 10 years ago I was rolling through a lot of different equipment. I kissed alot of frogs looking for my prince. Hafler, Adcom, Parasound, Carver, Krell & Bryston. Then about 8 years ago I picled up my 870 from a repair tech guy an hour away from me. I only bought it cuz I wanted to see how it sounded. It was really just a hobbyist experiment as I'd never listened to much MK stuff before and it was super cheap and just serviced so why the heck not? I was running a Krell amp at the time and assumed it would just be a fun few weeks with the 870 and I'd move it along and stick with the Krell amp which I was pretty happy with. WRONG! After just a few evenings of listening I was completely sold on the 870 and not just in terms of value. It really is one of the best sounding amps I've heard. I actually preferred it to any other amp I've owned. In terms of value it's just enequaled compared to anything else I've heard. I've got a few buddies with big money systems and it takes some serious coin to best this amp. I'm talking Pass and Mark Levinson coin to really improve much on what this amp can do. I haven't bought another amp since the 870 as I feel like I just can't beat it until I can afford a Pass or similar and at 50 years old now my hearing has likely degraded so much that I'd never get my money's worth out of something better anyway. Anyway, that's my 2 cents and then some. Thanks for the great video!!
Thanks for sharing your experience. You are correct in that you would not be getting your moneys worth by getting another amp at this stage- unless you really wanted a change of pace. I hope to test a Pass integrated amp at some point.
@@traceysheneman8652 so sorry for your loss... It really is crazy good. I've heard people complain of HK stuff being clinical but I just think it's accurate. And it will draw attention to crappy source material. Keep an eye out and I'll bet you'll find one. Good luck!
My hk870 finally bit the dust after 39 years of service. Bought it in 1983 (college days) new, for 418. dollars, with the hk825 preamp for 344 dollars ( still have the faded receipt in manual). Powered a pair of pioneer hpm60s, with an akai 15 band equalizer with spectrum analyzer. Even had a Philips reel to reel back in the day ( I believe it was the n4420). Good times. But, I am so happy that it did break down because it forced me to buy a new system. After that many years not caring about hifi equipment I was stunned by how incredible the choices are today. Let's just say that my new audio system is leaps and bounds better. And when you factor the rate of inflation, the new system (aprox. 12,000 dollars) well it may be a bit more expensive these days, but maybe not if I were to compare apples to apples with the better equipment these days with the equivalent yesteryear.
I still have my 870 and 665. They are used in a spare passive bi-amped system. The pre out of the 665 feeds a passive line level crossover and the 870 which powers the woofers. The speaker out of the 665 has a capacitor (forgot the value, it been so long) in series to block the bass to the midrange and tweeter.
Thanks for sharing about the demise of your HK870 after 39years- wonder what failed? By "leaps & bounds better" I would think that would be features and maybe output power, but not so much the sound quality unless you had a lot of hum or noise in your 870....
@vintageaudioreview Never had any hum or noise from it, very quiet. The day it burned out, it got very hot on top of amp. I probably should have taken it to someone who could have checked it out. Ironically, I did take the preamp in a year earlier for maintenance for the first time and should have brought in the amp, too, which he suggested at the time.. It most likely would have been fixable, but I felt it was time to get new instead of paying a couple hundred for repair. It was that old equalizer that was the culprit, making a bad noise/hum from the rca jacks at the time and not the preamp or power amp. Loved that preamp, too, since it had a tape loop out, both a mm and mc phono stage, and a loudness control function among other things. I seriously doubt that I will have something last as long. Of course, I will likely be dead if the new equipment does.
By the way, I chose the new purify class d power amps for the new system , Nad c388 integrated amp and an additional March audio amp for the second pair of speakers I bought (bought klipsch forte iv and Bowers and Wilkins 702 speakers, and svs subwoofer) I love the new amps, quiet and run very cool. The sound is fast and detailed and not harsh at all. Of course, I bought a new 31 band equalizer to tweak the sound. The real game changer, however, was doing a a lot of research on room treatment that makes all the difference in the world.
@@dan-sc7fm If the output stage blew it could cause it to get hot on the top and it could have been a bit expensive to repair, but it is part of your "family"....
I had an HK870 bought back around 1984 with the rest of the Preamp, Tuner and EQ. I sold it about 3yrs ago for ~$200, not bad after 40yrs. BUT, The issues with the amp reflect the ravages of time, heat, and questionable design. Prior to selling I went through it to see what I could fix. 1- every piece of my HK setup had I/O jacks that just fell apart. These were all repaired by various means (RUclips videos on the subjects), direct replacement parts were not available' 2- The on/off switch is proprietary and sealed. Mine had issues. I had to drill it for access to spray contact cleaner in it to resolve the problem. 3- Power Transistors were rising off the heat sinks, and the heat sink grease was dried out. New grease and reseat. 4- circuit board tracings needed repair 5- Wire-wrapped connections were tarnished/corroded. Cleaned and soldered. The amp served me well and sounded great. I hope it is still serving the buyer as well
I appreciate your taking the time to share your experiences with the HK amp. Sounds like you spent a lot of time getting it up to snuff. $200 for all 3 pieces would have been a great deal for someone, for just the amp maybe an ok deal.
@@vintageaudioreview The $200 was just the HK 870 The preamp I tossed because the phono section, also proprietary, went bad and we could not source parts. I still have the EQ and Tuner
You could power a subwoofer with the HK870 as long as it has the power you need for it. You would need to use the appropriate crossover between it and the preamp, unless the preamp has a subwoofer output.
I have both. Just picked up the HK cheap and waiting to hook it up to see what it sounds like. My Rotel has a problem in the right channel and needs repair. Once I get it going I can compare the two. I really like both of them. Loved the sound of the Rotel.
It's great to see this review. There's not much out there about this great amp.
About 10 years ago I was rolling through a lot of different equipment. I kissed alot of frogs looking for my prince. Hafler, Adcom, Parasound, Carver, Krell & Bryston. Then about 8 years ago I picled up my 870 from a repair tech guy an hour away from me. I only bought it cuz I wanted to see how it sounded. It was really just a hobbyist experiment as I'd never listened to much MK stuff before and it was super cheap and just serviced so why the heck not? I was running a Krell amp at the time and assumed it would just be a fun few weeks with the 870 and I'd move it along and stick with the Krell amp which I was pretty happy with.
WRONG!
After just a few evenings of listening I was completely sold on the 870 and not just in terms of value. It really is one of the best sounding amps I've heard. I actually preferred it to any other amp I've owned. In terms of value it's just enequaled compared to anything else I've heard. I've got a few buddies with big money systems and it takes some serious coin to best this amp. I'm talking Pass and Mark Levinson coin to really improve much on what this amp can do.
I haven't bought another amp since the 870 as I feel like I just can't beat it until I can afford a Pass or similar and at 50 years old now my hearing has likely degraded so much that I'd never get my money's worth out of something better anyway.
Anyway, that's my 2 cents and then some.
Thanks for the great video!!
Thanks for sharing your experience. You are correct in that you would not be getting your moneys worth by getting another amp at this stage- unless you really wanted a change of pace. I hope to test a Pass integrated amp at some point.
I can't believe I sold my HK-870. Best sounding amp I've ever owned.
@@traceysheneman8652 so sorry for your loss...
It really is crazy good. I've heard people complain of HK stuff being clinical but I just think it's accurate. And it will draw attention to crappy source material.
Keep an eye out and I'll bet you'll find one.
Good luck!
I have quite a bit of Harman/Kardon amplifiers. They punch well above their weight class, despite their small size.
Thanks for your comment and the few HK's I have tested have done well, and look "smart"
My hk870 finally bit the dust after 39 years of service. Bought it in 1983 (college days) new, for 418. dollars, with the hk825 preamp for 344 dollars ( still have the faded receipt in manual). Powered a pair of pioneer hpm60s, with an akai 15 band equalizer with spectrum analyzer. Even had a Philips reel to reel back in the day ( I believe it was the n4420). Good times. But, I am so happy that it did break down because it forced me to buy a new system. After that many years not caring about hifi equipment I was stunned by how incredible the choices are today. Let's just say that my new audio system is leaps and bounds better. And when you factor the rate of inflation, the new system (aprox. 12,000 dollars) well it may be a bit more expensive these days, but maybe not if I were to compare apples to apples with the better equipment these days with the equivalent yesteryear.
I still have my 870 and 665. They are used in a spare passive bi-amped system. The pre out of the 665 feeds a passive line level crossover and the 870 which powers the woofers. The speaker out of the 665 has a capacitor (forgot the value, it been so long) in series to block the bass to the midrange and tweeter.
Thanks for sharing about the demise of your HK870 after 39years- wonder what failed? By "leaps & bounds better" I would think that would be features and maybe output power, but not so much the sound quality unless you had a lot of hum or noise in your 870....
@vintageaudioreview Never had any hum or noise from it, very quiet. The day it burned out, it got very hot on top of amp. I probably should have taken it to someone who could have checked it out. Ironically, I did take the preamp in a year earlier for maintenance for the first time and should have brought in the amp, too, which he suggested at the time.. It most likely would have been fixable, but I felt it was time to get new instead of paying a couple hundred for repair. It was that old equalizer that was the culprit, making a bad noise/hum from the rca jacks at the time and not the preamp or power amp. Loved that preamp, too, since it had a tape loop out, both a mm and mc phono stage, and a loudness control function among other things.
I seriously doubt that I will have something last as long. Of course, I will likely be dead if the new equipment does.
By the way, I chose the new purify class d power amps for the new system , Nad c388 integrated amp and an additional March audio amp for the second pair of speakers I bought (bought klipsch forte iv and Bowers and Wilkins 702 speakers, and svs subwoofer)
I love the new amps, quiet and run very cool. The sound is fast and detailed and not harsh at all. Of course, I bought a new 31 band equalizer to tweak the sound.
The real game changer, however, was doing a a lot of research on room treatment that makes all the difference in the world.
@@dan-sc7fm If the output stage blew it could cause it to get hot on the top and it could have been a bit expensive to repair, but it is part of your "family"....
I had an HK870 bought back around 1984 with the rest of the Preamp, Tuner and EQ. I sold it about 3yrs ago for ~$200, not bad after 40yrs.
BUT,
The issues with the amp reflect the ravages of time, heat, and questionable design. Prior to selling I went through it to see what I could fix.
1- every piece of my HK setup had I/O jacks that just fell apart. These were all repaired by various means (RUclips videos on the subjects), direct replacement parts were not available'
2- The on/off switch is proprietary and sealed. Mine had issues. I had to drill it for access to spray contact cleaner in it to resolve the problem.
3- Power Transistors were rising off the heat sinks, and the heat sink grease was dried out. New grease and reseat.
4- circuit board tracings needed repair
5- Wire-wrapped connections were tarnished/corroded. Cleaned and soldered.
The amp served me well and sounded great. I hope it is still serving the buyer as well
I appreciate your taking the time to share your experiences with the HK amp. Sounds like you spent a lot of time getting it up to snuff. $200 for all 3 pieces would have been a great deal for someone, for just the amp maybe an ok deal.
@@vintageaudioreview The $200 was just the HK 870
The preamp I tossed because the phono section, also proprietary, went bad and we could not source parts.
I still have the EQ and Tuner
@@ejcheck Thanks for replying back- Could have got a phono preamp and used the Aux input unless that is used for something else..
Hi, can you plug a subwoofer to that thing ? Wiring them with the speakers ?
You could power a subwoofer with the HK870 as long as it has the power you need for it. You would need to use the appropriate crossover between it and the preamp, unless the preamp has a subwoofer output.
copy of the rotel rb-870bx ??
The rotel you mentioned looks to have totally different circuitry than the hk870..
@@vintageaudioreview hk870 is better ?
@@garygranato9164 The Rotel looked like it may be built better, but w/out having one in to test I could not say for sure.
@@vintageaudioreview right-o, thanks for the tip
I have both. Just picked up the HK cheap and waiting to hook it up to see what it sounds like. My Rotel has a problem in the right channel and needs repair. Once I get it going I can compare the two. I really like both of them. Loved the sound of the Rotel.