Reliable. Pretty strong output, especially with DVD's, and also music CD's.

DTS. Without familiarity with this feature, don't know how much of a shortcoming this is.

Just wanted to offer advice to those who complain of lack of power for this unit. Choose the "test tone" option on the remote; the output of each channel, one by one, will be audible and acknowledged on the LED of the receiver. The listener can adjust the output of each channel with the arrow keys and "set"(up to 9 dB), which is a very cool way to customize the sound (e.g. the center speaker). My initial impression of the unit was "much too weak output" before discovering this feature (by simply reading the complete instructions); you may perhaps find a significant improvement. I just bought a progressive scan DVD player, and the audio (via the Optical jack) is very nice indeed. Am curious to discover the improvement with DTS decoding, so may upgrade from this unit. No problems with it to date. Good price.

Similar Products Used:

Older Sony A/V receiver

Good current 35 amps,sound is above average.remote is quite useable once you get threw the book, great product.

stability,i can find a few more but let the masters figure it out.

Review Of the HK AVR-65 (Dig this in audioland) I have a review for ya I have been a hk user since back in the day. and I think they have the right idea minus a few quarks 1# is reliability. i have a 97 yamaha RX-V870 that has an edge on this beast i think current is a very important factor, but dont you think reliability plays a important factor as well ? yes the finger is pointing at you HK tell me why is it that i do a comparison ? why does the big manufactures always try to impress up with numbers when the ears tell the whole truth i cant stress enuff about this factor ! I beleve that the ear is the most important thing not the box.I want at serious usable sound all the way around .not a bunch of mine is better than yours crap do your self a favor listen !!!!!!! and this is not a slam on hk it goes for all of em.the only problen with Harman kardon is quality control.if they conquor that they the can be on top once again! hope you are listening .

Similar Products Used:

yamaha,denon,,nad,threshold

This receiver sounds extremely nice. I really dont care what anyone else thinks.

Clean sound. Attractive design, well laid out controls.

Faceplate is plastic.

This unit is very nice, no noise. Lot's of usefull features, which I have not even explored yet. My Yamaha also had clean sound but had some erratic problem which could not be repaired. Also, the tuner drifted, plus no remote. The HK is a whole new world for me, not to mention the convenience of a RC.

My speakers are MB Quart 25 circa 1994.

Similar Products Used:

Yamaha Natural Sound separates circa 1979.

Extremely clean sound, no discernable speaker hiss, 2 digital coaxial outputs, 6-channel pre-in, remembers speaker configurations for each sound field. Speakers can be set as LARGE even with sub on.

No pre-out except for subwoofer, non-adjustable sub cross over of 100 HZ when using sub pre-out. Remote is not back-lit.

This is a demo unit from Circuit City. Was reluctant in buying a demo unit, but for the price, can't refuse. So far, the unit is functioning in A-1 shape.

Watching DVD movies in DD5.1 sounds great. Even at relatively loud volumes, sound output was very well controlled. I'm sure it has something to do with the speakers also.

However, in DD5.1 mode, the volume has to be turned up quite a bit to get sound ( -20 to -25).

Great for small to medium sized room.

H/K AVR 100 receiver
Sound Dynamics RTS-3 L/R/Surrounds
Sound Dynamics RTS-C2 Center
JBL PSW-D115 sub

Similar Products Used:

Sony, H/K AVR45 (see my review on AVR45)

clean,dynamic,punchy sound. good looks,excelent build quality.6 channel direct input for future formats.

no learning remote just has preprogramed brands.

i bought the avr100 at circuit city open box item for $300 normaly sells for $400. not a scratch on it. i wanted to upgrade to dolby digital but wanted better fidelity than my previous receiver. well let me say that the avr100 exceeded my expectations by far! clean sound from any source no hiss. while it's rated at only 40wpc it kicks out 30 amperes of current along with those 40 watts that blows away any bargain priced receiver i have heard no matter what the wattage rating! very punchy bass, smooth mids and highs.i liked the plain simple looks on the front panel rather than the crowded function buttons galore you see on most brands. my only quibble other than the remote is when in prologic mode while still sounding better than my old prologic receiver the deep bass seems to disapear. my system is calibrated correctly with a spl meter,speaker set up is exactly to what the manual states. my guess is it must be the way the decoder directs low bass information. dolby digital on the other hand sounds fantastic with thunderous low bass frequencies. if i change to 2 channel stereo instead of prologic the bass is as strong as when in dolby digital mode. strange? i may have to contact harman kardon to inquire about that. my system consists of all polk audio speaker, ls70s for mains, cs350ls center, and fx500s for surrounds. pioneer cld1070 laser disc player and toshiba sd2109 dvd player.

Similar Products Used:

pioneer vsx5700s 7 year old prologic model. was looking to upgrade to dolby digital.

Quality/price ratio

not the MOST powerful, lack of DSP(for some), no s-video switching

Just got the unit. I plan to use with "shack" inwalls that have the linaeum tweeter. I have not hooked it up im the propper way yet, but I tested it on my audio set up (driving martin logan aerius i's) and have used it with the center and sub only( I haven't cut holes in my walls yet).
While the unit is not up to driving a load like the Aerius, I think it will be fine as an A/v rec. The sound is clear, non-compressed, and best of all-rather natural. This is all bases on the cente channel performance while i wait to hook up the rest ofthe channels.

Similar Products Used:

many

Bang for the buck, clarity, tight bass. Remote controls all of my A/V components.

In my system the frequency response is a bit bright in the 1 - 3 kHZ range. Otherwise response is quite flat. Remote difficult to use in low light.

I purchased this unit to replace a Pioneer VSX-4800 that was several years old. I wanted to upgrade to Dolby Digital from Pro-Logic. I first tried the Pioneer VSX-D608. I enjoyed the performance of the Pioneer on movies, but for music it was far inferior to the Pioneer that it replaced. Therefore I returned it. The HK on the other hand, sounds very good with both music and movie sources. I didn't mind giving up DTS, as there are so few DVDs encode with DTS signals. I noticed that I do have to turn up the volume fairly high when watching a DVD, but there is still power to spare. Unlike every other receiver I have owned, you can turn up the volume all the way on the AVR 100 and still not hear hiss in the speakers. I also like the fact that the AVR 100 remembers the settings used for each input source. I got tired of having to always turn off the surround mode when I listened to music on the Pioneers.

One important note: you must calibrate the speaker levels seperately for Dolby Digital and Dolby Pro-Logic sources. I was quite disappointed with the Dolby Pro-Logic performance until I discovered that in that mode the center channel was much higher than the other channel, even though it was calibrated correctly for Dolby Digital sources.

I think that this is a very good receiver for the money. Much better that what I have heard from other brands in the $400 price area.

Similar Products Used:

Pioneer VSX-D608

Very, Very Clean Audio
Lots of Headroom on the amp

No S-Video Switch
No DTS

This is an incredible receiver for the price. It give you a ton of power for the speakers and pushes my Nuance Star2S System to the edge. It gives clean, crisp output for both music and home theaters.

It is well worth the sacrifice of S-Video and DTS to get the quality of the Harman Kardon sound. I looked at offerings from JVC and Kenwood and they just couldn't compare for clarity and headroom.

I have yet to see momentum develop behind DTS on DVD and if you don't have a high quality amplifier that delivers great output their really is no point.

When I bought the AVR100, I was a bit concerned about the S-Video and DTS. But having used it for 3 months, I wouldn't change a thing. I wholeheartedly recommend this receiver to anyone who wants great sound quality at a great price.

(One minor complaint...the preset effects for music(hall and theatre) end up taking away from the sound expierience and seem to muddy the sound. I don't bother using them.)

Similar Products Used:

Kenwood VR 357, JVC 888

Clean sound,

No S Video

This AVR100 delievers a smooth clean sound. This product works very well with my Cerwin Vegas compared to my last receiver wich was nothing compared to this. This is my first Dolby receiver and i like it alot. I have not got to use many things on it yet but i hope to in the future. Plus you really dont need a equilizer with this to make it sound good in stereo mode. I really don't know to much about stereo's but im learning!

Similar Products Used:

A technics receiver i had