Clean, clean power. Nice physical appearance and simple to set up and operate.

none of the problems experienced by other owner. however, bass in logic7 mode is noticeably weaker.

so far so good. however, i just found this website today and read so many similar reviews, mainly all the various problems. so for tonight and the next few nights, i will have a closer look at my receiver in all aspects. hopefully, i won't discover anything out-of-the-ordinary(knock-on-wood). as mentioned in the "strengths" column above, sound is crystal clean, just superb!! and has enough hook-ups for all my components. one thing i do want to say for the people who are thinking about purchasing this particular unit is that you may be rolling the dice on this investment. although i have a good unit, the reviews so far has been 80-20 not in its favor as far as reliability is concern. and for the people who has just bought this receiver, it seems to me that they should refrain from the praises too soon. at least for this receiver anyways.

my gears:

klispch rp5 - fronts
nht - center (soon to be replace by klispch)
infinity quadrapole - rears (may hook my klispsh quintet back up now that i'm using the rp5s)
nht - subwoofer

Similar Products Used:

Onkyo (various models), Denon (1801), H/K (avr500)

Great punch. Excellent compatibility and ease of use. Easy to set up.

UNRELIABLE. Difficult to use multi zone feature. Lacks top end. A little muddy. Not an all-rounder.

Has been back to the dealer for service too many times considering the price. HK need to fix up reliability issues. Needs more treble response though not as bad as the lower end such as the AVR3000. Good AV amp very integrated soundstage. Not a great audiophile product. Chose the speakers carfully and you can probably dial out the unclear nature of the sound a little. Use a sub, this amp loves bass.

Similar Products Used:

Mordaunt Short Decoder 1. Mission Cyrus 2 and PSX. Onkyo TX DS595.

Clear exciting sound with huge power in reserve. Excellent HT capabilities. Good sound staging.

Delay in detecting between analog/digital signals. Surround modes are of little value.

Having owned and used the HK7000 for over a year, I'm pleased to report that I haven't had any quality issues whatsoever. My primary use for this amp is to listen to stereo music, and in this area the HK performs exceptionally well. In comparison with my previous amp, an NAD 3240PE, the HK is more detailed, offers a superior soundstage, and provides a tone by-pass option, which ensures a clear signal path between the source and the speakers. To my ears the sound is extremely pleasing and very accurate. I currently couple my amp to a set of Klipsch RF3 front speakers, B&W DM602 S2 surrounds, B&W LCR 6S2 Centre, and a B&W ASW1000 Sub.

As a surround amp, the HK also proves to be very good, and at the time of it's purchase, outshone all the other units in it's price range. I did quite a few comparative listening tests with amps from Sony (777ES), Denon AVR3300, Pioneer (various) and Yamaha (various). In the end it came down to the Denon and the HK. The Denon was a very nice unit, but I finally decided on price (the HK was a bit cheaper), and the fact that the HK uses passive cooling rather than active cooling (i.e. it doesn't house an internal fan). I prefer this arrangement as I wanted to reduce the amount of noise coming from the amp as much as possible. Setting up the HK is fairly straight forward, though I do have to return to the manual from time to time. My one major annoyance with this unit, is that if you switch signal sources from analog to digital using the same inputs (such as playing a CD in your DVD player), the amp takes a second or two to recognise the signal type, and hence you may loose the first note or two of a song. I get around this by using the analog outs on my DVD player into the CD inputs on the amp, and the digital outs for DVD movies with two sets of leads. Not a big issue, but one to be aware of.

All in all, I'm very happy with the HK7000, and would recommend it as a good all rounder, though there may well be better/cheaper units out there now.

Similar Products Used:

NAD 3240PE (stereo only amp)

This unit is on sale at Fry's with a sull set of Polk satellite speakers and 8" sub. All for $699. The speakers alone are $499 purchased seperatly.

Just incase anyone is reading this because they are looking for this unit.

Undistorted, smooth, and powerful stereo sound. Decent A/V hookups abilities (S-Video, Composite, Component). Elegant looking and robust construction (discrete components). Decent surround replication with stereo sources using Logic 7 and other modes. Harman International reputation. Ability to playback 95% of today's sources without sweating.

Passive cooling issues (no fan) so get a fan. Not the cutting edge technology in home theatre. So-so surround output power when compared to stereo. No 5 channel "stereo" mode (A+B). So-so FM reception abilities. OSD only works in S-Video or Composite and not component. Multi-room out not RF; uses IR, so you need a repeater or line of sight. Can't enjoy 5 % of cutting edge media like THX, Dolby EX, or Progressive Scan.

Brief:
Well I did double down by buying this unit after reading some of the previous reviews and from an online auction that states as-is. With good luck the unit arrived in perfectly functioning order. Perhaps the reviews were a bit too harsh. So far nothing has gone wrong with the unit (build date March 2000), except for overheating issues when placed inside and enclosed rack. I was shopping around for a decent stereo/home theatre to start to enjoy digital sources and dvd playback and came accross the H/K brand a couple of times. Its reputation is quite impressive. I needed S-Video switching and Component for my game consoles, computers, and DVD player sources.
Details:
Using Klipsch Quintets with KS-12 Powered Sub (another sweet product) and (the best Tubes) Sony Wega FS-27v13, this unit is as exactly as most reviewers say in Stereo mode...superb and unmatachable (for the price at least). I listened to Marantz and Denon units and AVR 7000 can easily best them with its warm and robust playback. No drops zero distortion and hiss all the way to 0 db with all kinds of crazy music. Video switching works fine excecpt for some minor macrovision sychronization issues. OSD is functional and adequate. Learning remote is pefectly usable albiet cumbersome. Now the only problem that I have seen is the unit passive cooling does not lend itself well in an enclosed rack or shelf space. When it overheats it begins to clip channels and video signals begin to degrade. Easily remedied by using an external fan. Audio issues is that Dobly Digital/DTS (very little media was available to test) is not exactly designed for music enjoyment so the sound production does not seem as dynamic as stereo. Thus it does not seem as exciting as stereo sources. The Logic7 (or half-brother of) does an unbelievable job of taking two channels and creating surround. The other DSP modes are equally decent, but again its quasi-surround from stereo so don't expect a micacle. Until all sources are multichannel, this is definetly a worth while stereo/home theatre. Check out HarmanInternational.com and you can see where the true Pedigree lies in audio equipment manufacturing. Again for under 3k, I honestly think its the best.
Conclusion:
Tank craftmansship and Heavy Hitting engineering talent makes last year flagship perfect for today's bargain super system bar none. Very few titles take advantage of newer modes (THX, Dobly EX, DVDAudio, etc...) so don't think you will left behind buying this unit. Besides most of the time you will enjoying Stero playback (mp3, cd, most TVs) so this where the H/K 7000 will stand ahead of everybody. In fact I fell back in love with Stereo originally thinking multi channel surround was my goal. The only caveat is no gaurantee of Progressive Scan Component abilities (regular modes work fine), thus high definition video may need to bypass the switcher. Otherwise all the new bells and whistles of new units are pretty useless until the media catches up. Sort of like buying DVD-R/W now...wait awhile before its the standard. So don't waste the money up front. Side effect of buying this unit is that you want to match everything with H/K products. Their DVD-50 unit and other pieces are works of art. Plus you tend to want more power which becomes addiction. But you will be surely evicted.

Similar Products Used:

Denon AVR 2802, Onkyo-595tx, Sony 1075, Marantz 8000.

Solid build, controlled depth, wide, natural and sweet mid to upper frequency responses, detailed, very articulate, very involving.

largish, if that can be regarded as a weakness.

I was looking for an AV receiver to replace my Yamahah DSP1092 simply because the Yamahah did not have the DTS decoder nor the 96Kz/24 bit sampling decoders.

i listened to the AVR 7000 in JHB and was immediately drawn to the openness and completeness of the soundstage in pure stereo. The source used was a HK DVD player and the speakers were B&W CT floorstanders. The disc was Holly Cole's Temptations track 11 and the detail in the depth mids and uppers was as though i was listening to high end separates. And all this without a subwoofer.

Given the fact that my own system is a Rotel 965 cd player connected via Madrigal Digital Interconnect to the existing Yamahah 1092 AV amplifier through Kimber 8TC biwired to B&W DM602S2 speakers and the B&W ASW1000 subwoofer, i was of the opinion that this AVR 7000 would do more justice with my own equipment.

Listening at home confirmed this. I was honestly moved by the change in the overrall soundstage at home. It was like the speakers were able to maintain the ingetrity of the soundstage for longer and with greater control. I can only attribute this utter and dyanamic control to the AVR 7000. the AVR 7000 will decode HDCD recordings as well.

On the AV side the AVR 7000 is also in its own right in the DTS decoding and Digital decoding, creating brilliant effects around the room. However my primary focus is pure stereo which is the reason i bought the unit.

There are several other HK features, but i stay with stereo.

Similar Products Used:

Marantz SR 7000, Yamahah 1092

Power, sound and dynamics and functions

Clipping noise as digital signal falls away

Very nice A/V reciever with great sound quality. the power is great but the unit produces a lot of heat.I have not experienced any problems, only light clipping noise when the digital signal falls away. But this is not harmfull for my B&W speakers.
Maybe the US models are not as reliable as the Europe ones?

Similar Products Used:

Harman Kardon AVR50 Pioneer

Amazing Decoding Processor.
Extremely High quality amplifiers. Don't be fooled buy it's 100 watt power, that's like 400w to most
Programmable/Learnable Easy to use Remote.
Sleek dynamic looks.
On-Screen menu for easy adjustments
Best of all, the sound quality from the optical inputs.

Precise, but your get what your pay for.
Large Diminutions and Heavy (Bulky).

This system is unlike anything I have ever heard.

Similar Products Used:

Sony EX

Great sound, very clear and little if any pink noise

Not a lot of sound fields

This is a great product, despite it being a little shy on sound fields. I bought mine over a year ago and still appreciate my purchase today. I listen to almost anything- from Chopin to Korn to DVD movies, and the AVR 7000 amazes me with how well it produces sound-especially with movies. My AVR 7000 is coupled with Infinity RS-4's in the front and RS-3's in the back, and I absolutly love my setup SOUNDS AWESOME!

Similar Products Used:

Several Onkyo recievers

Great power, can decode just about anything

Logic 7 not lexicon version, digital inputs lose sync lock, remote

This monster has all the makings of a great receiver. Extensive hookup options, on-screen setup options, learning capable remote and conservatively rated power output. Unfortunately it seems to have suffered from some reliability issues as is apparent on this site. This unit sounds great with DVD's, CD's, HDCD's, but my unit loses the digital sync lock on some CD's during the silent 0-bit pauses between tracks, and in transitioning between watching a Dolby Digital movie and listening to a CD. I can work around the problem if I just switch to a non-digital source (like tape), and then switch back, so I don't want to go without a receiver for upwards of 8 weeks while it's being repaired. I already ordered an AVR 8000, so I'm hoping I am not opening a can of worms here. Once it arrives, I'm going to send the 7000 off to the shop for the warranty repair and re-sell it. The only other issue it the Logic 7 implementation. On the AVR-510, the Logic 7 was a pretty close approximation to what you would find on a Lexicon unit in 5 speaker configuration. Spectral changes were minimal between stereo, etc.. But when I "upgraded" to the 7000, Logic 7 performs poorly. Bass is lost below around 40 Hz or so, and the vocals sound a bit more hollow than I remember on the 510. All in all, the receiver is exciting, and in it's latest incarnation, I believe it will be much better. Increased power, 7 channel Logic 7, and an update to the digital formats it supports should be quite impressive. I hope they have taken a look at the quality control and also the software driving Logic 7 to improve it.

Similar Products Used:

H/K AVR 510, Lexicon DC-2, Proceed AVP, etc...