Sound To Live and Play By
Written: May 17 '01
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Pros: Great sound, supports everything
Cons: Huge, complex
The Bottom Line: Great system that will do everything you want from an entry level audiophile system.
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| syc's Full Review: harman/kardon AVR 500 Receiver |
I've been looking for an AV receiver for a few months now and finally settled with the Harman Kardon AVR500 (I also considered the Denon AVR series and Sony ES series). For the speakers, I purchased the Energy Take 5 set (5 speakers) and 10" subwoofer. Up until now, I've always listened to music on my computer (sad, but true) and watched my DVDs through my TV speakers. I was pretty sure that I was missing half of the whole experience, especially when I walked into the Bose sound zone that Best Buy and Circuit City sets up. I remember salivating over the Bose systems, but was turned away (reluctantly) once I talked to my audiophile friends, some audio store sales folks (ok, maybe not the most reliable source), and read many, many online reviews (audioreview.com is excellent for research).
I ended up with the Harman Kardon based on quite a few factors (that, in many cases, are also applicable to the Denon and Sony AVR):
1) Harman Kardon has an excellent good reputation. Although some of their units have suffered from quality control problems (as well as most AVR manufacturers if you look around enough), I haven't had any problems yet. Of course, I'm still within my 30 day trial period.
2) It sounds good. I'm not an audiophile, and I'm pretty sure that anything sounds great compared to my computer, but I can honestly say that I feel like I'm hearing most of my music for the first time when I hear it through the HK and Energy speakers. Everything is so crisp and I can hear things that I never heard before. Movies become much more intense and gripping. Even TV seems better (although sometimes it gets overwhelming and I switch back to the TV speakers).
3) It has a straightforward interface. I find the remote to be much better than the Denon remote. I haven't used the onscreen display yet so I can't comment on that, but it looks like it'll be a nice feature.
4) It looks good. It's basic. It's black. The newer Harman Kardon AVR 510 looks completely different from the rest of my components. I'm not a big fan of many of these newer models looking "unique". It seems to be a ploy to get consumers to stick to a single brand and line.
5) It has all the connections I'll need for at least a while (yes, yes...I know...and 50 megs will be plenty of hard drive space). I won't bore you with the details since it's easy to look up the official specs, but it's more than sufficient for a DVD player, minidisc deck, CD jukebox, VCR, Tivo, and camcorder (that's 2 digital audio, 1 analog audio, and 3 video sources). I don't have all those components yet so it'll take me a while just to catch up.
6) It was straightforward (not to be confused with easy) to set up. I was worried at first with all the connections and components, but I just worked my way through it one at a time and it ended up being pretty easy.
7) It supports all the Dolby Digital, DTS, and has some features to such as the Logic 7, which emulates surround based on stereo input. It's nice to listen to music in full surround!
8) Since the 510 series has come out, the 500 series can be had for far less than just a few months ago. Shop around and you'll find good deals (I got mine from Harman Kardon's online store).
The first thing I did after setting up the AV receiver and connecting all the speakers was pop in the Matrix, my test DVD for just about everything. The surround did not disappoint. I jumped straight to the dojo scene and felt Morpheus smacking Neo around. The music from the movie gushed from all sides, and the noise level got downright obnoxious. I had to go to my neighbor's house to explain what I was doing.
One thing that did take me multiple attempts to get going was the support for DTS. That was a bit confusing at first since I didn't know if it was the AVR or the DVD player or the DVD itself. As it turns out, it was my DVD, which is set to disable digital output by default. If you get the HK AVR500 or any DTD-capable AV receiver, be SURE you get the digital 5.1 sound going because it will make a huge difference!
There are a couple of downsides that I've noticed, although some of them aren't specific to this brand and represent modern AV systems in general. First, the thing is huge. If you've seen a Bose Lifestyle system, you will know what people are paying for...size. The remote on this AVR doesn't seem to "kick in" right away. Sometimes, it takes a few clicks to get it to work. That may be due to the awkward position I have it in right now while I shop for an AV stand, but it's still annoying. Between the sheer number and type of connections, as well as the sound formats, options, etc., it takes a while to learn how to do some things that seem like they should be easy. I guess that's the price of integrating so much functionality into one box (I still think they need to add Tivo like functionality).
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 520.00
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Epinions.com ID:
syc
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Member: Sean Chou
Location: Chicago, IL
Reviews written: 21
Trusted by: 1 member
About Me:
Half-heartedly recovering gadget geek.
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