Great sound quality,appearance, easy to use, remote operates all of my other components

The OSD (on screen display) is useless to me, remote does not light up

This review is for the AVR-300...
I've had this receiver for about a month now and have had no problems with it. I have it hooked up to a couple of Polk Rt800's, and an Infinity 75-watt powered subwoofer. I don't use the S-video connections on it so i can't comment on the picture quality. I have the audio outs on my sony tv connected to it and my dvd player (jvc xv-d701bk) connected by a monster digital coax cable. The sound is incredible. The receiver has memory that stores speaker settings and level adjustments for each surround mode; on each input. Setting it up with the OSD is a waste of time, my advise is to use the remote and look at the receiver's display. The avr300 has 4 digital inputs (2coax/2optical) that can be assigned to almost any source, this is more than enough. The surround modes like hall1,hall2, and theater pretty much suck. The DD.prologic,and dts sounds good. when you play a dvd the receiver's display indicator lights up and shows the available surround audio tracks if there is more than one thats available on the dvd and you can select. the FM tuner HITS!!!. I like that there are not 1000 tuner presets and you can store just the few that you need.....blah, blah blah

well well I give this a 5 star overall rating

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none... Don't buy the Onkyo 575 when you can buy the HK

Superb sound quality, fantastic power output, features, inputs

Remote

This is a review for the AVR 300. If they ever give it its own category I'll put it there. First off I want to ask Bob how he can give a review on a unit he hasn't even taken out of the box!? Try to grow up a little bit before polluting this column.

Anyway, on to the Receiver. I was torn between this and the Onkyo 575, but bought this due to price and the Onkyo noise issue. It's replacing a cheap JVC Pro Logic receiver, so the sound quality and power improvements over that are pretty drastic. This unit has enough power to blow my Boston Acoustics T830 speakers apart, so I haven't even been able to tap into the receivers maximum power yet. I've got an old pair of Cerwin Vegas at home and I can't wait to drive those with this amp. I had a similar issue with the receiver losing my digital input, but after repowering the unit all was well and it hasn't happened since. My dvd video is routed through the receiver and is clear and crisp as can be. In surround mode the clicking volume can be heard if fooled with during quiet scenes, but so what! Set and forget. All channels are totally noise free in the digital surround modes, and even in Pro Logic the lack of noise in the surrounds really surprised me. The things that people are criticizing this unit for are mostly petty and are pretty much non-issues. Reliability is an issue not to be taken lightly, but so far so good with this unit. As irritating as the remote is, I didn't take a star off because I didn't buy this unit for its remote. I bought it for the sound quality and features. I'm extremely happy with this receiver and I don't regret my decision at all.

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JVC RX-517V, Denon AVR 1600

Quality of sound for music and home theater

reliability

I must say that this reciever sounds very good, deep tight bass, good soundstage and imaging (Of course these also depend on your speakers). The high current discreet amps never strain even at high volumes with low impedence speakers. The Logic 7 is a nice touch for music and video's, I use them frequently.
Now for the negatives: It's my second unit, the first had intermittent problems turning off while listening to music.
My current unit also had a volume flucuation problem the first day I brought it home, three weeks later and no reoccuring problems.
I love Harman Kardon sound, I graduated from a the 20mkII (which I never had any problems with) but I'm not convinced of the reliability of this model. I've e-mailed Harman Kardon with my concerns, we'll see if they respond!

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Yamaha

Awesome sound, really powerful and contrary to popular beleif - I actully like the remote control - it lights up for easy reading and the buttons are big enough to see without squinting.

Having problems with Logic 7 decoding, no A/B speakers.

I have owned the AVR 500 for a while now and I love it!! My previous receiver was the Yamaha RXV590. The only problem that I am experiencing is a 'fuzy' static noise coming from my rears in logic 7 mode. It only seems to happen when there is no infromation being sent to the rears, and it happens regardless of the input I am on. If anyone else is experiencing this problem please email me.

Very warm Harman Kardon sound...

Had volume problems with the AVR300

Now, I can do a review after listening to it for a few months. This was an upgrade from a defective AVR300 from Harmon Kardon. The customer service from Harman was top notched, thanks Mary Beth. The reason I chose to stick with the Harman Kardon is because of its warm sound. After listening to various brands I chose the Harman Kardon. The sound in stereo is simply the best, especially the wide soundstage. The soundstage really sounds alive, even the salesman at Circuit City agreed with me that the HK sounded better than the Onkyo 777 in stereo mode. If you want a good sounding musical reciever I would recommend this reciever.

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Yamaha

Warm sound,handsome design,automatically changes to predetermined user settings when swithcing modes,Logic 7 enhancements

No A/B speaker switch

I was originally using a HK AVR300 in my home theater/music system when the infamous volume fluctuation "Phantom" appeared about three months ago. In my case, a light touch on the volume control knob would cause the volume to behave erratically. As a result of this situation, I relied exclusively on the remote control for volume adjustments.

About a month ago I decided to get the AVR300 repaired, since HK was offering a fix ( they will replace a faulty IC ), so off to the shop the AVR300 went. Past experience has taught me that repair intervals can be lengthy and I did not relish the idea of being without a source for my HT/Music system.


Since I had previously auditioned the AVR500 favorably against other receivers in this price range and I already had invested considerable learning time in the operation of other models in the HK line-up ( AVR 45, AVR65, AVR300 ), I preferred to retain the "familiarity factor" of the HK (they are basically set up in the same manner ) so I ordered an AVR500.

I’ve had the AVR500 for about a month and I am aware of the postings on this site regarding reliability issues. The one I have is an August 2000 production model and I’ve been playing it extensively with no signs of any problems yet. Perhaps the latter production models are more reliable.

The significant enhancements over the AVR300 that the AVR500 possesses are the Logic 7 Music and Logic 7 Cinema modes. FM music comes alive in Logic 7M as does VCR tapes in Logic 7C. For me, this alone was worth the price of the upgrade to the AVR500.

I find the remote to be very functional since I use it to control some of my other components as well as the receiver. Once the "familiarity factor" is established, using it becomes second nature.

There is an occasional, slightly audible clicking sound emitting from my right speaker when I change the volume; it does not bother me at all.

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HK AVR45,HK AVR65,HK AVR300

Excellent set of features, very good clarity

Slightly pricy

I have a brand new 500 (manuf. in May 2000) so I have a suspicion any defective parts that may have existed in older buidts have been replaced because I could not reproduce any of the problems mentioned in other posts. I don't listen to rap so I don't care about loudness as much as clarity and I must say I'm impressed. In any event the bass is rich and the highs are excellent. The feature set is complete for this price range even though at $720 I paid it's not a bargain system. The interface is so H/K, in other words rather spartan but I got used to it with previous H/Ks so it doesn't bother me.

The surround modes are ambundant and Logic 7 comes in handy when watching regular TV programming. There's enough juice to power a 5.1 speaker system that should satisfy anyone but the most demanding audiophiles (in which case take a look at the 7000).

There are 2 kinds of receivers, the garden variety (meaning you can pick them up at Circuit City e.t.c.) and the exotics which carry limited availability and higher price, partly due to the availability. This receiver is positively superior to anything Sony, Pioneer, Kenwood and JVC makes. I never used an Onkyo so I can't compare but I am keeping mine for sure.

SOUND QUALITY in any mode,LOGIC 7,VMAX,OSD

Remote

Very good product. Ample power to drive speakers. Good features. I have had this product for 4 months now, average playing time per day +- 4 to 6 hours, NEVER been switched off. No problems encountred. All functions work perfectly. This receiver has VERY GOOD SOUND, even in the surr.off mode. I use Infinity speakers, MIT Terminator 4 speaker cables. For cd interconnects I use Transparent Audio's audio plus link. Optical links are used for my DVD. I have listend to products form Yamaha, Denon and Kenwood in the same and even higher price range....NO comparison, the HK delivers.

Power, Modes, Build, Design

None

Read about which receiver to buy for months. Was a toss up between a Pioneer Elite 24tx or the HK. Chose the HK as I thought it sounded better to my ears...your mileage may vary. I think most of the problems this unit had are done with as mine is fine and the demo model in the store was ok also. So you if are thinking about this unit do not worry about the other low reviews with problems as I think they have fixed them. The DD and DTS modes are very good and the Logic7 modes are usefull when playing a VHS tape or a console game...really makes Gran Turismo 2 sound real!

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Pioneer, Sony

built,sound,handling power with no distortion at high level,looks and the lighted remote works just fine.

slight clicking in rigth channel only when adjusting sound volume (no biggy).missing phono input for my new turntable will have to buy a preamp til i get separates.

these words are a follow up to the previous 2 messages i've posted earlier.I bought this receiver for $600 from a hk authorized dealer in feb00 and i can positively confirm that it has perform to the best of my expectations;I use it for music 95% of the time and when a DVD or VHS tape pops in its mind blowing!no jokes,try saving private ryan(dvd) or even the latest wonderfully well recorded star wars(VHS)mind blowing movie for dolby prologic sound(DVD will come sometime later).
I've read so many bad reviews from disgruntled owners that i feel i must be the owner of a lucky star or something,an audiophile friend of mine told me that sometimes other company sales people put bias information to undermind a product reliability.I for one am very satisfied and until otherwise would recommend this unit to anyone.THKS.

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first true receiver