Coming around 2 decades after this receiver was made I felt to re open this post with my experience. I bought and avr 20 brand new in the 90s and it’s held the king audio position in our house since recently I replaced with a Denon with 7.1 surround. I’m missing the avr20 now despite all the features of the Denon which I really like. But it fundamentally doesn’t sound as good as the relatively simple avr20. It has a great low and upper range with a strong presence of bass and clear highs that really make you feel the music over simply hearing it. I miss the pure enjoyment of its sound and it’s a big step back with the Denon as I’m not enjoying listening to my music now. My daughter even misses the sound. I’m only impressed with the Denons digital handling and numerous functions which ultimately for me have nothing to do with listening. I’m considering putting the avr20 back in the king position of the house.

Lack of electronic functions if this is important to you over presence of sound.

Power!

NONE

Best buy. If you wanna get something for your money, the h/k avr 20 it's worth its price.
So people stop whining about it, if you wanna get a front row seat, then go spend about 2000 $ more, and you will!!!!
And if you wanna upgrade and go digital, you can still use it as a pre-amp or processor, it will do the job.
The new h/k, the sound is as clear as before, but no bass.
A lot less anyways. Kinda miss the loudness button.

And that's about it!!

Similar Products Used:

Denon and Yamaha

high current, pre-outs, sub-out, quality

not much at all

compare this amp to others in its genre and you'll love it for it's price. it's high current ability rocks. i have difinetly listened to better products that cost tons more but am faithful to my HK because it sits in my bedroom and loves playing my paradigm titans there.

so although this amp is not the greatest out there, it is definetly better than most in its price range.

and it does not deserve it's review average to be brought down by some guy giving IT a 1-star, and not every HK product, because he feels the way he does about the whole product line. that is why this 3-star (5star reciever in its class) will instead get a 5star rating from me.

my value rating is a true representation of how i really feel about this amp (value = quality /(1/price)) (price is really low on this unit now due to it being discontinued, and most are being sold in good con. for low cost)

Similar Products Used:

NAD, Adcom, Other HK's, Denon, Newcastle by Sherwood, Nakamichi, every sucky brand (sony, technics, jvc, etc.)

It has power. It has enough too be in the bedroom. That's where it is now.

Remote is weak!

Bill, I guess the question for you is what company do you work for? If not Circuit City, you should apply so they can brain wash you with all that High-Amperage stuff they like to push along with the the Harman Kardon line. I had one and I bought into it. Since then I've out-grown my diapers and bought a Denon. Stop attacking other peeople and do your homework! People have different taste, you have none! Go buy a low-end Pioneer and it should look great in your trailer! I've never been one that has felt I'm above you but in this case I had to post this so I would be above you. Wake up and do the right thing, GO AWAY!!

Similar Products Used:

Onkyo,Denon,Yamaha!

Durability and reliability. Excellent value/features ratio
for a pro-logic receiver.

Have used it for a little more than four years. My music
preference is eclectic, and this has been highly suitable for budget-consicous college students like me. I am in the
process of upgrading to a new receiver, and HK is definitely
in my rather short list.

Note: This model is discontinued. However, you can
pick one up from Ebay.

Similar Products Used:

None

Price, reliability, tuner, preamp outs, inputs

Power

This is an entry level gold mine. The Pro-logic is easy to use and a good place to hide while the formats sort out. I paid $161 for mine nearly two years ago and the only problem I have had is the remote quit. HK advised to remove the batteries and short the terminals while pressing all the buttons. It reset and has been working fine ever since.

The pre-amp outputs allow you to use your good stero system on the front of your home theater system.

I have several HK pieces and am happy with each. Aside from the remote, I have never had one problem even with a 12 year old CD palyer.

I researched about the realiabilty of the Harman Kardon products and came across a site www.ubid.com where they sell thousands of refurbished
Harman Kardon products. That tells you something about the Company and
its product.

May be they are the poineers but they have one of the worst realibilty
and service charges in the industry.

When you buy a high end product you expect it to perform and last as well.

For the same reason I would give this product a Single Star and advice
people to consider reliability before picking up a receiver.

Hey!! sri dev-what manufacturer do you work for-Yamaha-Onkyo-Kenwood-It's obvious that you have a mission-Posting the same negative review on 5 or 6 models of Harman Kardon when there are so many positive reviews was a little stupid. Give us a little more credit than that and GET A LIFE

I must say I was wrong as regards to my last review here about the AVR 21;
the sound source for the the amp when checking it was probably not as high quality as the CD player I used to use with my HK3250 (stereo reciever). Checked the AVR-21 with another sound source and it DOES SOUND GREAT !! 5 starts.

sound quality

none yet

A definite improvement over my 2001 Technics. Luckily found it at a small electoronics store for $250 Canadian. Bargained with the guy and took it home for 220 ( approx. 145 US). As soon as I replaced my Technics I could tell the difference in sound quality. So far hasn't given me any problems. Looks and sounds great. I have Technics 5 cd player and Paradigm Monitor 9 speakers. Right now I'm looking for good sounding CD player that I can get for a decent price used. Anyone have any suggestions ?

Similar Products Used:

Technics AX-540