Harman/Kardon HD750 CD-player

There is an alternative to simple and concise design of British equipment and metallic luster of Japanese audio technique. See, for example, how the components of American Harmon/Kardon look like. A polished black plate takes a large part of the front panel - one this detail already gives the player HD750 an expensive look. The relief ledge, whereby the device looks more solid, completes the lower part of plane. HD750 looks more impressive in on state when green inscriptions light up under the control buttons. Corny? You know, such decision jumps out at you in cheap popular music centres. But here everything is moderately and tasty.

As soon as you load HDCD disc in the player, the corresponding indicator will glow on the front panel. HD750, despite of its price, supports this format. However, this fact is not as interesting as existing in HD750 DAC Burr-Brown PCM1732 withdigital filter, which provides octupleupsampling and HDCD decoding. The few ones in this price category can be boast of such high-qualitativetract.

We find the solution of the designers to put the load button end-to-end to the platform of loader uncomfortable - at first you don't accept it for button. Also the display of HD750 is small and not very informative. However, like in expensive devices, it can be invited or even disable. In addition, the qualitative output for headphones with volume control is provided.

The back panel of the player looks much simpler and "budget". There are a couple of standard RCA for linear analog connection and one digital coaxial output.

We had to listen in tests and compare the technique with the same as in HD750 DAC for many times, so a certain stereotype has already developed relatively to the players on Burr-Brown PCM1732. However, the device by Harmon/Kardon destroyed it.

First of all - and it wasn't a pleasant discovery for us - HD750 surprised by its "flabbiness". Dynamics, power, drive - strong side of almost all the players on PCM1732 - stayed unsolved in this player. We won't speculate about the reason for such laziness - a simplified supply circuit or analog output cascades. We just stating a fact: the dynamics is not such as it could be. Of course, you can try to fill its deficiency by the volume knob on the amplifier (moreover you must do it - the level in HD750 is lowered at the linear output). But compensation turns out to be not full: not a drive appears in the sound but loud notes amplify.

However, Harmon/Kardon has serious advantages. Firstly, it minimally colors the sound. You can suspect HD750 in the propensity to add unwanted "shades" to sound only in the part of upper range, to which the specter of sonorous percussion instruments accounts for. The bass and especially the mid-frequency range are transmitted by this player with exemplary clarity.

Secondly, HD750 has almost ideal sound stage: a good localization, confident stepping-up, wonderful depth. So, why "almost"? The sources may slightly blur and shift on the most distant sound plans. We won't consider this feature as a blemish, because more expensive players often can't also be proud of accurate sound stage.

We can envy the owners of HD750 for another reason. They have the device which is extremely attentive to sound details. The nuance shows itself not so clearly like in the players where nothing, except this quality, is expressed, but on a much deeper level of perception - on the level of subconscious. So, sound resolution of HD750 is not budgetary. Here we can already feel the breed.