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  • Harman Kardon Citation II

    How many remember?
    Myles B. Astor, PhD, Administrator
    Senior Editor, Positive-Feedback.com
    ________________________________________

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  • #2
    Originally posted by MylesBAstor View Post
    How many remember?
    Not only do I remember, I actually own one. It's been nicely restored and upgraded for improved reliability by Don Sachs. Don works hand in hand with Jim McShane, who among other things specializes in Citation II upgrade kits. It's a very nice amp that has withstood the test of time.
    harman, kardon, citation, restoration, D Sachs preamp

    ---Gary
    Analog: Scheu + Immedia RPM tonearm + Koetsu Black + Pass Xono or Threshold FET 10pe
    Amps: First Watt F7, HK Citation II
    Pre-Amps: CJ Premier 14, Threshold FET 10e, DIY 417a with output transformer
    Speakers: Horning Eufrodite, Reference 3A mm de capo
    Tuners: Sansui TU9900, McIntosh MR78
    Digital: i7 Server (Roon) + SSD, Sonore urendu + Mutec MC3+ USB + Berkeley Alpha Dac, Audiomeca Mephisto
    Power: Audience AR12, Torus Tot, DIY filters

    Comment


    • #3
      I had one for about 8 years and enjoyed it. But I really needed more pwr for my maggies ( the citation II is only 60 W ). When I came across my current amp, I wanted to be sure it wasn't a sonic downgrade so I hooked up a A-B comparison circuit between the two amps so I could switch between the two on the fly remotely. At moderate levels ( below clipping of the citation) I could not detect ANY difference with any kind of music so I was satisfied with making the switch to my newer amp.
      Magnepan 1.6 QR Loudspeakers, Amherst A-2000 MOSFET 150 WPC Amp, Conrad Johnson PV-10A Modded Tube Line & Phono Stage, Electrocompaniet MC II Class A Head Amp, Audio Technica AT-OC9XML Cart (Stereo) , Graham Engineering 2.2 Tonearm (Stereo) , VPI Aries-1 Turntable (Stereo) , VPI Clamp, Denon DL-102 Cart, (Mono) , Luxman Tonearm (Mono) , Kenwood KD-500 Turntable (Mono) , Michell Clamp, Marantz 20B Analog FM Tuner, Pioneer SACD, Onkyo DX-6800 CD Transport, DIY 24B/192K DAC, Sennheiser HD-650 Headphones, Headroom Max Balanced Headphone Amp, DIY Silver Interconnects

      Comment


      • #4
        I can't tell a lie... I have three Cit IIs in the house. Used to have four but have reformed just a bit.

        You might not be aware these stereo amps can be wired into monos and will put out double the outputs enough (almost) to drive the Maggies to a reasonable level.

        Comment


        • #5
          I have one too. Lots of work to restore it- chrome it and re-build it. ...

          Click image for larger version

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          Phono: Aesthetix Io Eclipse with 2 Power Supplies and Volume controls
          Custom Slagle Silver Autoformer Volume control
          Brinkmann Balance & RonT Tube Power supply with Kuzma 4-point ,FR64S, .Koetsu Jade Platinum,Etsuro Gold, DaVa FA-1 Goldfinger Statement, KLAUDIO RCM, HRSM3X
          Amps: Custom Direct Drive, Wyetech Topaz, Futterman H3 Quad II,Citation II, Marantz 8b, 5 ,2. Bedini 25/25
          Otari Bx5050II , DeHavlland 222
          Chord DAVE, MScaler, FARAD linear power supply mod, OPTO-DX optical connection

          Pre-Amps:Marantz 7, Marantz Model 1 Consolette Pair
          Speakers: Beveridge Model 3 Direct Drive amps, REL S/2 x 2, Quad ESL pair

          Comment


          • MylesBAstor
            MylesBAstor commented
            Editing a comment
            Purty.

          • JCOConnell
            JCOConnell commented
            Editing a comment
            why 3 RCA inputs?

          • Johnny Vinyl
            Johnny Vinyl commented
            Editing a comment
            As Don Cherry would say: Beauty!

        • #6
          The output transformers in the Citation II amps were/are works of art with a very extended bandwidth. Many Citation II amps have been purchased in order to remove the output transformers and use them in other amp designs. M&F for example.
          Micro Seiki SX-8000 table with flywheel, SME 3012R arm, SME 312S arm, Lyra Etna SL and Dynavector XV-1S cartridges, ARC Ref 3 phono stage, Otari MX-55 tape deck, Ampex 350 repros, Roon Nucleus Plus server, PS Audio DSJ DAC, ARC Ref 6 pre, ARC Ref 75 amp, Parasound JC5 amp, JBL 4345 speakers, and Def Tech Ref subs.

          Comment


          • kcin
            kcin commented
            Editing a comment
            Yes Moore- Frankland Associates (MFA) harvested these for some of their early 80s efforts

          • MylesBAstor
            MylesBAstor commented
            Editing a comment
            There's a blast from the past!

        • #7
          Originally posted by kcin View Post
          I have one too. Lots of work to restore it- chrome it and re-build it. ...
          Kcin - lovely work.

          JCOConnell asked "why 3 RCA inputs?" There aren't 3 inputs. One of the RCA jacks provides a 60hz signal that is used for AC balancing. Here's a snapshot from the Citation II Owners/Assembly Manual.

          ---Gary

          Click image for larger version

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          Analog: Scheu + Immedia RPM tonearm + Koetsu Black + Pass Xono or Threshold FET 10pe
          Amps: First Watt F7, HK Citation II
          Pre-Amps: CJ Premier 14, Threshold FET 10e, DIY 417a with output transformer
          Speakers: Horning Eufrodite, Reference 3A mm de capo
          Tuners: Sansui TU9900, McIntosh MR78
          Digital: i7 Server (Roon) + SSD, Sonore urendu + Mutec MC3+ USB + Berkeley Alpha Dac, Audiomeca Mephisto
          Power: Audience AR12, Torus Tot, DIY filters

          Comment


          • JCOConnell
            JCOConnell commented
            Editing a comment
            ooops-forgot about that. Its been over 10 years since I owned one.

          • kcin
            kcin commented
            Editing a comment

        • #8
          Click image for larger version

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ID:	48160 I had this SS version before I went truly hi-end in the early 1990's. Went to Mark Levinson 27.5 after the HK Citation.
          Christian
          System Gear

          Comment


          • JCOConnell
            JCOConnell commented
            Editing a comment
            while that model may have been named citation, its a totally different animal, not just another "version"

        • #9
          Here are a few pictuers of my Citation II. Bias pots have been moved to the back to make for easier adjustment. The toggle switches on the back allow one to use either the internal meter or an external meter when adjusting tube bias (the middle switch) and separately allows one to.switch the amp from pentode mode to triode mode (the outer two switches).
          ---Gary
          Analog: Scheu + Immedia RPM tonearm + Koetsu Black + Pass Xono or Threshold FET 10pe
          Amps: First Watt F7, HK Citation II
          Pre-Amps: CJ Premier 14, Threshold FET 10e, DIY 417a with output transformer
          Speakers: Horning Eufrodite, Reference 3A mm de capo
          Tuners: Sansui TU9900, McIntosh MR78
          Digital: i7 Server (Roon) + SSD, Sonore urendu + Mutec MC3+ USB + Berkeley Alpha Dac, Audiomeca Mephisto
          Power: Audience AR12, Torus Tot, DIY filters

          Comment

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