Amplifier flexibility, Bass Management, room equaliztion, sound quality, RS232 and computer setup capability, 12v control triggers

slow and vague upgrade policy, xover applies to all speakers (cant configure it seperately)

I originally was looking to only go with an AV preamp and seperate amplifiers in my new dedicated home theater.
For my complete setup, go here:
http://www.flippedbit.net/theater/theater.htm

I knew I wanted a 7.1 channel capable setup so I was looking at spending a lot of money on amplifiers. I was really interested in the bass management capabilities of the B&K ref 30. It was very flexible and resonably priced when compared to others with similar capabilities.

I went searching for dealers and found Steve Herrala at Sound Video who happens to have posted here and was in town. He explained to me the preamp sections of the REF 30 and AVR series were identical. My wisest move would be to buy a AVR 307. Of course, I really wanted a seperate amp to power my front three speakers. More testosterone than any other reason. I didnt want to waste money on unused amplifier channels with the 307. So he told me to go with the 305. Just change the internal amplifiers to drive the rear surrounds instead of the front mains. I didnt see how this was possible. Any other receiver on the market is not capable of changing the channels the amplifiers drive, but he assured me it was so. Just a simple plug switch by opening the case.

So I bought the 305 w/ a REF 3220 amp to drive my front speakers. It arrived and we opened the cover, sure enough there are molex connectors to allow you to have any amp drive any channel. The amplfiers are on modules and the output devices are even the same when compared to the 3220, just fewer of them. There is an open spot for a module that turns the 305 into the 307 in a few minutes. Looking at the guts of the preamp section it is identical to the REF30 (except its proximity to the amplifiers and a massive power supply)

I give it a 5 for value considering how much money I saved by not going with the REF30 and seperate amps for the rear surrounds. You cant buy a quality 4channel amplifier for the price difference between this combo.

The sound is also oustanding. I've never heard anything that compares and there are no stores that have setups similar to mine so my experience will remain limited. The complete lack of noise, great dynamics and power delivery to my surrounds makes me smile every time I turn it on.

Similar Products Used:

Pioneer Elite VSX-24TX, Sony ES900

Sound, looks, features, easy set-up.

remote is good but definetly not state of the art.

I started out with Denon-good, then Marantz-better, and now I arrive at B&K AVR305 which is a major step up in some important areas. First of all if you are really anal about achieving the best possible sound from your audio/video system, I would highly recommend checking out B&K. Without getting to technical(which would be hard for me) it gives you the ability to eliminate frequency problems due to room acoustics i.e. boomy bass sounds from your sub(s). It has a variable E.Q. which allows you to tune your system and adjust Bass and/or treble frequencies which will give you a flatter response curve improving the sound of your sytem regardless of acoustics. It is easy to set-up and adjust each channel while you are watching a movie, for example you want your center channel louder to hear dialogue better but you don't want effects channels (explosions) louder for that particular movie. It is a very good looking reciever and doesn't have 2000 buttons on the faceplate (10 total and a volume knob). I could go on but I think you can get the idea that this reciever gives you USABLE features and not a bunch of bells and whistles and the quality of construction is noticably better in every aspect i.e. speaker terminals, jacks etc. This is a serious reciever for those of us who want great sound for audio as well as a killer movie experience in one box but don't want to spend more money on seperates and MAYBE get a very slight improvement in sound.

Similar Products Used:

Denon, Marantz