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Harman Kardon AVR-354 7x75W 7.1 Channel Home Theater Receiver |
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| Price: Too low to display |
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| Editorial Reviews: | | |  | | Harman Kardon founder Dr. Sidney Harman has always believed technology should serve users, not intimidate them. The Harman Kardon AVR 354 is a perfect case in point. The AVR 354 includes a full complement of Dolby and DTS decoding technologies, HDMI repeater capability, Faroudja DCDi Cinema processing, EzSet/EQ equalization and multiroom capability. It connects to a universe of digital and analog sources, as well as to external amps. And with The Bridge II docking station (included), it will even play, control and charge your iPod (iPod is not included). To ensure that everything works together seamlessly, the AVR 354 features a full-color graphical user interface and an eight-device programmable remote. Dolby Digital EX, Dolby Digital Plus, Dolby TrueHD; Dolby Pro Logic II and IIx (Movie, Music and Game), up to 96kHz; Dolby Virtual Speaker Version 2 (Reference or Wide, two-channel); Dolby Headphone Version 2, up to 96kHz; DTS-HD, DTS-HD Master Audio; DTS (5.1; DTS Stereo; DTS-ES 6.1 Discrete and Matrix); DTS 96/24 (DTS Stereo); DTS Neo - 6 (Cinema 5- or 6-channel; Music 5- or 6-channel); Logic 7 (Movie, Music and Game - 5.1 and 7.1), up to 96kHz; 5- or 7-Channel Stereo, up to 96kHz; Surround Off (DSP or Analog Bypass) Transcodes 480i video to HDMI output, with upscaling up to 1080p for iPod connectivity with audio/video playback RS-232 serial port for system upgrades Switched accessory power outlet Remote infrared (IR) input and output Color coded connections EzSet/EQ automated setup (microphone supplied) Full-color user interface and setup menu, generated in high-definition video Two-line dot-matrix front-panel display Unit Dimensions - 6.5 H x 17.31 W x 15.0 D; Weight - 31.5 lbs Harman Kardon USA 2-Year Limited Warranty | |
| Custom Reviews: | |
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| | I would encourage anyone to purchase this product. I have been researching and listening to receivers for more than three months, ever since a lightning strike wiped out my NAD T-762. I was getting ready to pull the trigger on the NAD's successor, T-785, which would have run about $2,000, when I saw this on sale for $599 and read the specs. What's not to like?
I am a musician, and to me, it's all about the sound. Harman Kardon was where I had begun, more than 20 years ago, and I knew it had sounded good. I am still using my 20-year-old JBL speakers, and when I plugged them in to the 354, I felt like I had come home. The sound is heavenly. I have no other word for it. I've been listening to Denon, Pioneer Elite, Yamaha high end products on high end speakers at Best Buy Magnolia, and couldn't quite go ahead. I know I would have liked the NAD. But why pay so much more? I don't think anything could sound better than this. I can listen to this for hours on end, and enjoy the bliss of warmth, clarity, and resonance.
I'm also very satisfied with the video. I had to tweak the brightness on my TV up a hair, no big deal. I really wanted 4 HDMI inputs, and this has only 3, but I worked around that using component for a non-HD source - ROKU Netflix player - that happens to have an HDMI output, and that has worked out well. So I have room for HDMI from my media server, DVD player, and HD cable/satellite. The upscaling works very well, ordinary DVDs look almost HD, and my ROKU Netflix player, which is putting out SD at best, looks better than DVD when upscaled through this. The NAD did not upscale, by the way.
Be ready for a few quirks. I think every product has them. HK is addressing them through firmware updates, and hopefully they will keep improving. I can bust at least one myth you may read about. Noisy fan? If my unit has a fan, which I doubt, either it's never on or a stethescope couldn't hear it. I am a fanatic about this. My PC is completely fanless.
I am mildly disappointed in a couple of things. Zone 2 has separate source and volume control, which is nice, but it works with analog input only, no digital. I use it for my outdoor speakers, and it's annoying that I have to put in analog connections just to use those. The PCM lock can be a little slow, so you can miss the beginning of a CD track occasionally, if it starts very quickly. My NAD did that too, so I'm used to it. I hope HK will improve this one. But it's not too bad, better than the NAD was. Lip sync delay setting is across the board, not per source. When I reported that, HK said, "We thought it was per source too," so it's probably a bug they will fix.
But to me, it's all about the sound. If you like to listen to music, especially classical music, which is what I listen to most, you won't be disappointed. This is a fine piece of gear.
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| | It's unfortunate about the previous poster but I have the same unit and it is incredible! The unit has all the bells and whistles that you would expect on a much higher priced receiver. Do some research on the the chips used in this thing, they are incredible and are found only in a $5000 high end competitors line. The weakness of this receiver is that it can sometimes be too rich of a sound and lacks the crisp high that some look for because, honestly the degraded sound that we have received from companies like Sony and what we listen to in our cars have ruined our idea of what even sounds are. Just a side note, one of my buddies was the one who brought this "weakness" to my attention because he said it didn't have enough high range. I told him well watch the whole movie and lets see how fatigued your ears feel. Afterward, he was amazed how nice and easy it is to listen to this HK. The strength is it's punch and ability in the home theater to make gun fire sound like gun fire and not rocks being thrown against a tin roof. HK doesn't disappoint in my opinion with this receiver and it's too bad one customer, and the only review had a experience that is honestly out of this world. HK customer support is probably one of the best in the world, and are often recognized for that fact. Besides one month old and breaks, why not take it back to Best Buy?
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| Stay away from this overpriced piece of junk and horrible customer service | |
| | I purchased this receiver from Best Buy since I liked the features and trusted the brand name, although I never had owned a HK before. A little more than 1 month later the HDMI connections died on me. I called HK and talked to an autobot and paid $40 to ship it back to them. 1 month later they were supposed to send me a new unit and instead I got a refurbished unit that was probably 1 year old, not to mention missing button switches etc. I called back HK infuriated about this and I get another autobot instead of a live person. I will have to call during their business hours to get a live person and ask for my money back. I would never ever buy a HK again or go through their archaic customer service system. I will update this review with the conclusion to my woes, but get this piece of advice from me: buy an extended warranty on a brick and mortar retailer and cross your fingers that the product won't crap on you. For $800 I expect A LOT better. I think I will go with a Denon instead.
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