This receiver is absolutely sound..You would expect some heat build up from an amp that can kick out over 500 watts of hi current power..Sound is clean and accurate. Simple with everything you need. Bass Managment is the besi I have seen. The remote is fine and gets everything done...Especially being able to adjust the Dolby surround channels directly without having to go into the menue. It is solid and will be easly upgradible with eproms for future improvements..this is one fine unit..NO HUM NO FAN just great sound

I have had the AVR 202 for about 4 months now and I never experienced any loud buzz, pops, hums, freeze ups, screeching or whatever. It is amazing to me that a few people have indicated that all B&K products "buzz". What are they doing, turning the volume up as far as it will go and putting their heads and ears in the speaker cone?!? This certainly is not my preferred listening position. I was very reluctant in purchasing this piece of equipment but have had nothing but enjoyment out of it. The learning remote is simple and controls every piece of equipment in my system. The sound it produces in my system is very dynamic, very clean and very open and runs easily at Dolby Reference Levels, although I rarely have it set to that. It does run warm and so what. To me, that has absolutely no bearing and is certainly not a reflection of quality. Try a Pass Labs Aleph amp, now that's hot. For the value it represents it is a great deal in my humble opinion. You have to spend considerably more to get as much. I compared it to the Acurus/Act III setup and my ears like the B&K better. The bottom line in all audio is this, trust your ears, buy what sounds best at the best value for you. If you haven't heard the B&K, do not be swayed without trying it yourself and that really goes for any piece of equipment. My system consists of
Ultech CD player
Sony dvd 500
M2 series connects
vampire wire
Legacy Sig III's

Good Listening!!

I wanted to give my two sense worth of how the AVR202 has performed.I have a B&K 202 and know it is THE best value in it's class. I have one in my ststem know and simply love it.
Also, I am a dealer and sold about 15 (even to a couple of the posters).
To date no one has let me know they had a hum problem and the only complains were 2 dead remotes (bad LCD portion).
I did not receive any early versions because of the leadtimes but do know B&K admitted to the problem and fixed it.
Simply put if you are in the market for an INCREDIBLY flexible and great sounding receiver. Check this one out. There is a lot of competition but to date, my ears love this 202.
Steve 612-308-7736

I have now had my 4th AVR 202 for just over a week and it runs perfectly. This serial number was significantly higher (59XXX) than the previous ones and B&K must have done something to make it run cooler. Most of the display problems seem to be heat related. This unit runs much cooler and I have used it for many hours at a time with no significant heat build up. The sound is very clear and I can hear details in some of my DVD's and CDs that I never appreciated before. I can honestly say that this is the best sounding receiver I have heard. Setup:
Front: PSB Stratus Goldi
Rear: PSB Bronze
Center: PSB Stratus C6
Sub: Velodyne F1000
MIT terminator 6 speaker cables, Monster Interconnects (interlink 400)

Just got the B&K AVR202. Replaced a Deno 5600. The 202 sounds great. It is one that the previous problems have been corrected. Also spoke with the company. Heat problem releived by more vents & no humming problems at all. Sounds clean & powerful, was choosing between this & the Denon 5700. Did not want or need all the bells & whistles just the best sound.

Gentlemen,
It is neither here nor there, relevant, to bash one another over the validity of the terms of warranty. Warranties either apply from the manufacturer, (in this case B&K) or the agency who sold the merchandise. In most cases, both, if the agency has any credibility. At any rate, the section covering warranties under the Magnuson-Moss Act is part 700, 700.3 to be specific.
By-the-way, the term "lawyer" is antiquated. We refer to ourselves as "legal specialists."

Incidently, the B&K AVR-202 is one fine receiver.

Paul

john
you couldnt be more wrong. you can read that act over and over again, but it is the consumer's responsibility to check things out. whoever you buy from is ultimately responsible for the product they sell, not the manufacturer. you cannot hold the manufacturer responsible for your dealer's illegal actions. if the b&k breaks, the dealer will have to get it repaired. b&k does not have to accept it directly from you especially when they show that you have an authorized dealer in your area and you still bought thru the mail. these independent installers are not allowed by the manufacturer to sell out of their region, if they do, the company will not back the warranty directly from the consumer. if the independent installer misrepresents himself, that is not the fault or liability of the manufacturer. you are forced to send the product back to the person you bought it from and they would have to send it in and claim they installed it locally. of course, they could not prove that because the invoice would say otherwise. the consumer gets stuck in the middle. and everyone knows that these installers are here one day and gone the next. rarely do the last as long as the warranty does. then you are stuck. please tell the truth to all these people reading these reviews so they do not get screwed by buying this product thru the mail. b&k specifically states that they do not sell mail order and have not authorized others to do so. buyer beware. especially on this model which has a very high return rate with bugs and glitches. you are be irresponsible by making people believe that they can easily get there warranty honored. you are just trying to drudge up business for lawyers and take money from the consumer's who cant afford that. these people need to be informed about independent installers and the fact that a large number of them are illegally selling products thru the mail, voiding authorized warranties. you can read all the law acts you want, fact of the matter is that it is the consumer's responsibilty to check out the dealer he buys from. quit misleading people. they are trying to get the most for there dollar and are often suckered by these fly by night independent operations.
get your head out of that book and use some street sense to understand what these guys are doing. you may in fact be a lawyer now that i see how misleading you are.

For those of you flipping through all of these reviews trying to figure out if this B&K AVR-202 (or REF20) is reliable. I cannot give you personal data. Today, the AVR202 and the REF20 have NO quality or design issues.B&K knows that some design and quality issues were experienced but were addressed in Q4 of 99. The reasons for this (in my opinion) is two fold. 1st, they got pressured to release the product before proper Beta testing was done. They were late out of design and had a HUGE backlog of sold product. The smartest business thing to do is SLOWLY release a few units per week to send them out in the field and get reports back as to how things are doing. This was done by Sunfire and yes, bugs were found and fixed quietly. Obviously B&K did not anticipate these issues. Denon and Yamaha, for example never promise dates of delivery and if they miss them the don't feel the pressure. If problems are found though they don't admit them (from my experience).
The 2nd reason quality problems were experienced by B&K was a 4X EXPLOSION in business. A lot of growing pains were realized having to hire new employees to assemble etc in Q4 of 99.
Some of the major concerns were addressed including running too hot (New top covers with more vents, sticking buttons (new squishy rubber buttons), Hum in some units (internal grounding rerouting), and locks-up (new back-up and restore feature).
I have gotten over 40 REF20's and AVR202 since December or 98. I tried to get product before then but the backlog was very heavy and I did not get any units because of this. From my experience, I have had 3 problems out of 40. 2 bad LCD portions in the remote and a misaligned headphone jack. Two people also said they had problems but upon return, they checked out fine. Turned out they did not know how to use it or made it up to get it returned.
I am not meaning this to sound like a flag-waving B&K dealer but I truely have not experienced all of these problems. I would refuse to sell this product if I had a lot of problems. I cannot afford the hastle of carrying bad product! In fact, I refuse to sell most of the Marantz line because of all the quality problems that I have experienced (25% plus returns or serviced!!) Rest assured B&K is the best designed (and sounding) receiver on the market (I have heard them all).
If you decide to buy a Japanese receiver (or preamp) versus an open architecture like the B&K. You will be garanteeing quick obsolences since they do not have an upgrade policy. B&K is working on Component video, 24/96 AS WELL AS 48/192, variable crossovers, equalization, and new Dolby standards. If you go with the Japanees or other NON-upgradeable receivers and preamps, you will be on the market selling your receiver again and again. This is another reason I am pro-B&K. Hopefully this has helped. If you want more info feel free to call my at 612-308-7736. I will be happy to guarantee you will not have problems (if you do not have local dealer support)
Authorized Lines:
ATI, Acurus, Aerial Acoustics, Aragon, B&K, Bryston, Class'e, Cinepro, DynAudio, EAD (Enlightend Audio Designs), Energy (Local Only), Gallo Acoustics, Gershman Acoustics (Beautiful Sounding and looking speakers), Innersound (ElectroStatic), Lexicon (Local Only), Marantz (Local Only), M&K, Monitor Audio, NHT, Panamax, Parasound, Pioneer (Not Elite), Plinius, Sherwood NewCastle, Toshiba, Theta Digital (local or I need to install), & Velodyne.

Steve of Sound Video in MN

I've owned this unit for 5 months and have used it extensively for music (classical, Celtic and new age) and home theater. The unit has performed flawlessly. Musical reproduction is magnificent. In fact, I've spent hours listening to nuances in classical music that I've never heard before. The soundstage is exceptional with great imaging. And home theater (AVR202 coupled with Sony DVP7700) is superb. New releases (Ronin, Zorro, etc.) have incredible sound. And even older movies like Top Gun contain sounds that I had never heard with my older Denon AVR. In my humble opinion, this unit rates a solid 5. In fact, disregard the obnoxious reviews and listen to an AVR202 and determine for yourself if $2,800 SRP is a wise investment.

Beware of those selling B&K products thru the mail. I have contacted B&K several times and they say that they absolutely do not warranty any piece bought thru the mail. If it is not bought on the premises of an actual B&K dealer or installed by a B&K dealer, then it does not have a warranty. They will not accept a piece shipped from one state and the receipt is from another state unless you can prove residence in that area during the time the piece was bought. They are aware that their products are being sold by unscrupulous dealers thru the mail and they refuse warranty repairs on all of them. B&K is sold in all 50 states by one dealer or the other. Once again, BUYER BEWARE!!!