Nice power, clean sound, and wonderful in digital. And reduced in price to $649 at onsale.com.

5.1 inputs and DTS, but hey I don't by DTS material and when a new audio format comes out it'll probably be 7.1. Remote is pretty cheap.

The sound is crystal clear all the way to 0Db (It has that -64Db to +15Db scale). The digital material sounds wonderful and the imaging is extremely precise. Have it powering my Atlantic Technology 370THX's and there is no lack of power.

The remote is pretty cheap, I guess HK wants me to by the Take Control remote, which I will be doing in a few weeks.

At $649 you can not beat this receiver, the sound is great, and the DD decoding is wonderful. If you can live without DTS, which seriously one can probably do then this reciever is perfect. The audio quality makes up for any lack of inputs, and if you have more equipment then this has inputs then you can probably afford the AVR7000 which is the replacement to the AVR85. It will address all the AVR85's DTS and input "problems" for another $700.

With the sound quality and at the price I paid I give it a 5 in Value and Overall. It does what I want it to.

90 watts RMS per ch. Movie Theater surround. Learning remote.

Very messy remote. A little hard to get everything set up through the menus.

I had an Onkyo receiver up until about a week ago when I got the Harman Kardon, the sound was good and powerful from the Onkyo however it just lacked the realistic sound quality, the movie surround on the HK is the closest I've heard to the actual movie theater. The Dolby Digital just about made me wet my pants. I had no idea it could sound that good. And I'm yet to turn it right up, my speakers just clip out right after I hit 0dB. Paradigms are next...

Similar Products Used:

Pioneer, Onkyo.

clarity,ac-3 RF demoulator for laserdisc,power,clean look.

remote control, no dts, no preouts or 5.1 inputs, no loudness control.

The receiver has clean sound & alot of power. I personally have a old Pioneer laserdisc karaoke with AC-3
RF output( RF output not digital). So, the reciever help attain AC-3 on laserdisc. No DTS, but who cares.

Similar Products Used:

denon, yamaha, etc.

I bought Harman Kardon 80 sometime ago. I am assuming that AVR85 and
AVR80 are of the same category.

The good thing I liked is learning remote which consumes very less
power and for the same reason the battery lasts much longer than
most remotes.

Well it sounded good, afterall you are spending 3 times more than the average
unit in the market.

One should also look at the realiability of the product. Mine brokedown
after two years and repair was estimated at $480 in circuit city.

Please bear in mind when reviewing that the realibity should account
for atleat 50% because you can't shell out $1000 every two years.
They are supposed to last atleast 5 years.

I researched about the realiabilty of the Harman Kardon products and
came across a site www.ubid.com where they sell thousands of refurbished
Harman Kardon products. That tells you something about the Company and
its product.

May be they are the poineers but they have one on the worst realibilty
and service charges in the industry.

When you buy a high end product you expect it to perform and last as well.

For the same reason I would give this product a Single Star and advice
people to consider reliability before picking up a receiver.

I FEEL FOR THE MONEY HARMON KARDON FELL A LITTLE SHORT ON THE AVAILABLE FEATURES SUCH AS A DTS INPUT NOW THAT I FINALLY HAVE A HIGH QUALITY A/V RECIEVER I NOW HAVE TO EITHER UPGRADE MY UNIT(THANK GOD FOR THE GUYS AT MSB TECH)FOR AN ADDITIONAL $695 OR BUY A NEW UNIT AND GIVE UP SOME LEVEL OF QUALITY ON THE MUSIC SIDE. BESIDES THAT FOR THE MONEY I PAID $1100 THIS IS A QUALITY UNIT. BUT I HAVE TO GIVE IT 4STARS HK SHOULD HAVE THOUGHT AHEAD FOR $1699 LISTPRICE DTS SHOULD HAVE BEEN A FEATURE WITHOUT A DOUBT!!!

I recently purchased the AVR-85 open box from Circuit City. I paid $600 which I thought was a fair price. This receiver sounds great. For $600 though, I thought its functionality would be better.
The remote is terrible. Although it is a learning remote, I would not want this to be the main item that I use to control everything. It is unorganized and cheap.

Also, whenever I switch to a digital source like DVD, I have to also press OPT to let the receiver know where I am getting the DVD audio. I would think it would remember the source.

It does sound great, but I think there are other receivers out there that sound great and also have better functionality and for a better price.

In fact I am sure that HK is aware of what people didn't like because their new remotes are much more organized and the choosing of OPT is no longer necessary.

I will be returning this receiver and I have already ordered the Onkyo 575 for about half the price and with a much better design. I will only have 70 watts per channel instead of 90, but I think I will be okay.

Pretty much everything

VERY busy remote

As you read through thes reviews, please excuse those who obviously do not know how to quantify quality, Doug C's review comes to mind. I do not make it a habit of bad mouthing others but if you are seriously looking at this unit, you should be able to make an informed decision.
No, the AVR85 is not in the same class as the Denon AVR4800 and at $500-$1,000 and 40 watts less, it shouldn't be compared to it either. But since it has been, let's just say that for price-perfomance, the 4800 is not in the same league as the AVR85. Given the 4800's extremely high price tag and ever so slightly audible power advantage over the 85 and the AVR85's extremely above average performance, on the 4800;s price scale the 85 would sell for around$1,500.
Fortunately the 85 is not as over priced as the 4800 and if you can find it for $800 or less, don't even think about it, just buy it.
No, the AVR85 does not have DTS. Considering DTS was not available on ANY receiver at the time of the 85's conception, I would have to say that those who detract for this are revealing their ignorance.
Again, I am not writing this to slam anyone, but if you're going to HELP others with your review, at least have a clue what you are talking about!
Bottom line: The AVR85 is an extremely powerful unit, the AC-3 DAC is top notch, I would put the sound quality up against ANY receiver costing twice as much, and have.. All the inputs I can use (so far). Front RCA inputs are very convenient
If you want an audiophile grade unit and don't mind spending under $1,000 for it,($800 or less is fair) buy the AVR85

My system;
Receiver-H/K AVR85
Fronts-Tannoy S10's bi-wired
Surrounds-Polk RT400's

Similar Products Used:

Other HK, Denon, Onkyo, Yamaha

Here I go, against the grain. We'll this happens once in awhile. I listened to this compared to a comprable priced Onkyo, a Yamaha 995, 795, Sony ES50, etc... Well, out of a list of what I consider good receivers and great values the AVR-85 would most definitly be on the bottom as it pertains to value. My review is a HT Review and was compared using DD5.1. If price is no object, I'm sure many people will be happy with this component, but if value is a concern, I feel all the receivers I list above represent better value at equal or better quality for HT. Final rating is based on value.
- David

Power to spare and sound quality

Remote and setup

After 5 years of loyal service, my AVR 85 is dead. It had a major power failure. One of the large caps exploded and there is considerable charring of the main board. It currently resides in its original carton in a closet with no hope of recovery. I am now in the market for a new H/K AVR 510 or possibly 310. Hate to break the news to all AVR 85 fans. Later.

I have had my HK-AVR-85 for about a year and I waited a little longer than I wanted but for the price I got this unit, I really can't complain! 749.00 Shipped and I have seen this unit sell for 1500.00 or higher. The sound quality and bass are exceptional and it is a very well built unit with superior componets. However, the two biggest disappointments for HK to produce a unit of this caliber without 6 channel inputs and DTS, was a real disappointment. I really like the HK line and this is my second reciever from them, my first was the AVR-30... And last but not least, the lack of a phono connection was slightly disappointing for m ebecause I have an extensive LP collection but that was an easy fix with an additional amp... I give this unit 4 Stars only because of the lack of 6 channel and DTS.. But I do love this unit !