Harman Kardon Announces Two Home Theater Receivers For 2013 - Page 3

The 'glitchy' nature of HK receivers is a bit baffling to me. Audio equipment should not remind one of a Windows machine. It's cool that they actually add useful features through updates, but at the cost of glitchy software.

I thought the AVR 525 was one of HK better built receiver in decades, sorry I sold mine. But since then, they have been plagued with horrible software glitches etc... I like their streamline look and I own one of their Stereo Receivers which puts out great warm sound.

After Harman Cardon confirmed they did not have a code for the AVR 700 that works for my cable provider's remote, I exchanged it for an Onkyo HT-RC460. Cost was them same to the penny but it does work with my cable provider's remote (COX).

Both of the receivers are on the low end of the cost curve but the Onkyo works well in my home setting. It has all the latest technology (including a second zone) and 8 HDMI connections which is more than I need, the HC AVR 700 only had 3.

The only negative is its rated at only 80 Watts p/ch which might not be powerful enough for some users. But for all you get for $300, I think its a good choice.

I would recommend Onkyo HT-RC460 over HC AVR 700

Finally, 2700 and 3700 are outed: http://www.ecoustics.com/products/harman-kardon-avr-2700-3700/

Pricing is a bit absurd, the 3700 isn't a $1k receiver without legacy ports, that's for sure... unless street price goes down below $800 they won't be selling much, I think.

"...they were designed with a digital-power supply to make the units eco-friendly by significantly reducing weight and material consumption."

So it's lighter...and?

Perhaps I'm in the minority since I'm a fan of HK, I've never had any problems with past units I've owned (the AVR-154 and 340) or my current 7550HD & 3650 models, and having had Onkyo, Sony, Yamaha & Pioneers in the past and not been happy with any of them, I look forward to a possible upgrade to go with a new TV this spring, I'll definitely check out the 3700 even though I really don't need one and not going for any 3d crap...
A boxy, behemoth doesn't necessarily mean a better unit either. If I recall correctly, I think my Onkyo weighed in at 57+ pounds and the HDMI crapped out 3 times in a year, and the power wasn't overwhelming either, I get plenty out of the HK's, I'm not running an AMC theater over here or anything, I like to hear my music the way it was meant and HK has always given me that....

I'm pretty sure that the Sony gave me a hernia as well!

I know this: I saw the 1700 on sale at Best Buy yesterday: $199 -bought it right away! Nice spare receiver for very little $$. I could have sold it on eBay for a nice little profit but I am keeping it.

What makes you say they haven't already?

And the 3700 is 7.2, will the room correction correct the 2 sub channels independent of each other?

I have not heard the new ones but I agree that HK seems to have abandoned thier old approach to high current amplification at the expense of electronic features. I have the 7550HD which weighs 45 lbs! The power transformer is huge and very heavy. I bought HK because I do actually hear a difference. I find the other mass market receivers to have a washed out mid range with a lack of definition of the acoustics of the instruments and recording space compared to the better HK amps.

As for the new HKs, I am guessing they won't sound as good.

I will hold on to my very nice sounding HK 7550HD as long as I can.

The notion of heavy, inefficient amps equating to better sound quality is a thing of the past. The lift test is an anachronism, from another age. That's Crown Class D technology in the new HK receivers. I'd bet they meet or beat the old gear. If you hear a difference in the HK sound, it probably has more to do with Logic 7 and the way their room correction works than anything else. There's almost no chance it was the amplification making a difference. I used to have an AVR-645, for the sake of reference. My main issue with the new HK line is the chassis, very cheap and plastic-y.

Here's the deal on old and heavy vs. new and plastic:

Edited by imagic - 3/12/13 at 6:34pm

I still use all my old (125,325,525.245) HK AVRs. Even the bargain basement bottom of the line HK125 5.1 50real watts reciever has features that are only available on the very top of the line AVRs nowdays, pre-outs and direct inputs. My BD player has 7.1 analog output, the computer soundcard has 7.1 analog out but you can't find BD players with analog outs anymore. They are forcing HDMI on us with it's wheezzinly, anemicly slow HDMI chips that don't have anywhere near the bandwidth of VGA. So when 3D came out, hey my HDMI doesn't work so well anymore if I try to pass DTS-MA or Dolby HD. Now they have increased the HDMI chips speed from 240Mhz to 300Mhz but what happens when 4K gets here? Will it be enough or buy a new AVR with displayport?

It is often the case that 'differences' that seem to exist during sighted, nonlevelmatched comparison, cannot be reliably detected when the comparison is done double blind and carefully level-matched.


They aren't 'making things up'. I'm sure they believe that what they hear is real .But they are still human. And these are still anecdotes. (And I would posit that if it's someone job to report on differences between gear, by golly they're gonna hear differences.)

But there's a silver lining. If these differences are real, it would seems a simple thing for these highly trained people to demonstrate under controlled conditions. Why haven't they?


Logic 7 is of course a form of EQ, and I have no problem with reports of difference between that an other forms of EQ -- if that's what you mean by 'HK sound'. But I don't think there is a 'sound' to their amps and preamps.

I would be delighted to learn that they have. But the last time I checked, Harman's sophisticated correction algorithms incorporating Toole/Olive research were available only with their custom installations.

Some of the new models got rid of the bulky EI transformer and have a switched power supply for reduced weight and better voltage stability. In fact, the audio amplifiers are mostly unchanged.

It is unfortunate that people like you bash advancements like this and the manufacturers feel reluctant to update certain parts of the receiver. Same goes for vertical height. Why do you want a skinny phone but a steam-roller receiver?