Price for sound

Customer Service,remaining operable for more than a month at a time

I bought this unit awhile back as a replacement for an aiwa shelf system that went bad after 5 years. After using the receiver for roughly 3 months it caught fire. I took it to the shop to be fixed and it was there for roughly another 3 months. When I got the receiver back the center channel was not working and whenever I tried to use it it would turn off the unit. So I again took it to the shope, 2 months later I got it back and it would once again not work at all , so back to the shop it went. After this last time I called Harmans customer service and told them my unit was a lemon and asked what they would do and if they would replace the receiever. They told me no repeatedly, and were of no help. After several weeks of constant phone calls to them and basically ebing an annoyance they said they would give me and extra 6 months of warranty. I said taht this was fine. The receiver now residesin my closet were I don't touch it. I am afraid of it catching fire again and doing damage to other electronics that work properly, I have replaced it with an Onkyo receiver and thus far have been happy with it. I wouldn't reccomend this product or any of Harman Kardons products or subsidiary grouops products due to their refusal to stand behind their products. I realize that mistakes are made, its human, but when they can be corrected and arenot it is unacceptable. I personally will not buy any Harman Products ever again, including JBL and infinity, this may sound extreme, but hey if I can't trust them, I won't buy their products.

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Kenwood, Onkyo, Technics, Aiwa

I bought this at ubid based on the reviews I found here. I paid 129.00 plus $30.00 for shipping - it is refurbished, but doesn't have a scratch on it and was packed like new. I haven't really had a chance to put it to the full test because I don't have surround sound speakers or center channel or subwoofer. I'm just running it with my new Wharfedale 400 MFMs that I also bought at ubid. Tapes, tuner and music CDs sound great - no hiss; much cleaner than my old Technics.

Only shortcoming is I can't find a way to hook up my turntable - but that's probably not a problem for the majority of shoppers out there.

too tall and deep for my stereo cabinet, but that may be true of most of the new recievers; remote doesn't work with my Apex dvd, and doesn't have codes for Raite or Oritron dvds either

unique looking, great-sounding reciever for the price I paid for it.

This receiver undeniably delivers the most bang for buck
No "useless" bells and whistles…just good clean sound, and enough power for a small room
This receiver undeniably delivers the most bang for buck
This receiver undeniably delivers the most bang for buck
No "useless" bells and whistles…just good clean sound, and enough power for a small room

Remote control doesn't work from all angles, no S-video. Remote a little confusing

This little entry-level piece should be a selection for anyone that is looking for some decent home theater in a small room (note: I paid significantly less than retail) My living room is about 10 X 12. The low wattage was initially a concern of mine, but I have hosted my fair share of parties and have yet to be disappointed (special thanks to a 100-watt Paradigm sub and super efficient Infinity Studio Monitor speakers). I plan on moving this piece into my bedroom when I have enough money to move onto bigger-and-badder things. Only complaint: the remote doesn't work well through the tinted glass door of my TV stand.

I'm very happy with this receiver. It replaced a Technics SADX930 which, to my ears, seemed to leave some gaps in the frequency range of my Cambridge Soundworks Ensemble speakers--especially low midrange/high bass. Not so with this HK receiver; the sound is balanced and seamless throughout the frequency range now. I listen mostly to acoustic/classical music, and the naturalness and openness of the sound are satisfying to my ears.(By the way, can someone explain wattage to me? The Harman Kardon is rated at 50 watts per channel, but I think it's putting out more juice with less distortion than the Technics rated at 100 watts per channel.)

I have just one gripe--I find the remote complicated and anti-intuitive. I'll probably invest in a learning remote soon.

very nice sound quality for the $

gets a little warm

follow-up:
I finished cutting holes in the walls and running wire over the weekend. My final analyis is that this is a very nice unit. The amp has more than enough juice for the two way in wall speakers I'm using. I do wish that the sub xover was adjustable, I'd like to be able to fun the all channels below the 100hz cutoff, but WOULD like a filter at about 50hz, just to clean things up.

While this is true for any surround set-up, don't judge this unit until you hear it with a proper set-up. I read too many reviews on this site-"works ok with brand x center, brand y mains, and car speakers for surrounds". With good, wide dispersion, voice matched speakers all around, this unit can provide the goods.

LOOKS, STEREO SOUND QUALITY & RELIABILITY

REMOTE NOT BACK LIT & NO DTS

FIRST TIME PURCHASE OF A HIGH CURRENT UNIT. SOUND QUALITY WAS GREAT AND LOOKS AWSOME. WOULD DEFINATELY BUY HK AGAIN. SPEAKER INPUTS ARE A LITTLE TIGHT, OPTICAL INPUT IS VERY LOOSE(HAD TO WIND OPTICAL CABLE AROUND FOOT OF AMP),REMOTE IS KINDA OF FUNKY,(I WISH IT WAS BACK LIT). NOT TO MANY FLAWS.BIGGEST AUDIO DIS-LIKE WAS HAVING TO CRANK UP REAR SPEAKER LEVELS TO GET CORRECT SOUND STAGE.
OVERALL, HK MAKES A GREAT UNIT, WOULD LIKE TO GET AVR-510 OR 7000.

MY SYSTEM:
WAS HK AVR-100 (SOLD IT) NOW JVC-RX888V
B&W CC#3 CENTER
ADVENT PRODIGY II FRONT
ADVENT BABY PRODIGY II REAR
YAMAHA YST-SW120 SUB
SONY DVP-S560DD DVD PLAYER
SONY KV-27VF16 TV
MITSUBISHI HS-U760 VCR
PHOENIX GOLD INTERCONNECTS AND S-VIDEO
MONSTER CABLE OPTICAL CABLE & SPEAKER CABLE

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SONY STR-D590, Pioneer VSX-D409

Price, clear sound

may be underpowered for those who like to crank it

Just bought the AVR 100. As my first foray into home theater, my budget indicated that I start in the entry level category and the HK AVR 100 seemed like a good start. Sound is clear, though I echo comments made earlier that you have to turn it up quite a bit to get enough sound from the DVD player.
Other than that, the manual is good, I like the simple UI and look and feel of the unit.

Quality, Sound

No DTS

The AVR100 is an excellent entry-level AV receiver. I am using it with Polk RT15i and CS175i speakers. The AVR100 has a very attractive and simple front panel and the remote controls all of my AV components.

There are other receivers for less money that decode DTS but other than Onkyo none of them are high current or wide bandwidth design. The AVR 100 does not have S-video switching so I just plug the DVD player straight into the S video jack of my Panasonic TV.

If you want DTS, S-video and a little more power, check out the Marantz SR5000; it's only about $200 more.

By the way, I think HK has pretty good owner's manuals which you can download with complete spec sheets in .pdf form at www.harmankardon.com. You can read the manual before you buy the receiver. I'd say the AVR100 is one of the best AV receivers below $400.

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Many

High Current Design, Attractive Looks, Affordable. Harman Kardon Reputation.

Lack of DTS Decoding, No S-Video Switching

Don't be fooled by the 40 watts per channel output in surround mode, this reciver is able to get much more sound out of my Klipsch Speakers than the 100x5 Pioneer Elite model I recently sold. This model moves about 30 amps, while the Pionner (like many others) will only do about 7-8 amps.

Wonderful reciver for the price.

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Pioneer Elite VSX-26tx

Excelent sound quality. Sharp design. Many inputs/outputs. DIGITAL

Remote controler is tempremental.

This is an excellent product that I recomend to anyone who can not afford a McIntosh. The sound reproduction is excellent. Weather it is clasical or hip-hop, it all sounds great on the AVR100.

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Was an avid Sansui fan. But Harmon all the way now. components include sony5disc, Sansui 4-way towers.