Powernode (2021) vs H/K Citation vs Sonos Amp vs NAD D 3045

[KLDK]

just to be clear: the sound actually got louder when setting maxvolume from 10% to 20% after the restart? Because for me the webinterface remembers the set value, but just does not apply it so it is in fact at 100% while the webinterface still shows 10%.

The video sounds like a really small fan running at low speed. It is hard to judge how loud it is from the video.
When I put my ear to my Amp I notice also it makes a very faint noise. I never noticed that before. Just when turning the Amp on with the remote it sounds like a fan that starting up. You hear the frequency increase. Not sure you should expect something like that from a SMPS. I usually only notice the fan when the Amp it hot, but then it speeds up for 1 sec every 3 seconds. it could be they changed the fan’s response to temperature to make it less noticeable.

I just checked again, and you are right, it did not apply the settings, so the bug is still there.

 

[Doodski]

Got to figure out if this is a fan noise or a circuit whine... Open the top and find out is the way. The thing has apparently been disassembled already?

 

[PeterOo]

I just checked again, and you are right, it did not apply the settings, so the bug is still there.

Thanks. I have still 4 months warranty left, so it might opt to return it if they will not fix this after almost 2 years waiting.

you might want to check if your Amp suffers from the Airplay crackling before deciding if you want to keep the Amp or go with the powernode.
I posted info here.

 

[Flussgott]

Some new informations about the noise and where it comes from?
@KLDK do you recommend this amp at this point? Thank you for your reporting so far.

 

[KLDK]

Some new informations about the noise and where it comes from?
@KLDK do you recommend this amp at this point? Thank you for your reporting so far.

I returned it and went with the power node instead. The citation amp sounds amazing, but if I were to keep it I would have to keep it in a closed cabinet as it makes a sound that I found annoying.

 

[geegolly]

My old Citation Amp broke, and I still had warranty, so I got a new unit today. Mine has the same annoying sound.
And I noticed that they changed the volume increments. With my old unit, I could not go louder than 40% because it was way tot loud. Now it feels like I have to go to 80% to get the same volume.

 

[PeterOo]

My old Citation Amp broke, and I still had warranty, so I got a new unit today. Mine has the same annoying sound.
And I noticed that they changed the volume increments. With my old unit, I could not go louder than 40% because it was way tot loud. Now it feels like I have to go to 80% to get the same volume.

I also noticed also that the Amp was less loud and I had to turn up the volume all the time. Mine had updated to firmware 93860, that @KLDK ’s new Amp was also using.

Too bad that they did not fix the Amp not applying stored settings like Maxvolume.
Also they acknowledged the crackling problem with Airplay, but have no idea what is the cause and when or if there will be a fix.

Sound is great if you are not using Airplay and customer support is very friendly, but HK seems to have no intention to make this into a properly functioning Amp. I have 3 months warranty left so I think I will return it and get me an Audiophonics Ncore based amp instead.

 

[Freezak]

Guys, is Citation Amp still faulty? it seems great on paper with its price tag...

 

[PeterOo]

Guys, is Citation Amp still faulty? it seems great on paper with its price tag...

Depends on what you mean with faulty. Not sure the overheating us fixed with the new batch. There is just too little reports on this Amp online.
no new firmware since my last post on 5 February, so the bugs are still there.
I am not returning mine, since I would not know what better I could buy for this money, as long as you do not use Airplay.

 

[Flussgott]

Had the amp for my Polk r700 at home. Great amp so far.
I didn't really like Google's interface. I could barely hear the fan. Fault message (red light) did not occur for me. Even after long, loud listening sessions. I would recommend it.

 

[punQ]

Hmm, just pulled the trigger on HK Citation Amp, hoping i get a decent unit without too many flaws, damn shame a near perfect device has these clumsy design flaws.

I'm from denmark btw, and found a rare offer on this (1000 DKK off). So i had to give it a go.. Has everything i need, HDMI ARC, chromecast builtin, line in, and not a hefty pricetag...

 

[punQ]

Well i have just set up my new HK citation amp. Nice unit, but damn, i have circuit whine / fan noise.. I actually think it's circuit whine... annoying.. Sound really good other than that..

 

[punQ]

in the release status, i noticed there is a date. in yours it says: 2020-09-04 and in mine 2022-10-18, but i dont know if its the release date of the firmware or the production date of the amp. i just tried to do as you said and yes max volume is still enabled and set to 10% after turning the amp off and on.

yesterday the amp had a constant noise, you can hear it in the video if you turn the volume up, but today when i came home from work i tried to swith it on without anything connected to it and it was completely silence, then i connected the speakers and still it is completely silence, but after 30 minutes of playing music it began again. did you ever experince this?

Link to video:

This is exactly the same i'm experiencing. Sometimes nothing, but most times there's this hiss...

I "think" that this could actually be a fan issue also. To be more precise a "fan voltage issue". If HK is trying to quiet the device and feeds the fan a little voltage, but not enough to make it spin, you could get this. I noticed that it goes away when the unit gets warmer, which might indicate that the fan are spinning instead of making this noise.. But that's just pure speculation and guessing.

If that is the case, it could be fixed with an update... But maybe im just hoping

 

[marX]

This is exactly the same i'm experiencing. Sometimes nothing, but most times there's this hiss...

I "think" that this could actually be a fan issue also. To be more precise a "fan voltage issue". If HK is trying to quiet the device and feeds the fan a little voltage, but not enough to make it spin, you could get this. I noticed that it goes away when the unit gets warmer, which might indicate that the fan are spinning instead of making this noise.. But that's just pure speculation and guessing.

If that is the case, it could be fixed with an update... But maybe im just hoping

Any update on this?

BTW, I saw a youtube video mentioning the issues but he said the replacement unit is working fine. Some others were reporting the low volume issue though.

 

[marX]

Any Citation amp users here?
How is your unit doing?

 

[PeterOo]

Any Citation amp users here?
How is your unit doing?

Still doing fine after more than two years. None of the firmware bugs I reported were fixed though. They probably never will.
My son‘s citation amp did have the red light (overheating?) problem and was repaired by HK under warranty about 6 months ago I think. works fine now.

 

[marX]

Still doing fine after more than two years. None of the firmware bugs I reported were fixed though. They probably never will.
My son‘s citation amp did have the red light (overheating?) problem and was repaired by HK under warranty about 6 months ago I think. works fine now.

Thanks for the reply. I actually bought (paid for) the amp from eBay but asked them to cancel the order after reading about the manufacturing issues.

What would you say if I fit an additional Noctua fan (with a dust filter) on the vent for more air circulation?
Do you think it would help?

Any other serious issues that can be a deal breaker?
I'm gonna pair it with a bookshelf speaker, the Revel M16 (might get a subwoofer next). it should work, right?

 

[vazakh]

Hello! Please tell me how to choose a coaxial or optical input on the HK Citation Amp

 

[PeterOo]

As far as I understand the Amp will choose automatically if it sees a signal. All digital inputs (optical, coax, hdmi) are considered TV inputs.
I forgot what the preference is when multiple digital inputs are active At the same time.

So the best you can do is make sure coax is the only active digital input and select TV as source if it does not do that automatically.

 

[NTK]

The Citation Amp, AFAIK, supports only 1 digital input (the "TV IN group"), even though you may connect it to the amp in 3 different ways.