I'm convinced this review list has become poisoned. I'm not doubting that there have been real and significant problems with this unit, but it strains credibility to read the number of "reviewers" that:1. Read all of these posts;
2. Ignored them an bought the unit anyway;
3. Brought it home to realize and then rant again over every single complaint (many of which could easily be seen at the dealer); and then
4. Got rid of the unit or, even more skeptically, returned it after several trips to a repair shop.
How can you be so discerning about the unit but so ignorant at the same time? The two pieces don't fit.

I bought one. I'm a lucky one too, I guess, because mine has been fine since buying it in February '99. For those of you that have had real problems, my apologies. But to the others that are using this forum as a "clandestine" way to pull people towards YOUR favored product, you're spoiling a good thing.

If this post, which I've been holding in for a long time, violates the rules, I'll take my lumps. But without a focused dialog here the value is lost.

I'm convinced this review list has become poisoned. I'm not doubting that there have been real and significant problems with this unit, but it strains credibility to read the number of "reviewers" that:1. Read all of these posts;
2. Ignored them an bought the unit anyway;
3. Brought it home to realize and then rant again over every single complaint (many of which could easily be seen at the dealer); and then
4. Got rid of the unit or, even more skeptically, returned it after several trips to a repair shop.
How can you be so discerning about the unit but so ignorant at the same time? The two pieces don't fit.

I bought one. I'm a lucky one too, I guess, because mine has been fine since buying it in February '99. For those of you that have had real problems, my apologies. But to the others that are using this forum as a "clandestine" way to pull people towards YOUR favored product, you're spoiling a good thing.

If this post, which I've been holding in for a long time, violates the rules, I'll take my lumps. But without a focused dialog here the value is lost.

I was hesitant about buying this unit after reading the negative reviews. I finally purchased mine from SoundCity for $682 w/shipping. I must say that this receiver is well worth it. I must not be as picky as some, but the AVR65 has not given me any problems and reproduces sound beautifully from any source. It took awhile to learn and set all functions of the unit, but once learned it was easy to use. No receiver is going to have all the features a consumer wants, and at at the same time be void of features not desired. Just unpacking it and picking it up showed that this was a serious unit. It is matched up with my Cambridge Soundworks "Movie Works" speaker system and Toshiba DVD and projection TV for an awesome movie experience on a budget. Excellent receiver for the price!

It boggles the mind that people continue to buy this overpriced piece of junk,especially since the Denon AVR3300 and Yamaha 995 can both be had for the same price, sometimes even cheaper!!! both the yammy and especially the denon blow the HK away in terms of sound, build, features, expandability, and reliability!
i owned an HK avr65 briefly, i bought one before doing any research (mistake).
returned it a week later, it was the worst purchase i have ever made. my serial number was in the supposed *fixed* range also. here are just a few of the many problems/complaints i had.

1. loud hiss and humm from all speakers, especially the center, even when no signal was being sent to them! a 900 dollar receiver should not hiss/humm.
2. poor build quality- the faceplates and knobs are very flimsy and cheap feeling. the rear connectors are also very cheap, it doesnt even accept banana plugs! a 900 dollar receiver that doesnt accept banana plugs? haha.
3. poor design and components- this receiver has the worst reliability record of any in recent memory, it was obviously rushed onto the market with little or no quality control or testing.
4. worthless remote- a receiver of this price should at least have a learning remote. 75% of the codes didnt even work properly.
5. nearly impossible to program- the most unfriendly user interface i have ever seen for OSP.
6. lack of digital inputs- only one optical and 1 coax, the yammy and denon have 2 times as many.
7. RF interference- again was supposed to be fixed with my high serial number (9000ish), but still occured.
8. poor sound quality- anyone who says this unit sounds good obviously didnt a/b it with the denon or yamaha. both of those units are FAR superior in sound quality for music and dd/dts processing. just go compare them!

unlike some people who post here, i am not too proud to admit i made a bad purchase of a severely flawed unit. thats why there is a 30 day return policy! save yourself the headache, dont even bother with this turkey!

This receiver is worthless piece of junk. Even after going through the reviewson this site I decided to give it a try just for the name of harmon kardon and
hoping that all problems would have been ironed out by now. Initially the
receiver worked OK. There was a audible hiss at high volumes but since I do not
listen to that high volume I decided that I can live with it. Then just after
a month in this brand new unit (item # in 16000) made in June 99 the front
right channel goes dead. I take it to the Harmon Kardon repair shop nearby and
they they say it is cold solder problem that melted due to the heat generated
by the unit though I never played the unit at more than 40% of its capacity.
They fix it and again it goes dead after a week - same problem. They fix it
and say that my front right speaker is not good (low impedence). It is Polk
audio RT 800 and it is compatible with 8 ohms output. So I do not buy this
argument. Anyway I decided not to take a risk and used two external Amps for
the front right and front left speakers and only used the HK preamp outputs
for these channels. This time the front right preamp goes dead after two weeks.
The service person is reluctant to take it anymore telling me that I should
talk with harmon kardon instead. Looks like I will have to replace it and $750 is going down the drain. I am not buying any harmon kardon product again.

I purchased this unit 1 month ago, and couldnt be happier with it. I purchased it through OneCall and got a phenomenal deal. The sounds are crisp, clean, and accurate the best I have ever heard. I did a close comparision of The Sony333ES, Sony DB930, Onkyo 959, Yamaha 2095, and Yamaha. According to me, and the other sales peoples, and customers the HK sounded the best, while the Yamaha's sounded good, the clarity that was coming out of the HK couldn't be challenged, the 930 is a nice deal for its price... Onkyo was pretty good, but not that much clarity, 333ES... well I think the 930 sounded better than the 333. I have a 2 wonderful Advent 25th Anniversery Limited Edition speakers that have outstanding clarity, mid, and bass, then I have 2 Surrouds by Atlantic Technology, and 1 center also by Atlantic Technology, and Velodyne Sub. The system is set up great. I think the HK sounded the best out of the batch because HK uses Ultra Bandwith, and they're high current. And for those complaining of plastic front plates, VCR's, almost all recievers, DVD players, and cd Players have plastic front plates. Overall an awesome reciever with great sound... and clarity recommend it highly. By the way the remote isn't all that bad. 5 stars for the sound and reciever, 4.5 for the remote... Overall a 5 star review for the best reciever I've ever heard in my 19 years.

It's sad to see the previous poster trying hard to Justify the fact that its been bought. Frankly I found this unit two in a row, with problems, first one the front panel display where it says ANALOG, started to darken and it also had the annoying interference with the TV. The second unit, same problem with interference. I don't need to say what I have bought now, that will be percieved as trying to sway people. Guaranteed it was pricier, but I am definetly happier. Wakeup, people don't concoct bugs.. Don't make the same mistakes..-Y

Good audio.

First unit bought in Dec.98 was replaced in April 99 due to
video interference.
Excessive video interference despite cable connection upgrades,ferrite attachments installation and relocation
of video components.
Remote and OSD difficult to use.Manual not user friendly.

HK service rep in Toronto needs at least 2 weeks to investigate.
Video interference on other VCR and TV only when AVR 65 is
switched on. Optical digital audio cable failed after one week of use. So far co-axial connection is good.
Despite installing the ferrite blocks sent by HK no change
or improvement was observed.

Similar Products Used:

Sony and Denon -Non digital.

Good seperation in DD 5.1, music sounds excellent on it too, goes extremely loud without distorting, nice clean look, DTS is AMAZING.

Does not go that low.

For about two months I researched on which reciever I should purchase. I tested many recievers, my favorties were the 2095, and the 65 there was a difference in the price. But honestly I liked the sound of the 65 a little bit better... it also suited my budget better. The DB930 I thought was junk. The Onkyo also had nice sound, so did the Yamaha RV-1105. But overall I really liked the 65. Yesterday I watched Saving Private Ryan in DTS and ohhh man did it sound good or what. I had many friends come over and comment statements like my system sounded better than a local cineplex's. My system set up is a Marantz DVD player, a Krell amplifier, Martin Logan Monolith III's, Martin Logan Center, and Martin Logan Aerius I's as surrounds. I have a NAD tuner. A Harman Kardon cassete deck, and a Onkyo CD player. My TV is a 74" Toshiba. I use all Kimber Kable's, and S Video connections. Overall the 65 and the Krell produce phenomenal sound. This whole system cost around 60,000 dollars but it was really worth it. DTS is amazing, and so is DD, music sounds supereb too. I purchased this for $730 from One Call back in August. I haven't had one problem with this reciever since. I hear now this is as low as $599 at J&R. I don't know what you guys are complaining about. Maybe you just got some bad ones that came out in the beggining. As a matter of fact this is retailed close to $1300, the fact that the first batch of units was bad had a dramatic price drop on this fine piece of equipment. I recommend it highly!

Similar Products Used:

Yamaha RV1105, HK AVR 45, Onkyo 969, Yamaha RX-V2095, Sony DB930

Outstanding sound,

I bought this unit in Dec 98, and I am experiencing the hum
from the center channel with no inputs turned on, could use one more digital input

in Stereo mode this unit plays excellent music, in 5:1 DTS mode with a DTS encoded CD,it blew me away, runs my 60" mitsubishi gold with a crystal clear picture with both DVD and DBS inputs. I love this unit, and outside of the small hum issue in this earlier unit, would not swap it for anything. Where else are you going to find a high current amp with 8 to 80 khz frequency range and seperate amp circuits for each channel

There are 2 published fixes for older units, one is a ground change and another is to replace a 6 ohm resistor with a 10 ohm replacement
, I am sending my unit in next week for these changes

Similar Products Used:

Kenwood AV-45