So I was in Best Buy today and they had a H/K AVR1700 out on display. It doesn't look too bad. I like the look of my 2600 better. The volume knob seemed kind of flimsy. I went to pick it up and it is light!! It could have been a demo shell it was so light but it wasn't because it was powered on. I know they say weight isn't everything but this thing only weighs 12.8 lbs!! They only had it plugged in and didn't have any speakers hooked up so I couldn't listen to it. I hope the rest of their upcoming lineup has more heft to it. It just seems low quality.
Not my receiver anymore, thank god. I cold tolerate it for 2 weeks before I returned it to Best Buy. The reasons were different from power discrepancy. No manufacturer posts power for a 5 channel setup. If they say 100W, that means 100W stereo. So even though they do not specify 100W stereo they dont mislead us because they ALL use the same benchmark setup. My beef was with overall quality .
I guess my frustration with this receiver comes from the fact that I could not find it at the price most of you got it - $200. I paid $349. In all honesty it was worth about $100. I completely agree with the review N2AUDIO posted:
"... Harman seems to have thrown out the baby with the bath water."
Quote:
Originally Posted by M Code /t/1429194/the-new-harman-kardon-avr1700/690#post_23236761
Be advised that about 5 1/2 years ago Harman/Kardon transferred their entire AVR & electronics development function to China from California. The AVR team based in California had well over 250 man/years in AVR development experience and had designed some incredible AVRs for HK, Marantz, Denon, Onkyo and Yamaha in their tenure. The HK AVRs have been built in China since the late 1990s, but now they are entirely designed/built in China...
I agree with you except the transfer of the design team occurred in 2009. If you notice, the way H/K changed the way they spec'd their receivers from an all channels driven model to 2 channels driven to inflate output power between the avr X600 series and the avr X650 series.
Quote:
Originally Posted by grigorianvlad /t/1429194/the-new-harman-kardon-avr1700/690#post_23240964
Not my receiver anymore, thank god. I cold tolerate it for 2 weeks before I returned it to Best Buy. The reasons were different from power discrepancy. No manufacturer posts power for a 5 channel setup. If they say 100W, that means 100W stereo. So even though they do not specify 100W stereo they dont mislead us because they ALL use the same benchmark setup. My beef was with overall quality .
I guess my frustration with this receiver comes from the fact that I could not find it at the price most of you got it - $200. I paid $349. In all honesty it was worth about $100. I completely agree with the review N2AUDIO posted:
"... Harman seems to have thrown out the baby with the bath water."
Quote:
Originally Posted by corchid /t/1429194/the-new-harman-kardon-avr1700/690#post_23241898
I agree with you except the transfer of the design team occurred in 2009. If you notice, the way H/K changed the way they spec'd their receivers from an all channels driven model to 2 channels driven to inflate output power between the avr X600 series and the avr X650 series.
The amplifier design team was shut down in August 2008, this team did all of the AVRs' amplifiers and component amplifiers. This team was highly experienced with many sucessful products including the Citation 16
The Harmans (CEO & president) retired in Fall, 2008
(5) New VPs were hired in Fall, 2008 @ big $ but none had any CE experience
Bottom line..
Check out their financials and market share since 2008...
Quote:
Originally Posted by M Code /t/1429194/the-new-harman-kardon-avr1700/690#post_23245079
You left out a couple of things..
The amplifier design team was shut down in August 2008, this team did all of the AVRs' amplifiers and component amplifiers. This team was highly experienced with many sucessful products including the Citation 16
The Harmans (CEO & president) retired in Fall, 2008
(5) New VPs were hired in Fall, 2008 @ big $ but none had any CE experience
Bottom line..
Check out their financials and market share since 2008...
Ok, thanks for the info....didn't realize the original H/K died in Fall of 2008, always read in was in 2009. I noticed that my AVR 2600 and a friend of mine's AVR 2650 were rated differently (2600 rated 65 watts all channels driven, 2650 95 watts two channels driven) and that mine seems to be a little more solidly built than his. I thought I had the last year model designed by the American design team, maybe not. I'm so dissappointed. :-(
Quote:
Originally Posted by corchid /t/1429194/the-new-harman-kardon-avr1700/690#post_23246371
Ok, thanks for the info....didn't realize the original H/K died in Fall of 2008, always read in was in 2009. I noticed that my AVR 2600 and a friend of mine's AVR 2650 were rated differently (2600 rated 65 watts all channels driven, 2650 95 watts two channels driven) and that mine seems to be a little more solidly built than his. I thought I had the last year model designed by the American design team, maybe not. I'm so dissappointed. :-(
Harman International was the last full-line USA audio company, the Harmans' had a deep passion for designing, building and delivering the best sonic performance in their electronics and loudspeakers...
Up until his retirement @ 91 in 2008, Dr.Harman was active and deeply involved with their new products often auditioning these before approving/releasing for mass production.. After 2008, things were simply different...
To borrow a line from the song American Pie.. "So, bye bye Miss American Pie..."
Has anyone managed to install Harman Music Manager on a MAC OS computer? The description says that the program is MAC compatible, but the installation file contains only .exe files.
Quote:
Originally Posted by pulsarvp /t/1429194/the-new-harman-kardon-avr1700/690#post_23281090
Has anyone managed to install Harman Music Manager on a MAC OS computer? The description says that the program is MAC compatible, but the installation file contains only .exe files.
Thank for advice and help. I got Plex installed on Macbook and also the Music Manager for Mac thanks to one generous AVS member. Will see which one works better.
Btw, did you notice that the headphone adapter provided with the EZSet mic is mono? I thought my 170 is defective until I tried another adapter.
I have thumbed through this thread pretty well, but I still have a question. I'm thinking about buying a 1700 and it will be used in a living room setting, 365 days a year. I have read about audio drop outs when the input changes like what happens on DirecTV all the time, like when a show goes to commercial. Is this a wide spread issue that everyone is having, or just a few users? I would appreciate feedback ASAP because my sale window is fast closing.............................. Drop outs won't go over well with the family.
Thanks in advance!!
Also, how are sound modes applied? Will the 1700 remember what sound format it used for say, DD 5.1, DD 2.0 & PCM 2.0 (all 3 are found on DirecTV)? If I set PLII Music for PCM 2.0, PLII Cinema for DD 2.0 and "Straight Decode" for DD 5.1 will the receiver always revert to the same sound modes each time it receives a signal? And can I set them for each source?
Quick response: I only notice drop outs when a commercial isn't filmed in DD and vice versa. It's hardly noticeable but was an adjustment since my old onkyo never did this. Then again the onkyo didn't have Hdmi connections.
This may be answered already, but I skimmed through and couldn't find it.
I have my PS3 on HDMI 1 and I have the issue with audio dropping for 2-3 seconds from time to time. I want to run audio through Optical In 1 or 2 instead, but the Source Setup won't allow me to run HDMI 1 and Optical 1 together, if I choose HDMI 1 for video, it forces HDMI 1 for audio, and if I choose Optical 1 or 2 for audio, it forces CVBS 1 or 2 for video. Am I missing something, or if I move it to another HDMI port, would it allow for this?
Quote:
Originally Posted by Krakn3Dfx /t/1429194/the-new-harman-kardon-avr1700/720#post_23370234
This may be answered already, but I skimmed through and couldn't find it.
I have my PS3 on HDMI 1 and I have the issue with audio dropping for 2-3 seconds from time to time. I want to run audio through Optical In 1 or 2 instead, but the Source Setup won't allow me to run HDMI 1 and Optical 1 together, if I choose HDMI 1 for video, it forces HDMI 1 for audio, and if I choose Optical 1 or 2 for audio, it forces CVBS 1 or 2 for video. Am I missing something, or if I move it to another HDMI port, would it allow for this?
I had the same issue. I prefer an optical or digital coax for music listening instead of HDMI. Unfortunately the 1700 does not allow you to mix HDMI video and digital audio for the same input. You have to step up to a higher model Harman AVR to allow totally free input assigning (avr 2700, avr 3700, etc). It's one of the reasons I returned the 1700 and got a AVR 2600 instead. Sorry I couldnt been a better help.
That's a bummer. It doesn't happen a lot, and it seems to go in streaks, but otherwise, it's been an awesome receiver since I picked it up earlier this year. I'll just continue trying to ignore it now that I know I can't beat it.
Make sure you have the latest firmware loaded in the PS3 & 1700...
Just my $0.02.... 😉👍
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