Clear, Crisp Sound; High Current Capability Really Rock

Remote is a JOKE. The mamual actually make sense after a round through the fireplace (with the fire blasting).....I am still laughing about the remote......sorry.
One more thing, anybody know how to hook up an EQ to this thing(only one out of all I know that doesn't).

A very good receiver, just what I wanted.....wait, hold on... let me toss the remote in the fire.......now it's a perfect receiver.

Similar Products Used:

Sony, Onkyo

Hiss free performance, Underated power ratings, Good Looks, Excellent flexibility, MP3... HK almost thought of everything!

The remote blows (lacking in codes & not able to learn)

This receiver gives you everything you need for a moderate price... I couldn't decide between the Onkyo 575x & the HK 210...

I opted to trade more power (Onkyo 75x5) for MP3 support (HK210). I am extremely pleased with my descision... the HK seems to be slighly under rated in the power dept. Its output is absolutely HISS free in any listening mode...

I really like its looks.

And it has preamp outputs for future amplifiers, for those who like Music just as much as a good Movie...

If you can find it for less than $500 from an authorized dealer... get it!

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Compared to Onkio 575x, Yamaha 5250, Denon 1601 & 1801...

Clear, clean signal with ample power throughout the sound spectrum. Looks good. More inputs than most will use or figure out

Remote designed by drunken chimps. Will not work some components, H/K support says "you should have bought the higher line with a learning remote." Manual written by the same chimps. Requires flipping between multiple pages to figure out controls and connections. The reciever is still a great piece of equipment.

Time to put together an A/V system and get into HT though music was still most important. I cannot afford true audiophile equipment and its inherent $$$$$$ price tags so H/K fit the bill nicely. At $380 (recommendation to SoundPros.com) it was not terribly expensive.
It has great connectivity for optical, component, pre-amp and s-video. Plenty of power if you are not trying to fill a stadium. Signal is clean and warm. I compared with the Yamaha 5230 and found it more clincal sounding and lacking the depth of the H/K.
This thing should really kick after another month or two of break in. All the surround modes are well represented and the many other sound modes can be manipulated to suit your listening area and speaker set up (if you have a drunken chimp to work the remote.) Minor annoyances are no A/B speaker switch (can't say I have missed it), speakers shut off when headphones are plugged in.
I am driving all Paradigm speakers (more great inexpensive equipment)- Phantoms (front), Titans (rear), CC-170 (center) and PS-1000 sub. I listen to classical, jazz and rock. The sound with this reciever is first class for the price point in music or movies.
I do not claim to understand all the audiophile critical listening terms but I know a satifying listening experience and this reciever will provide one.

Similar Products Used:

Kenwood stereo reciever-1979, H/K analog reciever purchased 1982-been sold on H/K since

Many different features, good price, good musicality

remote, a little stiff still in some music

I have been fiddling with this AVR 210 since I got it Saturday and I have to confess that it is a bit more comlicated than I am use to. I had gotten use to, even spoiled by the musicality of my NAD 712, but I was ready to move onto a piece that has a home theatre bent.

I spent all day today listening to diffent music types and I believe that the piece is beginning to open up a bit. It is tight sounding right now, but I can tell that in a couple of weeks, it's going to be great.

As for DVD's, I only have 2 Monitor Audio 4 (floor standing) right now, so I had to adjust the settings in the surround modes to compensate, which the AVR has done admirably. The VMAX NEar and far settings are very nice and so is the DD mode (when you only have two speakers and tell the AVR, it sends all the info to the 2 speakers..not optimum, but it does the trick for now)Fight Club sounded great! Although I still have my reservations about the S vid hook ups in back. Think I have a bad cable.

the remote is functional, but I am so cheap that I guess I was expecting more. Not all of my TOSHIBA SD 4109x dvd changer's functions operate from the remote, so I am still working on that. Hey, anyone with the code to put into the remote, contact me please!?!?!?!

In short, It is a great piece of work. I have only had it for 3 days, but I have given it a thorough work over. It trashes Onkyo and Denon. Gives up some ground to NAD for music, but you can't beat the features and overall sound quality.

If you want trmendous help and service and knowledge and enjoy talking to people who love what they do for a living, go to Saturday Audio in Chicago or Evanston, IL. Ask for Ron or Jason. (Everyone there is tremendous...I will never buy from anyplace else!)

Similar Products Used:

NAD 712 (although not an AVR receiver by a long shot)

Clean, open sound. Great features for price. Adequate power for most needs.

none so far

Loved the AVR-40 but it was time to upgrade to Dolby Digital, so I stayed with HK. Wow! HK engineers have not been sitting still these last few years. This receiver sounds much better than the AVR-40. It has a clean, open sound that wasn't apparent in the older model. The AVR-210 features Dolby Digital and DTS decoders. It also has a number of other Surround modes. So far for music I've found regular stereo, 5 channel stereo and Dolby Pro Logic the best. For movies I've been sticking with DD, DTS and Dolby Pro Logic. Menu system makes setup straightforward. I've also used the EzSet feature, as described by previous viewer. I run DVD and DD DishNetwork receiver through the AVR-210 for both audio (coaxial and optical, respectively) and video (S-video), works great.

Current setup:

- 32" Toshiba TV
- Toshiba SD-4205 DVD
- 4722 EchoStar Satellite Receiver (w/ Dolby Digital)
- EdgeAudio 5.1 speaker system w/ 8" subwoofer

Similar Products Used:

HK AVR-40

Clarity, more power than indicated compared to most others, lots of sensible ins & outs including digital out ,preamp out, assignment of digital ins

Minor: Remote - I dont like most remotes and bought a universal. No phono. No multiroom or A/B speakers.

Had it about 10 days. I intended to use the preamp out but the speakers would only turnoff with headphones so I took it back. Most a/b speaker or multiroom with this sound quality cost much more. Finalists for me are now HK310 & Yamaha 5280/V800?.

I had no quality problems. It has strong connectivity ability. I didn't mind the set up but for the theatre novice it will take some time getting used to.

I have not found many digital sound settings that I like in any A/V receiver but HK had 2 or 3.

I have had excellent pre-sales support from HK.

For what this receiver offers, costs and provides,it is a very good value.

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Checked out in depth (brough some home) JVC,Denon,Marantz, Onkyo,NAD,briefly Kenwood,RCA,Pioneer,Sony,Technics

Clean sound, 6ch in and out, Logic 7 and 5ch stereo, solid build, tons of inputs.

What else, the remote

I've waited to review this component until I got my remote issue resolved with H/K. It took 2 weeks to finally get a replacement as the first remote was shot and wouldn't control any of my components. The replacement faired a bit better and my DVD and VCR work perfectly, but controlling my TV and CD changer is still a no-go with the new remote (brand new Kenwood CD-425M carousel model so I'm not suprised). Anyhow a universal learning remote is my next upgrade to it's a mute point anyway.

On to the meat and potatoes. I love this baby. I looked around to replace a Pioneer VSX-498 that I'd had for about a year. Not a bad unit but no DTS, and a poor FM tuner, so it was upgrade time. I did some comparisons on a number of models (Onkyo TX-DS484 & TX-DS575x, Yamaha RX-V498 & RX-V596, Pioneer VSX-D710S, Pioneer Elite VSX-33TX, Denon AVR1801) and decided on the AVR-210 for a number of reasons. It basically had all the features you could want without getting into the much higher priced 7.1 equipment and bogus THX certification, and it's expandability was also a plus. Features I liked were 6 channel pre-amp outs (to to pump it up if I ever get a bigger place), banana plug terminals for all speakers, DSP modes that you would actually use - 5 channel stereo (really sounds good), Logic7 DSP mode (also sounds good), on screen display, 4 sets of digital inputs (coax and optical), MP3 decoding built in (will have to wait for H/K to release the DAL 150), 192kHz/24-bit DAC's, a good FM tuner, and clean - I mean clean - sound.

I was a liitle concerned about the power rating on this unit but after hearing it and comparing it to the others, I wasn't worried. Rated at 40 Watts per channel @ <0.07% THD, 20Hz - 20kHz into 8 ohms all driven, this unit sounds more like 80-100 Watts. Don't be fooled by overblown ratings from many of the mass-market boys like Sony, Technics, Kenwood, and even Pioneer... Pound for pound this unit will kick anything in it's price range and match up with units costing hundreds more.

Setup is a snap with the remote's built in SPL, and the ability to customize the settings for each input and each sound mode (DD, DTS, Pro Logic, Logic7, 5ch Stereo etc...) makes for a versatile system. The output from this receiver is the cleanest I've heard, no hiss at all and it is clean all the way through to the highest volume I can bear. Build quality is excellent, although beefed up speaker terminals would be nice (not as solid as I would like). I haven't experienced and delay in digital signal input as another reviewer has mentioned and the unit has worked flawlessly so far. DD and DTS decoding is excellent, and as mentioned before Logic7 and 5ch Stereo modes are actually useful. The user original manual on the unit I bought was cryptic at best, so do yourself a favor and download the updated version from H/K's website. It is much clearer and easier to follow than the original, and contains the updated codes for the newer remote. Support from H/K (Erikson Consumer in Canada) was decent, although it did take 2 weeks to get the replacement remote. This is my first H/K component and I am totally pleased with it (apart from the remote - oh well).

My setup (for those who may want to know what the remote may or may not control)

H/K AVR 210 Receiver
Pioneer DV-525 DVD (remote works)
JVC HR-VP790U VCR (remote works)
Kenwood CD-425M CD Changer (remote doesn't work)
Samsung TXF2899 TV (remote doesn't work)

Speaker
Mission 701 (front L/R)
Mission 700 (surrounds)
Cerwin-Vega LS-6C (center)
Dahlquist DQ-8 sub

Overall a 5 for value as this unit kicks anything in its price range as well as more expensive receivers, and an overall 4, only because of the remote problem.

Similar Products Used:

Yamaha, Pioneer