I have had my HK AVR35 for about a week. I bought it to replace an Onkyo AVX343 receiver that was Dolby ProLogic only. I bought a ProScan DVD to go with the HK AVR35. The speakers are all Polk Audio with a 120 watt subwoofer. The ProScan is connected using the fiber optic connection. I too was a little worried about the power rating. The Onkyo was rated at 60 watts per channel for the front channels and 15 for the rear channels. The HK AVR35 has more than enough power to run the speakers I use. DVDs using the Dolby Digital soundtrack do a credible job of reproducing the movie theatre experience. My wife and I have watched more movies in the last week on our Mitsubishi 50" TV than we probably watched in the previous six months. I would like more inputs, but overall I am very impressed with the sound and quality of this unit. I paid $499.00 at Circuit City. I would recommend it to anyone looking for a Dolby Digital receiver in the 400-500 dollar price range.

Sound. The versatility of surround settings. Good price.

Can be confusing to configure it properly, at first.

I bought this receiver over two years ago with a set of Cambridge Soundworks Movieworks II speakers. The sound is great for all uses, DVD, HiFi VCR,CD,TV, Radio, etc. The power has never cut out on me nor have I had any other problems with it. In fact, I have had zero problems with reliability. At first I did not like this unit, because I thought it soinded poorly. But, I realized I had the configuration set up incorrectly. Make sure if you buy this unit, you set it up for the correct size of speakers you have; and make sure you do it for each speaker setting (i.e. "no surround", "three speaker", "pro logic", etc.) The directions were not clear about this and until I figured this out, I was not happy with this unit. Once I did get it set up correctly, WOW!, it sounded great and still does. I won't give this a 5, because I won't give any product a 5 star rating. But it is a great AVR and I am very pleased to own it.

Great sound, especially in 5.1

Remote is mediocre at best, reliability

I have to say that this unit is a love it/hate it type of thing. First off, this is my third HK product and by far the worst. My first one is actually a 20 year old pure stereo HK 680I that is still the finest sounding receiver I've ever heard. Even hooked up to mediocre AR Rock Partners, the sound is awesome. After 20 years I haven't had to get a single thing fixed. That's what makes this unit so disappointing.

First of all, let me preface by saying I bought this as a floor model. Thinking nothing beats Harmon quality, I didn't think to get a new model...big mistake. Like other reviewers on this site, I have to say that this has failed me on more than one occasion. I too have the shut down problem where the unit will just be working and then fail inexplicably. An error message comes up and you just have to let the thing cool down for a while before you can resume listening. How frustrating!!!

Another problem is the remote. For some reason, the brainiacs at HK decided to put the sleep feature in the same spot as channel up when using your TV. So, when you are switching the volume on the HK and decide to change channels on the TV, if you forget to switch the source to TV, the receiver will go into sleep mode. I've made this mistake about 1000 times and it's just instinctive...and annoying.

However, when the unit is working properly, it's a gem. It sounds great in 5.1 (which most people will buy it for anyway) and is equally as good in 2 channel stereo. I agree the tuner blows, but I hardly ever listen to the radio at home. The sound is open, warm and compelling.

Due to the reliability issues however, I feel it's time to upgrade to the Outlaw Audio 1050. According to this site, it's built really, really well...the way I thought Harmon's were built and the way they USED to be built.

If you get a deal on this unit, pick it up. Otherwise look in other areas.

Similar Products Used:

HK AVR 20II, HK 680I

High current. Nice warmth. Analog bass and treble. Direct access keys on the front of the unit. Understated looks.

Reliability. Few digital inputs.

I've had some reliability issues, which is really frustrating, but I'm in love with the sound quality of the receiver. Nice and warm, very clean and detailed too. Seems to have good control, although I don't know the damping factor. When it was plugged into the same outlet as the tv, it killed the cable reception, but it's a high current receiver, which means it draws a lot of current. All you have to do is plug it into another outlet, or buy a surge protector with a voltage regulator. I've had it for 2 years, and never bothered to get it fixed, but it still sounds great.

I recommend it, if you can get a reliable one.

Similar Products Used:

Many Yamaha units, Onkyo, Kenwood, etc. as well as other H/k products.

Excellent sound, attractive

Poorly designed remote, lots of radio interference that I don't hear from my other radios

This is the first "real" receiver I've ever owned, so I can't give an experienced opinion. However, I did own a crappy KLH receiver that I got for practically nothing, and it sucked. This receiver sounds crystal clear with my Klipsch center and Acoustic Research surrounds. I previously had all Optimus speakers and it still sounded great. I've had no mechanical problems at all.

I do have a problem where the radio seems to "disappear" when I walk across the room. The stations aren't nearly as clear as from my $40 el cheapo boombox, either. That's unfortunate, but it sounds great for what I originally bought it for: 5.1 Dolby movie sound!

I got mine when they were new, and thus got screwed on the price. HK equipment looks overpriced to me, but I'm happy with the sound quality.

Similar Products Used:

unknown low-end KLH receiver

See previous post

See prev. post

Still no refund from Ubid, it's still kind of soon-- but don't take my non-posting as a sign that they followed through on their end . . . I've since been contacted by someone who bought an AVR 35 there as well, but sat on it for the entire 30 day warranty period before taking it out of the box and discovering it powered off frequently by itself.

I also wanted to mention that I went to United Audio and bought a Yamaha RXV-496 70 watt receiver for $299, and it's wonderful.
Tighter sound than the Harman, and much more power, and great effects.

Similar Products Used:

See prev. post

I recently purchased the H/K AVR-35 to replace my Yamaha RV-901. I loved the Yamaha and didn't really think that the H/K would sound that much better. I was also slightly worried about the 45 watt power rating compared to that of the 901's 85. I had NOTHING to worry about. I hooked the H/K up and I could tell the difference right away. The sound was cleaner and more life-like. It was more pure and natural. The wattage was no problem either because the AVR-35 easily played as loud as the Yamaha and sounded cleaner at higher volumes. I love the features and can't wait to try out the Dolby digital when my Toshiba DVD player comes in 3 days. I do wish that the H/K had A and B speaker outputs, like the Yamaha, but I guess I can live with that. I got the AVR-35 at www.consumer-direct.com for $379 and it retails for 699, so it was an excellent bargain. Netmarket.com also sells them for $439. I would recomend this receiver to anyone, particulary if you can purchase it for around $400 dollars. I love the Yamaha too, and for the $225 I paid for that, it would be my second choice. Great Receiver!

I recently purchased the HK AVR-35 for use with the Energy Take 5 with ES8 subwoofer. I ordered the receiver via Consumer Direct for a cost of $399 which I thought was very good for an HK receiver with DD built in which I will use almost exclusively for HT. Consumer Direct was very helpful and my buying experience from them was very positive. As far as the receiver goes, it sounds beautiful--when it works. It has been shutting off (no sound, although power is on)intermittently even after short periods of listening at low levels. It especially likes to shut off when switching between components (e.g. Video to Tuner).
I also have had the problem of the unit interfering with my video reception from my regular cable signal. When the unit is on my reception alternates from poor to good to horrible. It really was bad during the Falcons win over the Vikings this past Sunday which was particularly bad timing. I had to resort to my TV's poor speakers to listen to the broadcast because the receiver was so distorting the picture quality.

I assume that this is a defective unit and is not representative of HK quality, but since all of the negative reports on the HK AVR-65, I am not sure. I am going to return the unit, but I have not decided on whether to replace it or get another different receiver. Consumer Direct has a 30 day money back guarantee or replacement.

I give the unit 2 stars when it works because of video distortion, but 0 stars when it doesn't work at all, which averages to 1 star. Again, please understand that I do not know if this unit is simply a single defect or if this is a consistent problem with the HK AVR-35. If I choose to replace the unit with the same model, I will update.

I have been following reviews of this receiver for two months. I decided to upgrade from my HK AVR 20II, which I was very satisfied with, to take advantage of DD for HT. I have had the AVR35 for one month and could not be more pleased, especially for the price that I paid. Don't let 40 wpc deceive you, this high current receiver delivers loud and clean sound, even with inexpensive speakers.For the few disappointed buyers, I've got to believe you got a lemon or got one that was dropped. Sure, it would be great to have more inputs, but for the money, it doesn't get any better. I recommend this system with much enthusiasm.

After returning my JVC RX884, I picked up the Harman Kardon AVR35 and I can't believe the difference. My speakers are Klipsch Quintet with the 50W Sub. I used a local dealer for speakers and receiver...and got great pricing, got to listen, and came away happy...a plug for Awsome Audio in Saugerties, NY!
The sound quality is superb, the ease of set-up was a welcome relief, and the remote even works on my Toshiba 2108! No audio drop outs on the Toshiba either.

I love this receiver!