Harman Kardon AVR 7550HD (2008 announcement) - Page 2

Release of the New AVR 7550HD pushed back... Read my previous msg above...
Hey... 4DHD, I own the AVR 3550HD and only trouble I'm experiencing is talking to my HK AB1 A-bus wall module, having connectivity issues. but AVR sounds great, to me better then my old AVR7300 flagship quality-wise. I really like the new face-plate way better then the AVRx54 series (UGLY!!!) I plan to purchase the AVR 7550HD when & only when the price drops, which it might not Onecall wanted $999 for the 3550HD I offered them $850 and they took it and shipped it free, never really know till you ask. JG

From H&K Support, 7550HD scheduled to release end of june.

You will like the 7550HD..
About 3 weeks ago..
We had a tour of Harman-So Cal (hosted by Dr.Toole) and in their high-end room they did a full product demo using the 7550HD. The Dolby volume feature was incredible when switching channels not only does it handle the wide volume level swings but also tailors dynamically the frequency response. Also its appearance very kleen and sleek.. no knobs except the power/standby and volume.

It was driving some Revel loudspeakers and the 7550HD's amplifiers had plenty of headroom, they demoed it with the new Chris Botti in Boston (Blu-ray) 7.1 96 kHz/24 Bit Dolby TrueHD Audio...

Just my $0.025..

Thanks M Code. I am looking forward to having the Rich Sound of H&K again after having been without it for almost 6 months now and I am thankful to the HK Level 3 support person (John) who has been super responsive thoughout this ordeal, and boy has this been an ordeal.

Nothing on a 6550HD?

I did not inquire on 6550HD. I thaught they were only planning on carrying the 3550 & 7550?

Any news on when this will be out ? I am looking to upgrade from my 347.

I see Bh Photo is advertising the Flagship

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/produc...NNEL_A_V_.html


Harman Kardon AVR-7550HD 7.2 CHANNEL A/V/ RECIEVERMfr# AVR 7550HD B&H# HAAVR7550HD Price: $ 2,499.00 Calculate Shipping
Too rich for my wallet right now but it is gonna drop in the future.

JG

I'll wait for the eBay refurbs.

Finally! I wonder what bugs or legal BS they had to deal with? Maybe Dolby wanted too much for licensing Volume?

Interesting that it isn't listed at the U.S. HK site.

It won't be listed until its ready to ship. There might be all kinds of problems. There is another thread about the continuing problems of hdmi for most any piece of gear. And now there is hdmi 1.4, of course no gear witih 1.4 yet.

So considering all the bugs in older AVRs, maybe HK is taking more time, this go around.

I own the AVR 3550HD I thought about waiting for a Harman Kardon Signature 2.1 {100 watt x5, with 100 Amps} to come up for sale on eBay and keep the 3550HD, its a great receiver no problems so far. Has anyone out there own or have owned a Harman Kardon Signature Amplifier I just found a Harman Kardon Signature PA2200 100watt x2 with 80 Amps, can't wait to set it up and audition it, I will keep you all posted how it sounds with the 3550HD in stereo mode. -G-

It has been about 2 1/2 years now so they surely took more than twice as much time as the competing brands for the 7550/6550.

I have e-mailed customer support at Harman Kardon and have gotten extremely vauge answers concerning the release of the AVR 7550HD. They used to be a cutting edge company but in the last few years they have yet to release a product in a given model year that seems better than the competition. I recommended their products to friends and family members loving the sound of my AVR-525, and all of them are on 2nd or 3rd receivers because of glitches, firmware issues, hdmi incompatability, 2 or 3 of the 7.1 channels just not working, inability to detect and select the right sound mode(ie. dolby ex when a digital source is fed in). They honored the warranty but they all had hassels returning and getting replacements. I think it's sad. I hung onto my AVR-525, after christmas I couldn't wait any longer for HDMI, TrueHD, MasterAudio, and some of the modern features like ipod connectivity. I ended up buying a Pioneer Elite VSX-94TXH. This model is great for movies, but I miss logic 7 for music, I miss the warmth and power of the Harman amps. I hope for Harman Kardon's sake they release a flagship model AVR 7550HD or other comparable model this year. Even loyal H/K fans won't wait forever. Just my 2 cents on this whole thing.

Well said. They sound the best to me but their quality issues and bugs are just ridiculous - nobody should buy it before reading reviews.
H/K is the shadow of what it used to be, a bad joke of itself during the non-HDMI age, that's for sure.

While HDMI is indeed an utter PoS standard, keep in mind that every other mainstream mfr now worked out their bugs, only Harman stucked in this lame status (apparently forever.)

From what I've been reading hdmi is total pos and all brands are experiencing problems at some time or another.
I personally have no reason to want to jump to any gear, just to get hdmi.
I did have to have my 635 replaced about 9 months after I bought it in '05, but the support I got from HK was great, no problem getting another one.

anyone hear yet on the release date?

Last I saw was late June, can you say "now". But I wouldn't hold my breathe.

Well guys I got my hands on a nice Harman Kardon Signature PA 2200 100x2 I got say I was blown away, the sound quality was much better then my NAD C272 (sold it) My Audio salesman was disappoint since he is NOT an HK fan like myself, thought the NAD was the better amp. But my ears can not lie, they know quality when they hear it. The amp is rated at 80 Amps thats the most I've ever own, the 3550HD only has 35 Amps (not bad). Both are clean power but the PA 2200 sig has more horsepower so my Paradigm Studio 100's are singing and imaging like crazy. The speakers are no longer saying "Where's the Beef?" I can't wait to hear my first demo of the AVR 7550 HD coming out in July 09 (keep your fingers crossed) I just checked HK's site no sign of life there yet but it's coming, I can feel it! -JG-

Super to hear that you loved the amps! Any reliable info that 7550 will be out in july? Last I heard from HK support it was expected in end of june. If anyone has reliable info on when this would be offically released, please share :-)

In Germany they have pushed these back to mid august.
They do not even have a price for it yet !

I would be surprised if we read anything about the 7550 aka 755 aka 760 before that.

Why bring out something every year when you can also wait 2 and then delay the product another year

Thanks Oliver. Guess I will have to wait another month or two to get a AVR!

I just hope it is bug free when it arrives. And hopefully available for less than MSRP.

B&H is doing a $300 discount, but they have no real date for shipping.

Well 4DHD, I see more companies are advertising the new Flagship HK AVR 7550HD
BH Photo, BUY.CAM & JR Music something happening, yet no one has em in stock, so HK is still holding out, hopefully with big improvements over the past new resleases -JG

* http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/produc...NNEL_A_V_.html

* http://www.buy.com/prod/harman-kardo...211313794.html

* http://www.jr.com/harman-kardon/pe/HK_AVR7550HD/

Thats good to see. the J&R writeup is a bit more detailed also than what we have seen so far. Things are looking promising, I may just have to email the kind people in HK support to see if they have an updated release date.

JR's 7550HD product info is flawed..
The 7550HD has dual subwoofer outputs but they are not for the left and right channels individually but rather are synchronized by the TI DSPs to provide a wider, balanced spread of the low frequency spectrum over the entire listening area. Availability is mid-August.

Just my $0.025..

oh well. Moreover the email address @ harman bounced back. I still hope my RMA is still in place.

Still no hint of a 6550HD from anywhere? I saw it listed in a manual for the Bridge II thing, and it shows up in this link (towards the bottom) after a google search, http://directories.csa-international...sl/certrec.xsl

Anyone?

Thx

Well, guys I decided to contact HK once again only to hear, they have pushed back the release of the 7550HD once again... o'well I may get an opportunity to buy a nice clean HK Signature 2.1 Power Amp on the 24th, which I will couple with my AVR 3550HD and stay put till 2011 or 12. I will have to sale my PA2200 Signature (which is mint*) I will put it on ebay if the like the 2.1 *** Stay tuned this HK Fan is on a mission - JR



Hi JR,

Thank you for your email. We have not been given a release date on this receiver just yet, but we would assume that it will hit the market sometime in the next few months.


I hope this helps.

Sincerely,
Zack
HCG Customer Support

PS: If replying to this email, please include all previous correspondence. It is the only way I can keep up with your situation. Thank you!!!

This is a great price, $300 off has to be the best price around at the minute