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In Reply to: Harman Kardon AVR series posted by ICI on June 13, 2002 at 12:19:05:
Very versatile setup options, preamp outs for 8 channels (expansion), decent S and component video switching, discrete power amps with an honest power rating, OK tuner that seems quite sensitive in practice. Has inputs for DVD-A too, coax and Toslink for the regular digital inputs. As for looks, well, they're much improved over some previous recent HK models... The AVR520 has HDCD decoding and separate amplifier inputs. The 320 and 520 are the best ones in your price range, both available at very large discounts in the U.S. As usual for these "do everything" receivers the remote pretty much sucks, too many buttons, I use a replacement.The reason I picked this model is mainly because it was the cheapest reasonable quality receiver that had separate preamp outputs for all channels. So I could use my own amps etc. if/when I wanted, possibly to integrate with the music system gear. I saw an even cheaper model from Kenwood that had the preamp outs, didn't listen to it, wasn't hooked up. So I'm suggesting you consider expansion capability, as these receivers can become outdated really quickly. Many current ones (and separate processors) do not even decode the better sound formats available on many current DVD's (the AVR 320 and up do). Good luck.
Hi Craig,
We have to stop meeting like this. Think just about every luny bin!
I am looking for a receiver/pre-pro which will enable me to use my existing tube amps and have the ability to upgrade. Desire 7 or 8.1 , video switching and FM tuner.
can HK do it?
Can the amplifiers be assigned to different outputs as to some of the Denon's???
Regards,
Mitch
Hi Mitch,The AVR520 and AVR8000 could do that, as they have separate amp inputs to go with the preamp outputs, with jumper bars between them. I believe all amps are identical, so there'd not be much use swapping amps, except you could use a "good" amp for the fronts, and use the "front" amps for the two back channels (7.1 etc.). The AVR520 is cheap, the AVR8000 is not. The point of the 320/520 is they do just about everything and have good flexibility, and are a good "first" AV receiver so you can find out what's really important to you without spending a lot. The expensive receivers have better amp and power supply sections. I'd just as soon use my own separate amps, and IME you don't need much power for the surround channels anyway, for a typical home-sized room. I have found that doing the center channel half-decently has greatly increased my HT enjoyment, from the audio side for the stuff I watch (just DVD's). Also, the AVR320 and up have adequate bass management features for integration with other gear/speakers. This is another thing I learned: it's tough to do a half-decent setup without a sub, even if you don't care about the LFE stuff, so you need bass management flexibility. Even if you have all large full-range speakers, you won't be able to mount the surrounds in the proper positions in anything resembling a normal room. In a typical room, better to use smaller speakers (mid-sized) mounted PROPERLY with a sub and bass management properly adjusted.
Yeah, more than you asked, I'm rambling as usual, but I have enough gear here to try lots of stuff and arrangements. What I found out is you have to find out for yourself, like other audio stuff, and the AVR320+ can let you experiment cheaply. You won't learn this stuff from books or dealers (usually).
The HK tuner section is not bad, but it's not analog... Sensitive, and OK for casual listening, seems a pretty typical synthesized tuner with a slightly hotter than usual front end. Tons of presets. The video switching is good, no noticeable signal degradation on S or component switching here. That said, I feed the RP56 component video straight into the TV now, since I only have one component source. You see, I found out you need the S-video inputs to your TV anyway because your (and my) DVDP need the S video outs for the default menus, for initial setup and if power fails (to set them to component out). Also, I believe the AVR's only put out their menus on S-video; not 100% sure of that, since I needed the S for the DVDP anyway I just left it like that for all menus.
In case I didn't mention it before, the 520+ also decode HDCD if that's of interest.
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