benpriest707@hotmail.com

Overall Rating
 5 of 5

Value Rating
 5 of 5

Used product for
More than 1 year

Price Paid:  $1200.00 from Circuit City

Summary:
It seems to me that there are a lot of people on here with more money than.....well, me. lol. Most of what i own, came from Circut City. But....i enjoy what i have, and after having this amp for 3 years, i would recommend it to anyone. The power rating made me hesitant (spellcheck) at first. I think if you talk to anyone with this receiver, that you will get the same response. The power is there. The Logic 7 has great sound, and i use that for most movies and music. However, Stereo mode is absolutely incredible. I find myself more and more just using that mode for music now. I'm not running anything super fancy for speakers, (Infinity Beta Series) but i do have the same speakers for the 7.1, which gives me the same sound-field. <-- (highly recommended!!) I tend to use the EZ mic only for speaker placement and delay adjust, and i do the rest manually. The sub output is strong. More than likely (if you have a sub) you will be behind it, turning the volume knob down. I have read a lot of previous reviews on this amp, and it seams that HK lacks the reliability. A lot of people have had to return their product. I guess i got the good one of the bunch. On a personal note, Infinity Beta 50's (tower speakers) are worth looking into, especially if your budget minded as i have to be. Unfortunatelly, Infinity doesnt make that series anymore, but you still can find them online. Read the reviews on them, thats all i gotta say. lol

Strengths:
"warm" sound
Logic 7 is fantastic (especially in movies)
Plenty of power
Stereo mode has an excellent wide soundstage
Looks, of course

Weaknesses:
EZ mic setup doesnt get the sound i'm looking for (cuts off the low end bass to the subs)
If the power goes out (or if i unplug the amp) it looses the settings
It's a high current amp, and i wouldnt recommend placing this unit in an enclosed area. (not sure if that's a weakness, as most amps are probably like that)

Price Paid:  $1500.00

Summary:
It was the great reviews and sensational looks that drew my to buy this receiver and I have to say, it was a big mistake. When the receiver was running, it was sensational but after only 1 month's use, it started to 'freeze' and the sound started cutting in and out. I spoke to harmon Kardon service centre and they informed me that even though it was only 4 weeks old, I was not eligle for a new unit and that i had to send it away for reairs!!. It was sent to an authorised service centre where they had it for 6 WEEKS (longer than I had it for) before telling me it was ready. I plugged it in and once again it froze in the first 10 minutes. I was etremely dissapointed. I contacted the rep again and was informed that I was still not eligle for a replacement unit and that it now had to be shipped interstate to a 'better' authorised repairer. I bluntly refused and had to get consumer affairs involved for me to finally get my money back. Very dissapointing from a company that I thought would back their products. I am now the proud owner of a Denon 3806. I paid $1500 Australian.

Strengths:
Sensational smooth sound. Sensation looks.

Weaknesses:
Kept freezing and was not usable.Do your research as there are plenty of other people who have had the same 'freezing' problem.

Similar Products Used:
denon 3806

thedrdave

Overall Rating
 5 of 5

Value Rating
 4 of 5

Used product for
Less than 1 month

Visitors rate this review
3.92 of 5, 13.00 votes

Price Paid:  $849.00 from Circuit City

Summary:
My Carver CMV-1135 Intergrated Dolby Pro Logic amplifier finally checked out. I decided to upgrade to dolby digital instead of repairing the carver. I did a lot of homework looked at and auditioned Sunfire, Pioneer, Sony and others. The Harman Kardon AVR635 was recomended to me by a friend of mine, Rolland Barr at carveraudiorepair.com and hitechaudioltd.com. I went and auditioned the AVR635 at several dealers and bought it at Circuit City for $849.00 after comparing features and prices of other units. I brought it home and set it up. Set up was very easy for me. This unit has many features and inputs that are easy to use and configure. My speakers are: Energy XL series front L&R, Wharfdale center channel and Polk M series in the rear. The subwoofer is a 12" AR powered by a Crest CC151 Studio Referance amplifier. I was blown away with the HK AVR 635. The rating of 75wpc is VERY conservative! I am very pleased with the performance of this unit in stereo mode for music and in dolby digital mode for home theatre. I cannot praise Harman Kardon enough for packing such value and performance into this unit! It produces absolutly transparent and accurately detailed sound and the bass is tight and abundant.

Strengths:
Big bang for the bucks. Excellent sound quaility in all modes. Well built.

Weaknesses:
None that I can find.

Similar Products Used:
Carver, Sony, Pioneer.

jeroark

Overall Rating
 4 of 5

Value Rating
 4 of 5

Used product for
Less than 1 month

Visitors rate this review
4.20 of 5, 15.00 votes

Price Paid:  $779.00 from Amazon.com

Summary:
Let me start out by saying that this I did alot of research and read alot of reviews before I purchased this reciever to match up with my Monitor Audio Silver Series speakers. Right now they are being used for a stereo setup but will be moving into a home theatre as the budget allows. This is why I decided to go with an AV reciever in the first place. I listen to all kinds of music from classical, jazz, country, classic rock, and even some R&B. First I tried the yamaha and it was way to bright with this match up. Then I tried the Pioneer. It was much better but lacked some of the high end detail and the bass always sounded kind of loose. I thought about going the seperate's route and started to check out what Rotel had to offer, as I have heard that they are a pretty good match up. Taking a chance I had seen some other message boards where people were matching up the HK recievers with Monitor Audio speakers with great results. So before I purchased the rotel amplifier I decided to try the HK AVR635. I am glad I did. The sound is very neutral with maybe a very small leaning on the warm side. It works great with my Monitor Audio speakers. Lots of detail, tight deep bass and excelent mid bass. Voices sound clean and clear, and piano music makes you feel like you are there listening in concert. The soundstage is good. Not great but in the top of what this price range has to offer. The system is still a little bright but not fatiguing. This is due mostly to my speaker configuration, not the reciever. If anything it will help calm bright speakers such as klipsch, NHT, monitor audio and so on. DO NOT BE TURNED OFF BY THE WATTAGE RATING. This thing puts out way more power than the rating on the box. It is a very powerful reciever. If there is a downside I would say that it lacks some of the features of other recievers in its price range. It is also a little expensive if you compare spec sheets. But if you are looking for a good quality reciever for movies or music do yourself a favor and audition one of these before you make a decision. I give this reciever 4 stars. Not because it does not deserve a 5 but I believe there is always room for improvement. If I could give it 4.5 stars I would :)

Strengths:
Clean Neutral Sound with crisp highs and tight bass Way more power than this unit is rated at Easy to use remote Direct mode for unprocessed sound (Every good reciever should have this) All the current surround formats Video Upconversion

Weaknesses:
Does not have all the bells and wistles of some other recievers in this price range. No THX certification(if that really matters to anyone) The on screen display does not work on the component video connection(why do upconversion if I can't control the reciever this way)

Similar Products Used:
Pioneer Elite VSX-54tx Yamaha HTR-5790 Marantz SR7500

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