Seventeen years ago I splurged and purchased an $800 receiver to replace a $200 receiver. I remain impressed by the quality of the receiver and its capabilities. While I wish I didn't have to switch from analog to optical when going to CD from radio, the sound is clean at all volume levels. I have been pleased by the sound when driving large bookshelf 3-way speakers or tiny 5.1 speakers. The purchase was a bargain. I replace my computer every 6 years and my car every 16 years and they cost much more. I don't have the largest TV in my family of 10 but I have the best sounding AV receiver, and that is more important to me. (BTW, I have a 2003 30" Toshiba Flat CRT that sounds and looks better than most LCDs.. I'm waiting for OLED TV to become affordable.)

This receiver was built September, 1999 and it's now April, 2015 when I bought it at a Goodwill for $40 Canadian ($30 U.S.) and it works flawlessly (just missing the remote). It is more than adequate for my needs and will complement the Yamaha CR2020 Stereo Receiver, which I purchased new, that I use in another room. There is very little currently available that approaches the audio specs of these two receivers. It's like in Aladdin's Lamp, inferior new audio equipment replaces superior equipment which old codgers like me who know what's what get cheap. That's also how I got a turntable with a perfect Shure cartridge worth over $400, it was left out as "take this, it's free!" by an idiot.

Found one at Salvation Army for 40 bucks. It's driving 2 JBL's & 2 hpm's, loudly, without any effort. Very nice!

I believe this receiver was way ahead of it's time. The sound qaulity still trounces all but one receiver (priced almost 2x the price I bought the avr85 for) that I have compared it with over the years. It is durable And continues to work well.

I have had this unit for almost 8 years. It really made our bookshelf speakers come alive. Then we purchased a BOSE Acoustimass surround system and,,What a unit. I hooked up the BOSE to a Pioneer receiver and, absolutely NO CONTEST!! very happy with the purchase.

Ah yes...The AVR85. What a beast, so clean, bold, powerful and uncluttered. This unit was way ahead of its time back then. I also purchased it at Circuit City back then. Harmon Kardon was contracted by the U.S military for some time and developed high tech components and was able to apply these technology in the consumer line of goods. I now have owned an original unit for 12 yrs and have never had a complaint. Well...for some reason they have blown out several speaker tweeter to include the Infinity overture 1's., my Yamaha's and including my Behringer. And as far as surround sound is concerned, well perhaps I'm a old fool for not improving on changes. DD still sounds fantastic on the HK. I just can't believe that they are being considered so cheap as one person said..$200.00 on ebay ??. It's a shame. I run my Playstation3 to it by fiber optic and the PS3 to my 52" Aquos by hdmi. This unit is old school now but can still kick some new school receivers butt. One last thing, for only 85 watts of power, it is clean, crisp and neutral. Some of the finest details can still be heard and appreciated with this unit.

Quality & durability.
I'm not sure the modern Harman Kardon's are doing this generation of receiver justice?!

Limited connectivity in today's modern Home Theater set-up. 1 optical & 1 coax input. Obviously no HDMI passing or HD decoding...

I purchased this receiver used about 8 years ago, and it has seen continuous use since. All I can say is that it has surpassed my every expectation both in sound and build quality. In spite of the many recent advances in technology in recent years, this Harman Kardon can still go head-to-head with any modern high-end receiver in terms of sound quality for Stereo or DD 5.1.
These can be found at a great value today on the second-hand market!

Similar Products Used:

Onkyo, Marantz, Yamaha

BEAUTIFUL WARM SOUND,VERY POWERFUL 65AMPS(VERY USEFUL WHEN LOADS GET HEAVEY)GREAT AT HOME THEATER AND STEREO.

HK REMOTES HAVE NEVER BEEN THE BEST BUT IT GETS THE JOB DONE.YOU HAVE TO MANUALLY SWITCH INPUTS.

I HAVE ALWAYS LOVED HK,I BOUGHT MY FIRST ONE ABOUT 20 YEARS AGO AND IVE BEEN HOOKED SINCE.ACOUPLE OF YEARS AGO I GOT INTO SURROUND SOUND.I PICKED UP AN AVR20 WHICH WAS NICE SOUNDING BUT DIDNT HAVE THE POWER I WAS LOOKING FOR,IT WAS ALSO MISSING DIGITAL INPUTS,THEN I PICKED UP AN AVR-65 ON E-BAY.I LOVED IT BUT IT HAD A LOT OF PROBLEMS UNTIL IT JUST QUIT ON ME. I THOUGHT I WOULD GIVE HK MORE MORE TRY(THROUGH ALL THE YEARS THEY NEVER LET ME DOWN)I BOUGHT THE AVR-85 ON E-BAY ALSO.THIS TIME IT WAS FROM A GUY WHO LOOKED AFTER HIS GEAR. ONCE AGAIN I WAS VERY INPRESSED THIS IS A VERY POWERFUL RECEIVER 65AMPS(THE INPORTANT#)IT SOUNDED JUST LIKE THE AVR65 WHICH IS BEAUTIFULY WARM.IT DOSN'T HAVE DTS OR OTHER 6.1,7.1 BUT YOU WONT MISS THEM,ALOT OF MOVIES ARE STILL 5.1IF YOU CAN'T AFFORD A NEW HK IN THIS POWER RANGE.I WOULD RECOMEND THIS UNIT OVER JUST ABOUT EVERY THING ELSE.YOU SEE IN BETWEEN HAVING THESE HK RECEIVER I WOULD BUY OTHER BRANDS HOPEING THEY WOULD HAVE GOTTEN BETTER BUT THEY NEVER DID .AND I NEVER KEPT THEM.YOU SEE THE PROBLEM WITH ALOT OF OTHER BRANDS IS THERE OK AT HT AND SUCK ON MUSIC OR VICE VERSA.THIS AVR -85 CAN DO BOTH VERY WELL WHICH IS AMAZING.I WOULD RATHER HAVE A USED AVR-85 THAN SOME NEW CRAP.

Similar Products Used:

AVR20,AVR-65,YAMAHA RXV-800,PANNASONIC SAE-100,COUNTLESS OTHER STEREO RECEIVERS.

Cleaniness of amplifier, very modern clean looks, weight

No DTS or other surround modes, but wasnt available at the time.

I've been using the same HKAVR85 reciever since early 1998 & I'm now finally getting the full juice out of it. After finally redoing my entire speaker setup w/ Mordaunt Short, I now know why this thing was so expensive when it originally came out. I bought it when I worked for Circuit & have never had ANY problems with it. The funny thing is that all my friends swear by Onkyo & bought all the new 2005 models for their setup. My 8 yr.old HK still smokes the hell out of their setups. Its never sounded better. Granted the AVR85 came out before DTS & all these other DSP modes, but Dolby Digital sounds so clean that I could care less about upgrading. This was my first HK purchase & I've now bought 2 more recievers due to HK's quality. Even w/ 85watts per channel & +65amps, this things just rocks the biggest of speakers in extremely clean fashion. I see these on ebay now for around $200 & it makes me want to buy another for my basement setup.

Similar Products Used:

Onkyo, SonyES

Let me just say that ive owned this reciever for more than 5 years now...and have had absolutely no realibility probs. Even after not servicing it, since its purchase its still runs the way it did when it came home. The sound it produces matches recievers today,but it was produced 6 years before. The sound is so clean crisp and warm...nad no matter at what level..does not hurt your years. Great clarity in all musical octaves. Also...for those of you complaing about the lack of a "speakers A and B"....there's a multi room feature which u can use. And although the lack of DTS shouldn't be too big of an issue....to me..it is just a little one becuase i listen to music dvd's...and lot of them come in only DTS and not DD. But the sound quality of this reciever for the DD makes me smile and forget about DTS. its hooked up to my Klipsch Quintet system....and so its sounds like i have monster sized speakers in my room, while all they are, are 7 inch tall. and hooked up is my baby..The Klipsch KSW-12 subwoofer.....this jus rocks the house down....and the downfiring makes you feel that bass guitar...or when that building comes falling to the ground. Admittidaly...the remote sucks and i often find that i get up to go the reciver and make changes. Love the fact that the unit looks so classsic and clean. Hoping however...when she dies when wont be for a very very very long time seeing as how she as served me for 5 years already....to get the AVR7200. But for now..she's all i need and if u buy one now CHeap CHEAP!!! Really reccomend this reciever it can compete with todays recievers for sound quality. Whether it movies or music...it performs like the professional that it is,and everytime it does it jus puts a smile on your face. despite what seems low for watts in todays world 85 watts does go a long way with this reciever...trust me...there is no distortion with good speakers all the way up to +8(the volume settings go up to +15)WOW!!!!!!Ive only been able to take it up that far...and things start falling of my shelves. And its still super clear AMAZIng !!!!Thank You Harman Kardon!!!!