A Powerful, Versatile AV Receiver
Written: Feb 16 '03
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Pros: Sonically excellent. Individual preamp outputs/power amp inputs. Versatile.
Cons: Universal remote is not so universal.
The Bottom Line: A great sounding receiver that offers a wide range of inputs and outputs for more complex systems.
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| philmer's Full Review: harman/kardon AVR 510 5.1 Channels Receiver |
My search for a home theater receiver began with a rather unusual requirement... The need to have preamp outputs and power amp inputs for each channel.
I needed this feature because my front speakers, a pair of vintage Altec Voice of the Theaters require biamplification, which involves sending the L and R channel preamp outputs to an electronic crossover, and returning the crossover's high frequency signal back to the receiver's power amplifier.
It turns out that there were only two receivers on the market (for under $1000) that offered this feature... The Onkyo discontinued TX-DS777 and the Harmon Kardon AVR-510.
So, I bought the Onkyo... an open-box special at Circuit City. To make a long and very painful story short, the Onkyo was returned twice to Circuit City's repair department for problems that they could not resolve. (In fact, they ended up destroying the thing beyond repair). Fortunately Circuit City allowed me to trade the dead Onkyo for an open-box HK AVR-510.
The great strengths of the AVR-510 are its excellent sound quality and the enormous versatility that comes from its plethora of inputs and outputs.
The five 70-watt amps drive my Altec and Klipsch speakers to high volume levels with ease and complete lack of coloration. Harmon Kardon, unlike many other manufacturers are fairly conservative in their power ratings, and in listening to this receiver, that is pretty obvious. The digital-analog conversion is clean, and both the Dolby Digital and Pro-Logic steering and bass management work well.
Like most receivers in this class, the AVR-510 offers several digital hall simulations, and methods to turn a stereo signal into a room-filling surround experience. Being somewhat of an audio purist, I prefer not to use these things, but many folks may enjoy them.
The receiver has inputs for 3 video sources, each with the ability to handle S-video or composite, and analog or digital audio (your choice of optical or coaxial). Additionally there are inputs for a DVD player, a CD player, and six-channel direct inputs for those that use an external surround decoder. The DVD and Video 2 inputs offer component video connections.
The AVR-510 does not transcode S-video signals to composite or component. If you wish to use an S-video source, it will only be seen at the receiver's S-video output. While unfortunate, this is common among all receivers I've seen in this price range.
I use S-video for all of my equipment connections, and have found that the receiver passes the video signals very cleanly, with no visible noise, ghosting or reduction in signal quality.
The aforementioned preamp out/power amp in jacks future-proof the receiver, allowing users to upgrade to bigger power amps, or use the 510's power amps in conjunction with a different preamp. You can also insert a graphic equalizer in the chain, or as I do, use the inputs/outputs for biamping. Nice.
The AVR-510 features DTS, Dolby Digital and Pro-Logic surround modes. It does not support 6.1 or 7.1 as some newer receivers do, but in reality there is very little programming available that is mixed for 6.1 or 7.1.
Each input source can be assigned either type of digital or analog input. The receiver will remember these assignments, as well as the the most recently used surround mode for each input. One nice feature the Onkyo offered that is missing in AVR-510, is the ability to custom label each source. ie calling Video 1" VCR", and video 2 "Cable", etc. Too bad. There is a full set of digital and analog audio/video connectors on the front panel which may be assigned to act as inputs or outputs. Nice.
Unlike the Onkyo, the AVR 510 has no fan. That's a good thing. The top of the receiver does get pretty hot. I would make sure that the receiver can get plenty of ventilation in its installation, and avoid placing any other equipment on top of it.
As nice as the AVR-510 is, there are a few flaws. I was unable to get the included "universal" remote to properly work with my Sony VCR or DVD player. It also wouldn't learn commands from my Scientific Atlanta cable box. I called Harmon Kardon's tech support about this, and they immediately sent me a brand new remote (they didn't even want the old one back!). Unfortunately, the replacement didn't work any better. I ended purchasing a Home Theater Master MX-500 universal remote, which is wonderful.
Another annoyance is, that when listening to CDs on my DVD player through the optical digital input, I have to crank the volume WAY up (to about -12dB) to get moderately loud volume. That should not be the case. I've experienced this with two different brands of DVD player.
Recently, I had a problem in which the receiver would not remember its surround assignments, and it was also forgetting its speaker size settings and other surround info. I called HK tech support again, and they solved my problem immediately... they told me to stop using a surge protector. I have nothing but good things to say about HK tech support. No waiting on hold, and the guys know what they are talking about. Great service.
Some reviewers have commented that this receiver is difficult to use and set up. My thoughts are that this is a very complex piece of equipment and it does require a thorough reading of the owners manual, and a good general understanding of how home theater components are supposed to work (especially surround systems, and digital connections). It is not for the novice. But I would not say that this receiver is any more or less difficult to use than anything else in its class.
Overall, based on the AVR-510's versatility and its excellent sound quality, I would recommend this receiver to those who need its advanced features. It loses a star for the less than universal remote.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 600
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Epinions.com ID:
philmer
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Reviews written: 21
Trusted by: 5 members
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