Official Harman Kardon AVR 254 & 354 Owners Thread - Page 2

Sound Pros has better pricing the question is does he have them in stock, knowing Scott I would say he would have them very soon if he doesn't have them already. But it sounds like he had a long list of people wanting them.

Bump.

Nope!

My first post... thanks for reading...

So it looks like to me that the differences between the two aren't too many other than wattage and a few other things...

I currently own the avr 245 and will be upgrading very soon. Now should i go for the 354 or not? Is the price difference justifiable? and will and extra 25w per channel make my system sound that much better? if not what are going to be my advantages?. i currently have paradigms v5 series all around, (monitors 7 fronts, cc-290 center).

i would appreciate someone's opinion on this.

Also at my local future shop in canada they are carrying the 254, how come the 354 is not out yet, any ideas?

thanks for the help.

The 354 should be out within the next 2 weeks. With the 354 you also get The Bridge II($129), 1 more optical and 1 more component input, and of course the extra 25 wpc and zone 2.

That is probably my biggest issue with HK right now. I do not care that the 254 does not come with The Bridge II, but the fact they saw fit to not include a Bridge port, is ********. Pretty much they are forcing me to buy a competitors Ipod dock (DLO for instance).

Yeah, I'll probably put the Bridge II on ebay when I get the 354, whenever that will be?

In terms of sound "quality or clarity" will the extra 25watts/channel from the 354 be a major advantage over the 254? is that alone worth the extra money?

Thanks

Ah, 25 extra watts isn't going to get you too much more unless you have speakers that are not very efficient. There are a few things that come into mind if you look at mathers list, on the difference between the two. The iPod doc and a few other items that make the difference, I for one would have bought the 354 over the 254 but I needed a receiver now, not weeks or months from now, plus I am using external Amps. So far I am impressed on how this unit sounds in comparison to other receivers I had or currently have. Pioneer Elite 84/94/92 I had, and I have a Onkyo 705 upstairs, the HK to me sounds better than all of the above, especially on music!

I'm really kind of surprised this thread isn't more active than it is. Maybe the limited quantities released are pretty limited and there aren't very many current owners out there?

I'm curious if anyone has any before and after shots of video quality using just the TVs scaler and then using the AVR-254. In particular I'm going to run the Wii through this and am curious if there will be any noticeable improvements. In addition there were all sorts of random problems people were having with the Wiiware games when they were routed through the 247 making them basically unplayable. Anyone have any experience with that with the 254l?

The latest from HK!


MY QUESTION:
Do you have a release date for the AVR 354 yet?

HK RESPONSE:Hi Brian,

Good evening. The AVR 354 is due to be available around the end of July
in most retailers.


Best Regards,

Web Support Specialist JBL / INF / HK

250 Crossways Park Dr.

Woodbury, NY 11797




Then August, September etc.

Well it seems my new 254 dosen't have the code in it for my 1 year old Panasonic S52 DVD player. I tried the codes listed and they didn't work, so I started scanning all the code and not one worked. Googled for the code and all I get is how to unlock it?? I don't need it unlocked I need my H/K 254 to run it. Any ideas???

Thanks Greg

I have the AVR-254, but I don't have the Wii hooked up to it yet. Sorry PS3 guy, the Wii to me is great in concept, but I am a first person shooter and I like the games on the PS3 better.. That being said I will be moving the 254 to my office (home based) and I will be ordering a higher end pre/pro or a higher end HK unit for my main HT room. Since there have been some issues I might test this over the weekend.

If you are a real FPS player you never touch any console - they are just pathetic compared to PCs when it comes to FPS.

I always said there is no consoler player I couldn't beat from my PC in any FPS game I know. It's not bragging, I'm simply stating a fact - if you ever played both you know console gamers have zedro chance to even pose a challenege, let alone being competitive, using that retarded 'controller'.

There's one Canadian 354 owner out there IIRC.

Any chance the 654/754 will apply L7 to 5.1 digital audio?

Yes..
The AVR 755/754/655/654 will apply Logic 7 to a 5.1 stream through HDMI, optical, coaxial and 5.1 analog input.

Just my $0.0.2..

I noticed M Code already answered your question. I can also say that with just logical extension that since the two year old 645/745 already apply Logic7 (even though there is a bug in the software right now), that I can confidently say that the 654/754 will have the same feature.

I just wish the 745 would do 7.1 PCM though. It is limited to only 5.1 PCM. Yikes. I am just now watching Shoot em up on DTS-HD-Ma 7.1 using my PS3, but I am limited to only 5.1 PCM. If I enable 7.1 PCM on the PS3, the 745 says 3/4.1 on the front panel, but I get nothing out of the rear backs. I tried X-Men 3 also and no dice.

Ah, I play from all platforms! And I started off on a high end PC.. But playing on a PS3 on a 92" screen seems to be the norm for me now. SOCOM3 guy and I can't wait for the next game in sept. And it is only a retarded controller if you don't know how to use it! Now back on topic There are a ton of FPS but, I don't have time for many anymore with 3 kids, so the PS3 platform works for me because I would be a royal fat ass if I played as much as I did when I was younger... My current PC and Mac system consists of 3 24" monitors, AlienWare Area-51 ALX (Modified) and a MacPro.. So gaming was at one time a very fun past time, but I don't have time for both anymore except late at night.

Now back on topic the 254 hooked up to some decent Amps sounds wonderful as a pre/pro...

wow, sweet thread. except 90% of us are still anticipating the freaking device...ahh well...we wait on with patience...enjoy your 254's...I'm still waiting for the 354...September can't come soon enough...

then again, I might as well wait for the 754...then I'll get the sexy curves of the 255/355 and the 3390/3490!!!

Hey! Imagine how crazy long that thread would be if I DID spell everything correctly and use the correct model numbers.

Just got my 254 hooked up and running. They can still use some work on the setup interface, but it sounds amazing. The input configs are somewhat annoying as the 254 kept switching between component and HDMI output, couldn't keep the menus up from the HDMI. No problems with compatibility that other people are seeing with DVI/HDMI adapter.

The only quirk I have right now is I can't get the video from my XBox 360 to convert to HDMI. The HDMI switching is solid, albeit a little on the slow side. Picture looks about the same as direct from Blu Ray, HD-DVD and Satelite, don't notice any degradation. Audio calibration was pretty quick and somewhat accurate, set the crossover a little too low on my speakers, but its pretty easy to tweak those settings. Also have to say that it looks much better (at least to me) than previous generations of HK, I like the darker metal look. It does hurt me to move my old Pioneer Elite from the theater to the kids play room, but so be it.

Mather,

Custom installer buddy of mine was able to get his hands on one. I was waffling between the Onkyo 606 and the HK 254, he cut me a deal on the 254 so that he could get some feedback if he should start putting them in jobs.

Scott

uh oh. that's one of the main things i need to do. i have the non-hdmi 360 and need its component 1080p output to be sent to the 254 and from the 254 to a tv over hdmi. if this doesn't work, then i'll be shopping for another brand.

Its not a deal breaker for me, I have both cables run to the projector so its just another button to push. But I was hoping to get that working. Its kind of odd, but I had the HDMI video on the component output earlier, didn't think that was supposed to be possible. I can get my satelite video on either component or HDMI out of the 254, and its HDMI in. But when I switch to the game input it only outputs on component.

Only other issue at this point is that the remote codes don't seem to be in Universal's database yet. Volume is good, but can't switch inputs from my universal remote.

Update. I was able to get the XBox 360 (component) to output on the HDMI briefly. But then I couldn't get the HDMI inputs to output any longer. I had to go back into the input setup screen, where my blu ray and hddvd player were set back to 480P. I was able to get everything back running again, but I think the firmware may be a little flaky. Thought that I might have bricked it for a few minutes, had to go back to the component output and setup the inputs again. It also set my blu ray to 1080P, even though I've set it at 720 max for my projector. The 254 is scaling it back to 720P, I'll have to play with that a little more.

Here are my early feelings
Pros - Both audio and video look really good. Runs pretty cool, no real heat issues after about 4 hours of running at pretty good levels. True HD and DTS Master Audio decoding, gotta love seeing the DTS Master Audio up on the display. The audio confirmation on the display actually doesn't bother me, not a big fan of the pink color bar (tweakable I think). Looks great in the rack. 50 Watts is more than enough to drive my system. I was a little worried that it might sound too small, its got plenty of reserves and hasn't struggled with anything I've thrown at it yet.
Cons - Switching is a little flaky, not unexpected with HDMI. I didn't expect the component conversion issues, some HDMI sources convert back to component and the only way I can get my XBox360 over component is to go into setup and reconfigure it with an HDMI source running in the background.

Honestly, the only negative is the HDMI issue. I've setup a couple of Onkyo 605/705 and Marantz systems and they have all been much more stable on the HDMI side than the 254. Had I known, I may have gotten a 606 but I can live with it.

My remote was able to learn the commands so I can control most of the features now with my universal remote. Now its time to sit back and crank it up for a few movies.

After spending an entire day with the 254 I'm on the fence if I'm returning it or hoping that a firmware update fixes the quirks. The 254 keeps having sync issues with HDDVD. I lost video for about an hour from HDDVD, although the audio was still coming through. I've given up on the component to HDMI conversion, too much of a headache for me to worry about (I'll just switch inputs on the projector). Blu Ray and Satelite seem rock solid, only HDMI sync problem has been with HDDVD.
One other quirk, I was watching AVP Requiem (only Master Audio disc I have) and I lost the dialog. Effects sounded great but all the voicing was at a whisper. Ended up looking back into the speaker setup and the center channel was down 12 db from my original setup.
I'd box it up and send it back, but when it is synced up the sound is amazing.... I keep wondering if this is an HK problem or possibly my display (Sharp XVZ-12000 MK2 Projector) since its DVI. I'd hate to send this unit back and have the same problems with an Onkyo 606/705?????