The new Harman Kardon AVR1700 - Page 3

Thanks for the suggestion. This morning I struggled to connect my laptop to AVR. My plan was to use a DVI to hdmi cable for the video, and to use analog L/R cable for audio. Their manual seems to suggests that you can do that. But, the reality seems not so. When I tried to set that up thought the OSD's input selector. It will switch my video input to analog whenever I picked any audio input other than hdmi. It seems that I will have to get an dvi+audio to hdmi converter. One more device needs power source. Just hate that! I like the sound of this receiver a lot though.

Any one has success in getting video from HDMI while audio from the L/R stereo?

According to the manual you cant. That's a serious limitation for this receiver! Not all devices use HDMI audio and video.

Not really a setback...
Forget the HDMI, use Component Video then analog or optical or coaxial for audio is available...

Just my $0.02...

M Code,

Have you taken a look at this receiver? I doesn't have component video!

Interesting as i have a 1700 on the way and i think my wii does not have hdmi. I did find this though i wonder if it will work.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B0050RKH2Y/ref=aw_d_detail?pd=1

Kool thanks.
Missed that..

Just my $0.02...

QGU999, I think that you may be missing a solution that you may have overlooked. You can utilize your television's HDMI input directly from your computer and run the audio into the receiver via the analog, optical or coaxial. Why even bother using the receiver for the video signal? On a different but similar note, my television actually takes any source input and sends the audio out via analog so I can run HDMI video to the tv and send the analog audio to an old receiver that has no HDMI input. Of course now that I have the AVR 1700 I will no longer have to do that.

The Wii has composite out so there will be no problem hooking it up directly to the AVR 1700 if you need to. However If your TV has component in, I would utilize that input for the video signal directly from the Wii as it is of higher quality and then use the audio cables directly to the receiver. I must be missing something because people seem adamant on utilizing the receiver as a video switch. Perhaps it is because of a lack of inputs on their television which would make sense.

Yes, great points... I do have component in on my tv. I got the 1700 because i love my hk avr 330 but its lack of hdmi and hd audio decoding does not work well with the new rokus. Roku only has hdmi out and my tv only outputs analog stereo to my receiver. Now I'll finally get to stream dolby digital plus, etc...

I saw that the avr 1650 used to be advertised as 65 watts per channel. And then started advertising 95 or so. Assuming the 65 watts rating was the older rating system, the 1700 would still be more powerful than my 330 rated at 55 watts. My guess is that the advertised 100 watts of the 1700 would equate to 65-70 watts in the older hk rating system.

With only two channels driven, yes it is probably about the same as the old 65-70 watt rated system. With 5 channels driven, the 1650 is a little weaker. The power supply just does not have enough oomph to drive that many channels as high as the older machines. Probably looking at best around 50 watts for five channels driven. I doubt that twith a 260 watt power supply, the AVR 1700 is putting out much more than 40 watts per channel with all channels driven. For kicks here's bench results of the 3650 which had much more power than the 1650 and a 480 watt power supply. http://www.hometheater.com/content/harman-kardon-avr-3650-av-receiver-ht-labs-measures

The old H/Ks could easily put the rated watts into all channels. Here's one for an old AVR 340, which H/K listed at 70x2, 55x7:
http://www.hometheater.com/content/paradigm-cinema-330-speaker-system-and-harmankardon-avr-340-av-receiver-ht-labs-measures-har

And one of the most amazing is the test for an old 147, which H/K listed at 50x2, 40x5:
http://www.hometheater.com/content/three-ways-fill-rack-ht-labs-measures-harman-kardon

With that said, the output of the 1650 or 1700 is not bad. Most products of Yamaha, Sony, and the like at that price level do about the same. It's just these new H/Ks don't have the power with all channels driven of the old ones, although for two channel power they are right there and in some cases better. Also, most people aren't going to notice the difference. It takes twice the power to get a mere 3db increase in volume.

So in what circumstance would the 1700 hit 100w per channel so that they could advertise that it does?

When the input signal is 1kHz, 2 channels driven into 6 Ohms, THD < 1% for 30 seconds..


Just my $0.02...

2 channels driven, maybe 1KHz signal. Like everybody pretty much rates receivers, so they're not shooting themselves in the foot by using a more conservative approach to their specs.

My AVR 1700 while powered off, started playing the music I was listening to on the iPhone, I never selected the Receiver as the speaker. If it happens again, this unit is going back to BestBuy.

Also, I ran the software update function and it has been running now for 3 hours. Anyone else try this function?

I see the lesser 1700 is listed as having a 270w power consumption max and the seemingly similar denon 1913 is listed at over 500w max.

Does this mean the 1700 is half a powerful or is it much more complicated than that due to the new tech in the power source of the 1700?

Lower power consumption because of different type power supply. If you pick up the 1700 you'll find that is it very light, less than 13 lbs.

Is this new power supply supposed to be more efficient or something which allows generally the same power output of say the avr1650 (with a traditional pwer supply and higher max power consumption).

On paper the 1700 looks like a toy in terms of weight and power consumption compared to the denon 1913 and hk1650. I have one coming to replace a beloved avr330 (need hdmi and newer dolby digital decoders, etc) and am hoping the new tech keeps the power of the 1700 at least equal to 1650 or denon 1913

The SMPS (Switch Mode Power Supply) in the 1700/170 and 2700/270/3700/370 as used in computers is more efficient and less costly but its major savings is its compatibility for global markets of 100V-240V...
And since HK sells more AVR outside of North America this make alot of economic sense....


Just my $0.02...

It's impossible to say where the 1700 falls exactly for power until someone benches it. We can only estimate and guess. The Denon 1913 is likely to be the most powerful of these three as it is known to be more powerful than a 1650 and it actually benched about the same as a 3650. Again, don't get too hung up on the power ratings. It takes twice the power to get a mere 3db increase in volume and the measurements are not a large enough difference to matter in a vast majority of situations.

One day sale at Fry's Electronics on the AVR 1700 for $199. In store only.
http://www.frys.com/ads/page1#AdNavi

I thought I would let you know my thoughts on the 1700 now that I have it up and running. Sadly, my avr 330 is all packed up in the back room.

The 1700 feels like a toy and boy was i worried! I am surprisingly impressed. It has that hk-ish sound that i was not willing to give up. Ezset did a great job providing the skeleton of the speaker settings... I then tweaked the crossovers and some levels to get a sound that completely equals my avr330. The newer processing and decoding then puts the 1700 as a total improvent. It doesn't process video but I'm glad because my bd player and tv takes care of that any way. All the audio formats are decoded and none of the dumb wasteful ones like "mp3 restore" etc:-)

I read several reviews talking about the super bright ugly volume knob and holy smokes... Yeah, i can confirm its both bright and ugly. Never fear as you can dim it...i turned it off completely which gives it a real nice sleak black slate look. When it powers on and off it is absolutely silent. My 330 sounds like a powerplant starting up. The advantage is the faster start time using my harmony touch remote. The user interface is outstanding...while watching tv it overlays the on the picture and while listening to my squeezebox it displays simply on the receiver's display. Very simple.

I put in some porcupine tree to be sure this feather weight was for real. Oh yeah baby...it sounds like it weighs 30lbs...a real heavy powerful sound like I'm used to with my 330. For a mere $299 at best buy i am very surprised.

Take it from someone very concerned about the sound of this strangely light, different tech, unbenchmarked receiver.

I am happy.

I read a review where a reviewer liked the sound best when he turned of ezeq. I do not see any setting that would turn it off...Does it even really adjust eq?

Would this receiver be a good choice strictly for home theater use? If not, why not? Thanks.

EZset/EQ does do real EQ. Whether you like it or not is up to the individual. Mic positioning makes a big difference in how it reads a room and when done properly, it will sound better in most cases. However, some people really don't like an EQed sound no matter what. You see people who don't like various versions of Audyssey as well. It's personal preference. I haven't read the 1700 manual, but you can turn off the EQ in just about every other H/K model so I'd be reasonably sure there is way. If you like the way it sound with the EQ, why bother turning it off?

The version in my 2600 did an awesome job of evening out subwoofer response in my room, but I did have to manually change some of the EZset readings for crossover and speaker level. The EQ part of the process did a great job in my space, however. When I turn it off and listen its shocking of how much difference there is.

Not only it does real EQ but it is doing bass (sub) management for many years now which is still not universal among other brands.

Are you talking about the 1700?

Sorry, nope, I meant EzSetEQ in general.

I am amazed at the imaging of 2 ch. stereo mode with music on this receiver. I used to listen with logic 7 on my previous receiver but for some reason stereo is fantastic on the 1700. Must be the ezset/eq... my older hk just adjusted the channel level.