Clean crisp sound, best I have heard from a receiver under $500. (Only paid $189 on Ubid) Decent remote, runs my Panasonic DVD and VCR as well as Sony TV. Has a quality feel to it, remote and controls on the front. I like to be able to adjust the bass and treble on the front. Runs cool,
no heat buildup felt from the top even with a DVD on top of it. Night Mode works great, handy for late night movies. Great Tuner, gets many FM stations clearly.

Remote is not backlit but at this price, turn on a light.
Have to remember Video 1, 2, 3 inputs, VCR, TV not specified, so take some Ginkoba, no big deal. Have to turn the volume up to get good sound as in most newer model receivers.

OUTSTANDING SOUND, in my opinion for the price I paid on UBID it is well worth the risk of some problems but I do hope they were corrected in the refurb process. I have a unit manufactured in March of 2000 with a high serial number and experience no clicking volume that is audible and no phantom volume increases. Must have been a early model problem, or the refurb fixed it. I have had 7 receivers in the last 2 months to test and this one beats them all hands down for the price/value ratio, unbelievable sound. Clear crisp highs, tight bass, outstanding movie and music sound. DTS and Dolby digital sound is superb. Only a few soundfields but most on the other units tested were artificial sounding and I would not use them anyway. The sound on this is so good, so much better than the ones I tested, I would recommend it in a minute. If it dies it dies, for the 1/3 of retail I paid, I will try another. A vastly superior product.

Similar Products Used:

Kenwood 4080B, 407, Sony 835, Yamaha 496, JVC7000, Pioneer 509S

Sound quality, high current amplifier, relativly quiet electronics.

Remote is frustrating, volume control, no phono preamp!

First of all I have a unit that was built in May 2000, so I hope the problems are worked out with this unit. I read all the reviews and still decided to buy the AVR 300 because most reviewers seem to like the sound. I have owned a H/K integrated amplifer before and loved it. I'm not to happy with the styling, for the price it seems too "plasticy" compared to my aluminum front panels of my ES stuff. The sound quality however is great, clean and all the surround modes seem to sound great, as good as my more costly ES seperates at 3 times the price and double the power of the AVR 300. The power seems adequate given the high current capability (which is why I bought the h/k to start with). 2 channel stereo sounds great, better than my Sony ES preamp/amp combination. The remote seem very complicated to use and not all funtions seem to be on the remote that I would like to, but I guess I'll get used to it. The clicking in the speakers when adjusting volume is not uncommon in other recivers that I have used but they were very cheap units, so thats understandable in those, however in the AVR 300, something perhaps should be done about that, given its price range. The only thing I don't like so far is the volume control, I don't seem to have the "phantom" problem, but when I listen at very low volumes, this seems to increase the treble response, so I don't know if this is a automatic loudness compensation or not, not the end of the world. The volume does seem to cut off very quickly though, in fact with certain program material, the next position to the minimum setting, you could still hear the music quite loudly, then turning it one more setting lower, the sound cuts completely, does any one else have this problem? Lastly I am a little disapointed in the fact that this receiver does not have a phono preamp, it would make my life easier not having to buy a seperate preamp. I would expect none in a cheaper mid range product, but I am a little surprised that a so called higher end receiver catering more to the audiophile (which may still have a large analog collection) would not include a phono preamp...Oh well! Overall however, if someone is looking for good sound quality, all in one unit, and can't afford seperates (like me) you should audition the H/K receiver line, so far I am quite satisfied with the AVR 300. I hope it continues, I did buy an extra 3 year warranty though, just in case!

Similar Products Used:

Sony ES

Quality of sound.

HK reliabliy issues

I bought this unit in April 2000. After 4 months or so I noticed a problem with the volume as many of the reviews have stated regarding problems with the volume increasing and decreasing sporadically after adjusting the volume on the unit itself - not with the remote.

I called the local HK repair shop here in Denver CO, at first they said they haven't ever heard of this problem - seeming that is really WAS a rare problem...however they received another call from someone in Colorado Springs with the exact same problem in the same week.

The HK repair shop has since then done some research and found that the problem is related to the POT (potentiometer/volume control knob) and that is problem existed with some of the "early" models and have since resolved this issue with the new models...With out verifying, I believe mine was make in January 2000.

I absolutely love this unit, sounds and works GREAT!!! But it does suck that I got a unit with a known problem.

Similar Products Used:

Onkyo

clean and powerful sound (both music and DD/DTS). Design.

Clicking noise when adjusting the the volume. Low volume listening. Buzzing sound in the speakers. only one main speaker connection.

I bought this reciever on the internet without testing it first. I had just listened to the avr 200 before. When I first hooked it up I noticed that low volume listening was´nt avaliable. The difference between -63dB and -64dB is huge. The avr 200 goes down to -73dB which is acceptable.
Another thing is when you play music with the volume set between -63dB and -55dB the treble level is much higher than normal. It sounds like some kind of loudness or something. Its bugging me alot. The only thing you should have this reciever to is DD/DTS listening. Its really no big problem when wathing a movie (except for the buzz that you always hear from the speakers).

Don´t buy this reciever. I returned mine after 2 weeks because I could`nt stand all the enoying problems that this reciever has. Place your money on a Yamaha RXV 800 instead

Similar Products Used:

avr 200, yamaha 496 / 800

FEATURES, SOUND QUALITY

UNRELIABLE

purchased my avr 300 in December of 99, it worked just fine for the first six months and then a grenade!!!!!! the receiver stared failing in several areas. the most significant being I lost all audio when playing movies on dvd. the sound when playing a cd was scary wish at that point it quit altogether. The dealer was great offered to replace it with a new one but I decide to pay the difference and upgrade to the avr 500. The saga continues, read what happened next....refer to avr 500.

Sound & a few ergonomic features.

Reliability--one aspect of which may be a serious concern for you and your equipment...see below:

I've posted a review already, but I've had this thing for well over a year now, and I have an important update about reliablity. The DTS problems I mentioned in my previous review were not due to my JVC DVD player. They were caused by this receiver. HK fixed the problem as it is still under warranty. It took about 3 weeks total for the shop to look at it and get the new parts.

My AVR-300 is now back in the shop. This time for something I feel that everyone who owns this piece should be concerned about. Remember the folks who said that the volume tends to fly out of control on a whim? I didn't experience the problem for over a year and suddenly, last week, this thing skyrockets out of control! I thought my speakers were going to blow!!!!

I HIGHLY recommend that anyone with this receiver check with HK and see if it is possible to have the volume control fixed even if your unit is not showing any signs of the problem!

Do I recommend this piece? If you guys can really get it for $169, I say go for it because you WON'T find better sound in that price class. But I would consider looking into some preventive measures for the volume issue. As you can plainly see, I only knocked-off 1-star for the reliability problem. Although it is a pain to have it in the shop, at least HK has a 2-year warranty and a network of shops available. Are there other companies in this price class that can match that?

Will I buy HK again after this? Well, I'm a big fan of the sound of HK products when they work, so I might, but the reliability issues will have me at least considering other options the next time around.

Similar Products Used:

HK AVR15 & AVR30

The receiver is very flexible and sounds very good. Has
quite a few audio/video inputs/outputs.

The use of the remote during set up was a little tricky.

The first AVR-300 was D.O.A. Something was wrong with the
volume control. The 2nd AVR-300 has worked fine the past
few months.

Only thing that I have noticed that is kind of strange, is
that once I watch a movie with the DVD in the Dolby
Digital mode, then want to play a music CD, I cannot just
hit the (surround off) button. I need to hit the Dolby
ProLogic button to take it out of Dolby Digital mode then
into surround off mode. Weird, but I can live with it.

Also would have been nice if HK would have put a couple
X-tra bucks into the face plate. Not impressed with the
plastic.

Similar Products Used:

Sony Dolby Pro Logic receiver

Clean sound

didn't last

As most people here I did not look at this website before I purchased the product. Before I hooked it up I went to this site and read all the horror stories and said it wont happen to me. Well, it happened to me. I played the unit for 5 minutes turned it off and came back an hour later and the unit would not turn on. The unit just is in protection mode. I thought mabee somehow I shorted a speaker wire but did not. Also the power is clean but very short in how much it has. I like to watch movies at a high volume and to my suprise when it did work for the first five minutes I had to turn it up full blast to get any effect to sound impressive. DO NOT BUY THIS RECIEVER. IT WILL FAIL. There are to many other choices out there. For me to buy a reciever and have it fail in 5 minutes is just plain sad. I will not buy Harmon again.

Similar Products Used:

Pioneer vsx509

Clear sound reproduction, Solid DTS & Dolby Digital aplications.

No B speaker option

After reading this fourm I was ready to forget the AVR 300 as a choice for upgrading to DTS and Dolby Digital, yet the sound from this reciever(not to mention the price) compelled me to do some more research.After checking with to local Harmon/Kardon technician and complaining to Future Shop and Harmon/Kardon about 'percieved' problems with the unit, I was close to buying. When future Shop agreed to throw in a 3 year extended warranty to placate me I jumped at it.
The AVR 300 has been everything I had hoped and nothing I have feared. Coupled with Mirage 790i the audio component has surpassed my expectations.

Similar Products Used:

Yamaha RXV 596

Good quality sound , Great features , DTS capability .

A little pricy for the average buyer but try it first , you will love it .

I found the unit to be more than what I had expected plus I have found that all the problems people are talking about does not exist on my unit . I had asked the retailer about problems and they told me that futurdhop alone sold thousands of these so there might be a small amount not satisfied but what about the other thousand or two.
I would buy another harmon kardon in a second .

Similar Products Used:

Yamaha or onkyo .