I'm shopping for a good Dolby Digital receiver with s video switching, reasonable power, and good dolby digital processing. How does the HK AVR-75 compare with Yamaha 992, Denon 2700, and Sony 80ES receiver? Future shop has the HK AVR-75 on sale for $899. The receiver incorporated high current amplifiers (5 X 75 watts) and can drive low impedances. I don't know if it has multi-room capability or the ability to redirect bass from other channels to the front mains. If you've tried this receiver or know anything about it, please respond!

I finally decided to replace my Carver Receiver 900 after owning it for about 10 years. I considered Marantz, Nakamichi, Denon, and H/K. I didn't want to spend more than $600, but anything decent would cost nearly $1,000. The Denon equipment, while costing the least, didn't impress me; clean and well-designed, it seemed little better than Sony, Kenwood, Onkyo, and Yamaha. I wanted to get something on a higher level, that would compare to my Carver and something I wouldn't need to replace until five to ten years from now. So Denon was out; then I looked at Nak, but their stuff (aside from their cassette decks) never impressed me. I also was told that it's not very well made (judging by a friend's experience with two replaced tuners and a bad amp). The bottom line is that Marantz and H/K were my "finalists." After looking here at examining the reviews, I considered the AVR45 and the AVR75. I priced the 45 (Crutchfield) at $800 (!). Then, when I found out about OneCall, I priced the 75 at _only_ $610 and grabbed it. The pros: great, clean, warm tone...good display (on screen as well as the unit's display), build quality, style/design, Dolby Digital, sleep timer, and top-notch surround sound quality and configurability. Cons: manual is not very helpful (bare-bones), learning remote is neither intuitive nor simple to use (and the lack of backlighting is a pain in the ass), the lack of S-video capable on screen display. Overall, I am definitely satisfied with the 75. The sound quality among all inputs and all sound modes is extremely good. Warm, clean, tight, accurate... I'm very pleased. One final note for any 75 user or prospective buyer: when I looked at the Marantz 680, I noticed that the front panel (as well as 99% of the features) are identical (!) to the 75. I suspect that the same company manufactures both. I'm not sure if they're _exactly the same_, but it wouldn't surprise me. And the fact that the Marantz would have cost me $1200 or more really solidified my decision. I highly recommend the 75 for anyone who wants a top-notch receiver at a good price.

I got my HK75 4-5 months ago before I got Onkyo 939. Both are excellent receivers but diff level. HK75 currently is setup in my "office". It works excellent with my NHT SuperOne Setup both for Hall corcern and AC3. Especially, the diff Music from DSS music channels.For money and value, I strongly suggest people who are planning to setup a budget Audio System (AC3). Maybe HK75 + 5 SuperOne + Subwoofer are the best consideration. They work very well for a medium size of room ( 15' * 25'* 15' ?), you will be disappointed.

I have to echo most of the sentiments posted on this page regarding the HK AVR75. I was looking for a AC3 receiver for a separate home theater system (separate from my main audio system). At a price under $600 I think it would be hard to beat it's performance and features. I auditioned most products in that price range and it was an easy decision. The things I like best about the unit are it's obvious build quality, excellent & effortless dolby digital playback, and the myriad of features. I also agree that the manual and remote must be improved. Still I give it 5 stars for it's performance/features/quality/value.

The manual is not user-friendly other than that this receiver is the best! This definitely deserves a 5 star.

To comment on Seth's review, I wanted to remind people considering the purchase of the AVR-75 that lack of knowledge about a product doesn't mean the product is a "piece of junk." Just to give an example of this, I hooked up my speakers the first night upon receiving the -75, and apparently one of the speakers was not properly connected. Therefore, any time anything more significant than a mouse farting onscreen occurred and ----click----- the receiver clipped and the little red power-light came on and I was staring at a silent television. I realized it had to be one of the speakers and it took me about three minutes to fix the problem. What I didn't do was consider the receiver itself to be the problem (remember, it's almost always :) the operator's fault).
In Seth's case, I believe he's running his system with the subwoofer setting all the way up. I feel this way because I'm running the -75 with a pair of Klipsch's (and no sub...) and my neighbor upstairs in my building keeps banging on the floor... the bass coming out of my five-channel system (including the Boston Acoustic Micro90c, two Klipsch KG's and a pair of Infinity RS-1 surrounds) is enough to rattle the windows. Therefore, anyone reading Seth's review (hopefully) should take it with a grain of salt...hopefully he'll figure out how to set up the system and go from there.

Got the receiver from onecall. No problems with setup. Sound is excellent. I am only using Pro-Logic for movies, and am playing the center channel through the TV (uughh!), but I am picking up wonderful subtle sounds from Jurassic Park, etc. I am considering Atlantic Technology's 253.1 center speaker. Any responses either yea or nay would be appreciated.The manual could be trouble for people with no idea how to set up a system, but its weaknesses are overcome by a little effort. I went to HK's website to view the pdf for the HK85, to fill in some gaps.
The remote looks and acts ugly, but it will do the job eventually when you find the right button.
One suggestion I would have for the makers is that they have a light briefly light up if Dolby Pro-logic or AC-3 is engaged (not the ever-present Sony blue light).
Overall, good sound, nice price, and a few rough edges.

I am very upset with AVR75, since it makes my speakers useless.I have two full-range Kliptsch KSF10.5 speakers, it performs superb with AVR40, very tight bass, colorful mids and solid highs, especially the low frequency parts, the need for a sub is absolutely zero. when this digital wave came, I thought I needed a digital version of AVR40, so I garnered one of the best out there the AVR75. I could not describe how disappointed I am with this much fancier machine, I ran Titanic soundtrack for comparison, when the first very low freq. hits, my heart broke, it was a chick comparing to Turkey, with AVR40 stands out giantly, when I select "large speaker", it did not improve much, somehow, the subfrequency was eaten alive and digested into bits and pieces undetectible to human ear, this piece of junk may be perfectly fine for home theater, which is a great place for hiding horrible performance, but for listening to the music, it is a nail in my ear, for this reason, I simply can not concur with many folks on this page, I will rate it 3 stars.

First, let me say I have just VERY recently gotten into audio equipment. Costco had Carver Cinema Series speakers for 499 and I got a set for the home theater. These require an amp that can produce 4 ohm output. I got a Sony 825 initially, but returned it due to it only working in 4 ohms in Stero mode.
The Harman Kardon AVR75 sounds MUCH better than the Sony in stero mode, and sounds wonderful in AC-3. I used Steely Dan's album Aja for music input and Star Wars SE laserdisc for AC-3. My neighbors will NOT be happy with this revciever becuase it puts out LOUD and good sound music. The highs notes in Peg, and the organ in I got the News sound incredibly.

The ONLY problem I have had with this reciever is that it is a bit DEEP, as not to fit into my cabinet right. I placed it on TOP of the cabinet until I can figure out a way around it.

I give this a four star only because I'm not sure what a FIVE star review would take.

this is a bad receiver for music listener