Here I am in 2016 and im running the B&K 507 s2 as my amp and an Oppo bdp 105 doing the processing. I can honestly say that they don't make them like they used to and after many receivers I've owned throughout the years including current ones, my 507s2 blows them away. The amps never run out of steam and are so powerful that at low listening in 2 channel my speakers are still in full control from the amps. For those that are running out and buying the latest and greatest receivers that's fine if you feel the need to keep up with the Joneses but if you want a receiver that's built to last and is essentially a high end amp then stick with receivers from 2008 and before that. This 507s2 will be in my rack for as long as I can keep supplying the parts for it for maintenance and i'll keep up with the latest prossesing by changing out my oppo, I just wish B&K was still in business.

I could write a book on its strengths. Too many to list

its notch filters are hard to figure out so I simply disable them. I don't see them as being critical for great tone anyway.

I can not say enough about this reciever. No doubt it is a very expensive unit but consider the following: It is the very last reciever you will ever have to buy. It is upgradable in order to stay current on the latest technologies. It is built like a M1 Abrams tank. I'm not kidding. Customer service/tech support is first rate. It sounds soo good. It is unbelivable. It projects a soundfield that is out of this world. The louder you turn it up the better it sounds. At high volumes, it is clear and crisp. NO MUDDINESS. NONE . PERIOD. I've found to be like a Marshall or Mesa Engineering guitar tube amp. Before watching a movie or a music concert you should turn it on and let it sit for a few minutes so it can simmer and brew alittle before you fire it up.

Customer Service

Theres none better. They provide you with expert individual attention. Its as if they put out the store closed sign on the front door so they can give the best service possible . If you want to be treated like the President of the United States go buy a B&K product.

Similar Products Used:

Sony, Onkyo, Yamaha, kenwood

- Sound quality
- Build quality
- Remote
- Upgradeable
- Made in the good ol' USA

- Produces a fair amount of heat....would recommend an aux. fan for it
- Manual could be better written
- no other that I could think of

Outstanding quality and sound. Having owned several Yamaha products (RX-V1, Rx-V2090, etc..) I can say w/o any hesitation that this is the best sounding receiver I've ever owned. It's fairly simple to setup, however the manual could be better written. The remote is a very nice piece and the quality of construction on the receiver is second to none. I highly recommend this receiver....also, by purchasing this receiver you're supporting an American owned company, which I think is a good thing! Oh yea...one more selling point, this receiver is upgradeable!

Similar Products Used:

Yamaha, Sony, Denon

Great design, versatile for movies or 2 channel stereo. Controller and software. Excellent high and mid frequency reproduction.

Lacks thunderous power, reproduces base poorly, receiver manual needs to assigned to a different engineer (someone less intelligent), Remote sucks batteries like it's a race car you got on Christmas a child.

This is a great receiver with very few faults. By far and away the quality can be heard, even at low volumes, in the crisp play and segmentation between tweeter and midrange. With the right CD and front speakers playing in 2 channel stereo it sounds like you have the group in your living room. It's built like a tank and I upgraded from an B&K avr 202 that I had for 5 years and never had an issue. Aestically it's also designed well. The solid face plate shouts quality and the blue illumination is warming. The music is crystal clear (when played through a well produced CD) I think the manual could be set up a little cleaner and clearer. The remote is one of the best features by far and even in you're not buying this receiver certainly get the remote. It takes some time to figure out the software and program in the macros, but once you're done, just sit back and work the machine to your needs. The remote is large and very easy to use, just set aside a few hours to work through the software on the computer before you upload to your remote. Watching movies is also an experience to feel and enjoy. It is a unit which truely excels in both music and movies. The only points of improvement I could hear were the base and the power. If you're looking for thunderous power and driving bass from your floorstanding you'll need to upgrade to the B&K separates which provide 200W RMS/Channel. I have a pair of Klipsch RF7 which are 250W RMS and this receiver couldn't drive them as well as some of the amps I listened to at the audio store. But that's my fault for not upgrading. I would never pay the $4000 retail you have to pay at Tweeter. You take some risks by getting online, no question about it, but it's simply not worth $4000. At $2,000 it's a fair price.

Similar Products Used:

B&K AVR 202

Sound, flexibility, remote, high current design, even built here in the USA

pops with some equipment, price, manual could be better, setup can be complex

There are a couple of things I'd like to add to the previous review. First, B&K's remote is the Home TheaterMaster 800, I think. It's outstanding. Check them out at Remote Central. Some users have complained about loud pops during channel changes, source changes, etc. This is worth investigating as it appears to be equipment specific. To their credit, B&K has an upgrade for the problem, though it has soured some people on the product. Lastly, it's worth comparing the damping factor between their separates and their receiver. There are differences.

Similar Products Used:

Denon AVR-5803, Pioneer Elite VSX-49TXi -- both fine products but I think the B&K has the edge.

Excellent sound quality. Abundant power supply. Superior build quality.

None

I can't say enough great things about this receiver. After owning several Onkyo and Sony products, I can definitely state that the B&K is in a completely different class than other mass produced receivers. The sound quality when compared A/B between the Onkyo 898 and the B&K 507 was astonishingly better. I had several friends come over and listen to the two receivers, and everyone was amazed at the difference between the two. Bass seemed so much tighter. The warmth of the B&K's mid-range and treble definitely separated it from the Onkyo. Music is now so much more enjoyable. Home theater sound improved equally as much. I now find myself watching boring movies that I would have turned off after 10 minutes, just to hear an incredible sound track. Build quality is excellent. One example… I bought my unit with both a silver and black faceplate. I decided to switch them to decide which one I liked best, and was surprised to find a single 1/4" piece of milled aluminum was used. This unit weights in at 55 lbs. The only negative thing I can say in this review (and it's not the 507's fault so I won't list it as a negative) is that bad or average recordings now sound just that, bad or average. But that's what a receiver is supposed to do, just reproduce the signal as close to the original recording as possible. I never realized the difference a high quality receiver could make in the reproduction of music and the home theater experience. I am now a believer! Now thanks to this product, the audio bug has bitten me. That actually leads to a 2nd negative, trying to get my wife to accept my new hobby.

Similar Products Used:

Sony ? (older model) Onkyo 747 Onkyo 898