Harman Kardon Soundsticks, awesome sound quality...

Advantages: Rich sound, super clarity, deep base, look great, robust, high quality
Disadvantages: Simply none!

...My Harmon Kardon Soundsticks are plugged into the back of a Mac and have certainly livened things up. I haven't needed to upgrade soundcards or do anything technical whatsoever in my pursuit of fantastically rich sound quality. Firstly, these sound better than anything else on the market within the price bracket. The sound is rich and deep with ample adjustment for either volume or base. The two sticks and base unit come with an instruction manual, but these really are so simple to use that you can throw the manual in the recycling bin. The speaker set simply plugs into the jack socket of your PC/Mac/laptop and have their own power supply which connects to the base unit. Seperate cabling attaches the sticks to the central base unit. Once plugged in you get a cool blue underlit main unit which looks really stylish. The sticks...

Speakeeze 24.08.2009 · Read review
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Review of Harman Kardon SoundSticks II

Harman Kardon's DVD-49 is Disappointing

Advantages: Best of industry digital-to-analog conversion, especially DVD-A and SACD
Disadvantages: The audio interface is sub-standard for Harman Kardon

...I purchased this, my first HK 3 weeks ago, being the DVD49. The internal Audio D/A of the DVD49 (analogue output) is the best I heard in any commercial playback device - but here the complements end. Mechanical - Apart from HK's non-conformance to the industry standard 19" wide design, the design of the CD drawer is the worst I have ever seen. There is no damping whatsoever and the drawer runs into the stops at full speed on open and close - this will most definitely cause the device to fail. Audio Digital - All three of the HDMI, Optical and Coax digital outputs render a 1 second dropout within 5 - 45 second of starting a new track on skip forward on every 3rd or 4th track. This is totally unacceptable. All Audio outputs - a very annoying click happen every time a track is skipped or fast forwarded - this is indicative of sloppy...

StJAUX 08.06.2009 · Read review
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Review of Harman Kardon Harman Kardon DVD 49

Harman Kardon DVD22 Multi Region DVD Player

Advantages: looks fantastic, beautiful picture (depending on connection),
Disadvantages: expensive, reliability problems with brand

...armed with my brand new (in 2005) DVD22 I was hoping for a long and happy life with a brand that is famed for its build quality. ### LOOKS ### The Harman Kardon DVD22 is a very attractive looking DVD player; being Silver and Black with a small but bright neon blue power light on the left hand side (which turns orange when on standby) a central DVD Drawer and the display (which shows a counter) on the right hand side. The various DVD control buttons reside along the centre of the unit, on the border between the silver and the black colour coding on the unit. The colour scheme of the unit matches the AV Amps that Harman Kardon produce (of which I have the AVR7300) ### FUNCTIONS ### Obviously being DVD player the unit will play DVDs, it is also a multi region player (after a firmware upgrade via CD by the guys in the shop at no...

sjp1966 12.10.2007 · Read review
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Review of Harman Kardon harman/kardon DVD 22

Harman/Kardon stylish sounds

Advantages: Superb design, excellent sound, easy to set up
Disadvantages: Some dubious build quality issues.

...Harman/Kardon seem to be taking the multimedia market seriously by releasing a speaker set that wouldn't look out of place in a modern living room/study. With a design that is a welcome change from drab beige boxes, you are sure to attract admiring glances from your friends. These speakers really do look the part with their slim stands, contoured driver enclosures and the imposing black-grey finish. The subwoofer is a neat round cylinder that can be situated on your desk without too much bother. The setup of these speakers is very easy. Every plug is colour-coded to the corrosponding input on your sound card, and the speaker plugs are even shaped so there it's impossible to connect them the wrong way round. The speakers themselves tend to slide around on smooth desks, but its nothing a small blob of Blu-Tac wouldn't fix... So...

JasonTye 27.01.2005 · Read review
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Review of Harman International PC multimedia speaker system

Transparent and Loud!

Advantages: LOUD maximum volume, cool looks
Disadvantages: Bulky subwoofer

...One of the coolest speakers i saw come out were the Kardon Soundsticks II multimedia speaker system. I didnt actually see them online or anything like that, the speakers are actually somewhat endorsed by apple, as I first saw them hooked up to almost all of the ipod's and apple mac's on display. The first thing i noticed was their unusual look - as obviously they are transparent. For me, that went on the plus side of things, as I can'r resist a funky unusual design. The subwoofer has an interesting shape that I can't quite describe but the unit is nicely accompanied with silver screws wires and other general add ons, so that nothing is too imposing. The only negative thing that I can think of is the size of the whole system, particurlaly the subwoofer. Bearing in mind that these are pc speakers, people do not always have...

theskysthelimit 24.01.2007 · Read review
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Review of Harman Kardon SoundSticks II

Sound quality matches the style!

Advantages: Great sound and look superb
Disadvantages: I wish i could show them off more!

...the table. The two satellite speakers are heavy in weight for their size and give remarkable definition and with the bass boost twist at the back of the sub, you'll be amazed how easy the balanced tone can be adjusted. The speakers are great at high volumes. I am yet to turn them up fully! They also sound very soild even at low volume. I would almost say the sound is crisper and clearer than my £250 sony hifi. ---Appearance--- These speakers look the business! Harman Kardon share designs with Apple computers and this is shown. The satellite speakers are set in a clear casing which shows off the wiring superbly. The satellites are made up of 4 dome tweeters and have a heavy blue rubber stand. The sub is the centre piece. I am dissapointed that i do not have room for this on my desk as it looks so good! Almost like a jelly fish the sub is...

sam_mule2k 18.01.2006 · Read review
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Review of Harman Kardon SoundSticks II

Great things come in small packages

Advantages: Fantastic sound quality
Disadvantages: Short lead from sub to pc

...looking. After about five minutes of looking at boxes and not being able to make up my mind, the advisor suggested the Harman / Kardon SoundSticks 2 stating that they were brilliant. So I had a look, opened up the box to take a look and was surprised at what i found. The speakers are tiny! About 30cm tall with four small tweeter sized cones inside. This immediately put me off because I KNEW I wanted some loud speakers but the design is fantastic, they look really stylish and sleek (just like me :P ) The price was right at £139 and my best friend that came with said he had heard them before and thought I should definately buy them. So..... I did. When i got home I unpacked the box and just placed everything on my desk to have a look. The sub looks like what I can best describe as a jellyfish, with a clear plastic shell. I like...

leethal 19.02.2005 · Read review
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Review of Harman Kardon SoundSticks II

We are so gonna party all day

Advantages: Awesome quality
Disadvantages: You ought to be kidding

...heard them play a last week and decided on them. I tried to reason with him that they were too expensive. He shot back that they were better than the 6.1 and the creature II and value for money for the quality they delivered, in fact, they were lowly priced for the quality they delvered. It was infact a steal. Another friend too had the same opinion. And we decided that we buy these. The result - orders were placed for two sets - one for us and one for my good friend. Purchased them through PCW @ £109.06 each with free delivery. They have those light touch volume controls on the right speaker just like the creature II and a bass control knob on the rear of the bass tube. The speakers can be instantly muted by touching the two volume control buttons together on the right speaker. Also Harman Kardon has ensured that the speakers...

liberoxtreme 02.02.2005 (09.02.2005) · Read review
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Review of Harman Kardon SoundSticks II

The sound quality matches quality of the design!!!

Advantages: sleek, sexy, head turner
Disadvantages: can't see any to be entirly honest

...These speakers are a sleek, stylish and classy addition to any personal computer. I bought these speakers from PC world instinctively. I saw the clear and transparent style on the box and immediately knew that I had to have these speakers. I havent regretted this rash decision at all. Thye sound quality matches the design quality. I already knew that Karman Kardon produce superb sound devices in many exclusive bmw sound systems and this system did not disappoint at all. The sub woofer produces a nice, clean bass sound. The stick provide enough power to accomodate the loud sub woofer. Best of all has to be the design. Its something that catches the attention of anyone walking into the room. The button to change the volume is on the stick and is touch sensitive. A trick to show off to any person who comes over. I would...

crofton6 15.06.2008 · Read review
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Review of Harman Kardon SoundSticks II

SOMETIME THE OLD IS THE BEST.

Advantages: QUALITY OF SOUND.
Disadvantages: Not as fancy looking as other speakers.

...I would like to write about something that means rather a lot to me. I was silly enough to buy speakers that were fashionable, and recently noticed the quality of sound was lacking, and the only good thing about the speakers was their looks. This came about because I have moved and in my new house, I have more space, and therefore can up the volume without the sound drowning me out of the room. I love music. It is very important to me, and listening to it is part of my relaxation. Therefore, to me sound is important. I also like gaming and the sounds on the computer are also important for this to be a pleasurable experience. Somehow the new fangled speakers let me down, and I went to where I store all of my old accessories, and picked out the Harmon Kardon speakers that came with my computer from Dell, plugged them in and rebooted...

thingywhatsit 06.07.2004 · Read review
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Review of Harman Kardon HK 19.5