clear

too much girth! Does not fit in std entertainment cabinets

This is a follow up from my last review about 6 months ago. Anyway finally got the receiver back after returning it and waiting for almost 2 months. Pretty good service though at Hi Tech Master Co., the SVC CTR for HK. Anyway without sounding banal in comarison to the other reviews, here is my take after hours of scrutinizing each feature and channel for flaws:

-Receiver is powerful and can push 4 bi-wired speakers with ease which are rated at 6 ohms.
-Crystal clear mids.
-easy to use and tweak.
-very satisfied with overall purchase, except for having to have to send it back for repairs.

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Sony/avr 310

Built like a tank , loads of features, sounds great. Great Remote

Very deep , hangs off my shelf . Doesnt work with preprogrammed pronto anymore, No auto on TV Feature

Offered at close out price because some of the early production run had reliability issues. so HK changed the model # to the 510 ? I believe they corrected the problems and sold a ton of them to J & R and Sound City. My piece works great . If you have a deep space its a good piece and a very good buy!

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AVR 85

Clean, clear, dynamic sound. Great Bass. Looks of the unit. Remote. HDCD. Features.

can't directly go to a different source. Very big unit. Can't hook up 2 sets of front speakers as fasr as I can see.

Yes I did get this for $289! Sorry for all you people who paid so much more, but don't feel too bad, it wasn't really intentional. Originally I won a bid for a Denon 2801, something got screwed up with that so UBID offered to either give me a 10% (of the purchase) coupon or I could take an alternate unit which happened to be the HK AVR7000. Obviously I said yes to the HK. It is Manufacturer refurbished, but to be honest I think I would rather have that than a new one. I think the chances are greater of gettting a defective unit if its new, since they hopefully already fixed the defects that originally existed. When I see new AVR7000's going for up to $1399 (ABC Stereo), I just get a little giddy to be honest, having paid only $289. Anyhow, after reading about all the quality problems I kept my fingers crossed, and so far so good. I also bought JBL S312's at the same time for only $119 each, so its hard for me to judge just the reciever, since I never hooked it up to my old front speakers which were BOSE AM-5's along with Advent Prodigy towers. The prodigy's added needed fullness to the BOSE speakers. My old reciever was an older Pioneer Pro Logic receiver. Anyhow, I am very happy with my new setup, especially in home theater. Jurassic Park III sounded awesome (Too bad the movie was very poor otherwise with some ridiculously bad acting!). However it blew me away when the disc first starts playing and it makes some dinosaur noises. Sounds awesome. Granted I am used to Dolby Pro Logic too, so this was a drastic change switching to better speakers, a better receiver and to Dolby Digital all at once. However I am no stranger to good sound, my best friend has a high end system and I have heard many others at various shops and in various homes, so I'd link to think I have a fairly good ear. The sound is very clear and clean and I hear alot of sounds in music and movie recordings that I never noticed before. Sometimes me and my girlfriend will be looking around the room when we hear certain things and realize it was the speakers since we are just getting used to it. To be honest it does seem a bit bright at times. But I am thinking the JBL's are probably not broken in yet. Its great though because I hear no hiss at all when no sound is currently playing (between tracks etc). I can play this setup very loud and it stays crystal clear. I have listend to several of my old CD's and they all sound great. Dido,in particular sounds amazing. The sound is so clear and dynamic its almost mesmerizing on that CD. I only use Dolby Digital for movies and "Surround off" regular stereo for music. I am not a fan of these useless novelty DSP modes. Also I definately noticed bass would really decrease in some of them, but like I said I dont use them anyhow. Now I am going to get the JBL S Center for $144 + $13 shipping at Consumer Direct to replace my Bose center. So far my upgrading to new speakers and this receiver, has only cost me $530 for $2700 worth of audiophile grade equipment and I couldn't be more happy. My dvd player is a pioneer DV-333 ($180) which I have no complaints about, the picture it produces is amazing through AR Composite cables direct into my JVC AV32d TV (great TV). I am also going to purchase a new CD player which will be a cambridge
D300 to replace my older pioneer one. If you do your homework, you can have a really awesome setup without spending much money at all. Yes, I got lucky with this reciever, although I am still keeping my fingers crossed! Thank god for the 2 year warranty! However like I said, so far, so good. Excellent Receiver. Also, I really don't think it gets as hot as people say, just seems normal to me, and I also like the remote too. Sometimes I think people are too finicky, of course if I spent $1000+ I am sure I would be alot more finicky too! The only complaint I can say about the sound, is it does at times seem a bit harsh, bright and not all that warm. Can sound very digital if you know what I mean, but I think the culprit may be my older cheapo Pioneer CD player and the cheapo cables on them. Even so, the sound is very clean, clear and dynamic. Can't wait to get the new Cambridge CD player, hopefully it, matched with some better cables will add the warmth I am looking for in stereo. Also can't wait to try out an HDCD, which in all my 300+ CD's I don't think I have 1 yet. Going to get Jewel "Spirit" and Sara Evans for starters. Its nice that reciever has an HDCD decoder b/c now I don't have to get a CD player with HDCD, which there is a very limited selection of!

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Pioneer, Yamaha, Denon, Onkyo.

Great sound! Good looking, lot of connections on the back.

Not that great sound in all surround modes. No bass in Logic 7-mode.
Poor quality. Popping sound in speakers while using optical inputs when PCM light goes on and off. BIG and HEAVY and gets very HOT.

Well, I'm sorry to admit that I've had it with the poor quality of H/K's AVR7000 receiver.

This is my second broken unit and I'm just about to return this one too. Before I went to buy this receiver I did my research and read the reviews on this site. I hoped to be one of the lucky ones to get one that worked properly - but I wasn't.

When I got the second unit it seemed that I got an refurbished unit. The transformator was loose so I had to tighten the nut underneath and the chassi had a bump on the top without any damage on the package (hmmm).

There's a popping sound in the speakers while using optical inputs when PCM light goes on and off. The first one had the same problem as many of the other reviewers has pointed out.

My left channel recently stoped working and it didn't help to reset the unit or the other things suggested in the manual. I remembered having some repeating low distorsion for weeks in the left channel before it died on me.

I just think this receiver has too many problems (and surely there are more problems we don't know of yet) that I wouldn't recommend it to anyone. You will eventually have to carry it back to the shop if the guarantee is still valid and you'll get another back that has different faults.

This is my first H/K product and probably my last unless the new AVR8000 has a higher quality. But who wants to gamble when there are a lot of other brands with similar specs.

H/K's flagship, what a joke! It just capsized on it's maiden voyage like the proud swedish battle ship Wasa did back in the 17th century. But that's a different story...

Similar Products Used:

Bose, Sony and Technics.

sound quality

build quality

I was very excited about this receiver when came out. After a hearing a demo at good home theater store I was sold. Fry's seemed to have the best local deal at the time, so I purchased it. I brought it home and plugged it into my B&W's and was blown away. This is one of the best sounding receivers I have ever heard. It nearly delivers the power of separates in a single package. Extraordinary detail, lots of power, and most importantly a real warm soulful sound. I was initially excited about the Logic7 modes, but have generally found the sound in these modes to be lacking bass and detail when compared with Stereo and ProLogic modes. The unit is well designed, feature packed, and includes a reasonably good universal remote. My experience, however, with the quality of the unit is a completely different story. My first unit blew a fuse on the switchable outlets even though the component plugged into the outlet was well within the outlet's specifications. My second unit did not exhibit the switchable outlet problem, but simply refused to turn back on after one evening of trouble free use. When my third unit blew a fuse on the switchable outlets, I did not return it as the rest of the unit seemed to function fine and HK service insisted that the switchable outlet problem was known and could be addressed by changing the fuse at a service center. This is now covered in a FAQ on the HK web site. I used the unit for three months over which time I began to notice various bizarre problems. One was a digital distortion on low frequency signals through digital input / Logic 7 modes. This was acknowledged by HK service as a problem on some early units. Another was slow digital signal detection which would result in the first few seconds of songs being silent. It is common for receivers to take a few moments to determine the type of digital signal being receiving and a working AVR7000 is no exception. However, this particular unit was losing the signal instantaneously between CD tracks and taking many seconds to rediscover it. HK never acknowledged this as a known problem, but none of the other AVR7000's I have used exhibit this problem. Finally the receiver seemed to be adding some video distortion to the s-video signal. This exhibited itself as a sort of horizontal smearing on dark/light transitions within the image. Plugging the DVD player directly into the TV cleared this problem up. This wasn't officially admitted as a known problem by HK service, but the person I spoke to on the phone said there had been another report or two of this that were being investigated at the time I called. Anyway, this slew of problems plus my previous history with the unit was enough to convince HK to do a direct exchange through the mail. The new unit arrived and all the problems were fixed including the switchable outlet fuse issue. I thought I had finally gotten a solid receiver and was a happy customer for about six months or more. Unfortunately this spring/early summer the unit started exhibiting a new problem. The first time you turn the unit on after it has been off for at least a few hours it immediately (well, four seconds later) turns itself off. Turning the unit on a second time works just fine. I lived with this for about a month because I just didn't have time to deal with getting it repaired, when suddenly the left front channel went completely silent. I am now getting these latest issues addressed. In short, this piece is marvelous when it works, however my experience suggests serious manufacturing and/or design problems with this model.

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Sony, Nakamichi, Pioneer Elite, Denon

Good sound and lots of features

Broke after a year.

The digital inputs have failed. The optical inputs never worked and now the co-ax input doesn't work. When I use analog RCA cables for my DVD I get sound and video. When I use the digital co-ax, I get just video, no audio. When I use my CD player with analog cables I get sound, with optical cables, nothing. I bought this in May of 2000. After reading reviews these days, I guess I need to get one from December of 2000 and beyond. The unit is still under warrantee so I hope I can get support. It's difficult when you purchase these through a fly by night internet company. Now I'm wondering if I've wasted my money. The intention was to buy this and have it for 5 - 7 years or until there were drastic changes in technology. I guess not.

Sound, power, ease of use, remote

Speaker connectors, size

The AVR7000 was the only 5.1 receiver capable of a good stereo sound, awesome compared to the Denon and Onkyo flagships. I spent a good while listening to a bunch of receivers and none of them came close. The power supply is huge and really produces the dynamics and clarity you would expect from an audiophile stereo amp. Driving my high-end Triangle Ventis which will go as low as 2 ohms is no problem, even combined with the 4 ohm center and surrounds, and there is plenty of power to rock the house in stereo and in 5.1. I have had it for 9 months now and not a single problem to report, although I feel compassion for the other unfortunate owners. Could it be that the 110 Volt model is more unreliable than the 220? A small weakness are the speaker connectors. They are very closely spaced and seem a bit fragile. I reverted to banana plugs for my 6 mm2 cables.

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Kenwood, Denon, Onkyo

Excellent sound, theatre modes.

Huge.

I just got mine, so haven't had a lot of time to play with it. Going from a Pro-logic setup to Dolby Digital/DTS I think is a huge stepup to begin with. But, the thing rocks! I have Klipsch KLF-30's in front with a Klipsch center and Infinity surround speakers. Personally, I think the KLF30's sound good on anything, but the HK really brings out the bass. I get more bass watching some movies without a sub as some systems I've seen with. The highs are crisp and clear as well. No crackle with explosions and breaking glass. Anything worth it's money shouldn't have anyway.

I did take someone's advice and made sure I got a date code after 11/00. I don't notice any of the complaints others had. I put it through the paces tonight, but it may take longer if something is going to show up. Hopefully, it will last a long time.

So far I am pleased with this AVR, but will post again after I've had more time with it.

Similar Products Used:

Yamaha, Pioneer.

Smooth crisp sound. Build quality first rate, and delivers with huge power.

None.

This is the best a/v receiver around. It produces great music and movie sound quality, and has given me no trouble in the 10 months I've owned it. The size is a problem as it won't fit in my cabinet, but with that beautiful warm sound its worth it. I have used this receiver for hours a day, with no quality problems at all. Perhaps people buying refurbished units should bite the bullet and pay the extra for a new one. Atleast you know where its been then!

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Denon, Onkyo, Yamaha, and Marantz.

Beautiful warm, rich, detailed sound in both music and home theatre. Nice design.

Won't fit in my cabinet, less features then cheaper AVR 5000 (510 in USA), wheres 5 channel stereo, and front optical input?

This is simply an awesome A/V receiver. It has the best sound quality I have heard in a A/V receiver, and rivals many seperate component items. Blows away all products in its price range, and many above. Not weighed down with gimicky home theatre DSP modes, simply delivers with huge quality and power levels. The beautiful warm, rich, detailed sound, is so smooth it melts you. If only Harman/kardon could shrink it a little without losing that quality, and sound. I have heard there is going to be a AVR 7500 released shortly addressing the weaknesses I noted. Has anyone heard anymore about this. I've heard of the AVR 8000, but its price tag is a killer......

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Denon, Onkyo, Yamaha, and NAD.