Bought this unit brand new from International Stereo in Edmonton Alberta Canada. It had a very high retail price and as it was going to be out dated, they discounted it a bit.
Here I am 18 years later and the old HK has stayed with me through adolescent years, babies and now kids. I have bought 2 new receivers since then but refuse to get rid of the old HK. It does duty in the main living room so if the kids abuse it....well let's say its my sacrificial lamb.
I will be auditioning a pair of speakers for a guy today....I am going to take the Marantz receiver i have hooked up as a head unit and replace it with the H/K AVR 30. Both good receivers, just think the HK might work better in this application.
Decent power, good sound. does nothing great but everything well. Obviously outdated.
Would totally still recommend picking one up for a basic 2 channel or even a 4 channel system although it doesn't manage any current codecs.

Power, it has lots of it. Sound, warm, natural and relaxed sound. Doesn't sound strained, even when playing loud. Easy to use.

None.

I bought the AVR30 second hand for 150$. It was probably the best purchase i have ever made. I first used a pair of crappy Jamo 170 spekers, but i cranked the volume up to loud and blew the speakers. I then bought a pair of DALI 505 speakers, which I still use and am very pleased with. I listen to all sorts of music, ranging from classic, pop, rock, and heavy metal to trance. I only use the AVR30 for music, and not for home theatre. The AVR30 is a great piece of equipment. Matched with my speakers it gives a pretty warm sound, that I like. I can play any type of music at low, medium or really loud volume, and it still sounds terriffic. It really has lots of power. During the three years I have owned it, I have had no problems with it. It's very reliable. The remote has good and bad sides. It works no matter what direction I point it, and I like that. The bad part is that all the buttons are exactly the same, and there is a lit of them, so using the remote in the dark, without being able to see which button you are pushing takes a good deal of practice.

Similar Products Used:

Other HK:s, Onkyo, Pioneer

Natural, unstrained sound; tremendous switching flexibility for units of it's era. Exemplary reliability- this unit has been run constantly for 10 years plus- each and every day- and it just keeps cranking along.

Remote controls provided were not so great. Does occasionally lose memory of surround settings when switching between input sources (even when new)

This unit was my first a/v receiver and I have owned it since late 1992. Long ago I found that pairing H-K with JBL speakers was a natural, and this combo hasn't disappointed for ten years plus. Of course, Dolby digital and such had to come along shortly after I bought the unit but it has served me and my family faithfully since new. The rated power is definitely on the lower end numerically but this thing drives speakers like a much more powerful unit would, it never sounds strained. I'll be sorry to pull it out of my rack soon, but it no longer has the video switching flexibility I need for HDTV and the like. It will make a fine second stereo system however.

Clean, clear, accurate, warm sounding power.

None unless you need or want 5.1 sound. For stereo listening there are no weaknesses.

This is a very good and solid piece of equipment. The sound it produces is clean and warm. Dont let the 65w per channel rating fool you. This reciever can push just about any speaker you plug into it. It does so cleanly. I bought this for stero listening. I dont find the lack of 5.1 a loss in this case. I paired it with an H&K FL8400 CD Changer. This combination produces very accurate and clean music reproduction. You would need to spend 10 times the amount I paid for this reciever to get an external amp with this kind of clean power. It doesnt color the music, or enhance things artifically. If its a bad recording you will hear it. If you are on a tight budget as i was find one of these recievers. They can be had under $200 if you look around. No reciever i have heard under $1000 sounds any clearer or cleaner than this one does. The ones i have heard that sounded slighty better where also paired with better speakers, cables and CD players than i have. So it might not even be the reciever. All in all this is a great buy for those on a budget, or at any price.

Similar Products Used:

none as of yet.

Dependability, clarity, and crispness, alone with a simplicity that doesn''t exist today on AV receivers.

Remote

I read the review where the reviewer gave this unit a 1 rating and felt I needed to respond. After having this unit for over seven years I can say it is a very reliable and quality unit. I took the first reciever back because it did not have power to give me the volume I needed. I spent too much for this reciever but after hearing the clarity of the sound I rationalized the cost. It was worth it. After seven years of use this simple, quality reciever is still in use. I agree with another reviewer who said it has a simplicity and quality about it. I say if your listening to music and can find this unit used buy it. I would bet money for the crisp clarity of sound against any amp within a $2000 price range. The guy who rated this reciever a one is full of it, or has a lemon.

Similar Products Used:

I am looking today at a AV reciever with Dolby prologic 2. Denon, HK, and Integra are todays choice recievers in my price line.

Good build quality, high current design, simple intuitive design

confusing remote, no Dolby Digital or DTS, only Pro Logic

For a Pro Logic only receiver, this is an excellent unit. I've had mine for 5 years (seems like its been going almost non-stop for that entire period), and am happy with it today as the day I bought it (except for a current case of Dolby Digital envy). Clean, high current power allows the AVR30 to easliy handle everything I've thrown at. I clearly remember the day I replaced my Yamaha A700 integrated amp with the AVR30, turned on the CD player and said to myself "this sound is much better".

I have owned this receiver for about 7 years and it is the most straight-forward, user-friendly receiver I have ever used. It has been extremely reliable and has never given me so much as a single problem, and I have been pretty harsh on it too(many, many moves, and low impedence loads at high volumes for sustained periods of time). All I can say is, if you want an awesome receiver and DD and DTS aren't a must this is one of the best I seen, and you can find one usually for less than $300 used. I only paid $625, used, when I bought mine.

Common sense front panel, ease of operation, high current power, sound and quality.

No Dolby Digital

I have used this reciever for 2 years now and can find nothing bad to say about it. The only possible complaint might be that it doesn't have Dolby Digital but since I use my AVR30 for mainly music this is not a problem for me. I do have a surround sound system and I find the Dolby Pro Logic Surround works fine even with my DVD player. As for 2 channel stereo music, nothing beats it. The music is reproduced true to the source with no coloration. It has lots of head room and can be played at high volumes for long periods of time into low impedance loads without distortion. I do a lot of dubbing from records and cd's onto cassette tape or mini disc and the listen to and record from source buttons on the front panel are the best set up I have ever seen. It makes sense and is so easy to use. You can dub from one source while listening to another source and monitor your recordings if you are using a 3 head cassette recorded with the push of one button. The led's in the buttons tell you excactly what's going on at a glance. I never use the tuner section so I can't comment on that section. I have over 6,000 different titles in my music collection with every type of music from rock, blues, jazz, folk, country and classical and this reciever reproduces any type of music at any level with the utmost accuracy and no distortion. It is one of the cleanest recievers I have ever listened to at any price. My main speakers for my music listening are Paradigm Monitor 9's which coupled with the AVR30 produce and awesome sound experience.

Similar Products Used:

Macintosh, Carver

simple to use, few controls, subwoofer volume control

no Dolby Digital or DTS

This receiver has always performed well with good quality sound. Using the on screen menu and the two remotes are pretty straight forward. The dolby pro-logic works well and I have enjoyed using the digital sound processing when just listening to music. I have used this receiver for five years and it is the best , highest quality product I have ever had. It is an outstanding value if you can find one used.

Wonderfully simple controls and performance.

Not digital and ready for future audio and video formats.

Excellent all around listening. Music and hometheater capable.