about to buy Harman Kardon AVR 2600, persuade me....

[HintOfLogic]

First off, hi... new here and this looks like a great forum!

I'm new to home theater systems all together. I remember sampling countless combos of receivers and speakers years ago. I could not get past the combo of Harman Kardon receivers and Polk Audio speakers. I imagine these are pretty generic, even in combination in the audiophile's eye's (ears... what have you).... but to me it's a good start and dare I say, fantastic fit.

Well, when I was shopping these, Circuit Cities were still something you could drive to, and the closest things to iPods were beepers. There's nowhere for me to demo current models, but I haven't gotten over how impressed I was with the Harman Kardon and Polk.

So, I just purchased a set of Polk speakers while taking advantage of a Best Buy promo... but skipped out on a Receiver, holding out for an HK (receiver not firearm... to clarify). I have a pair of bookshelf speakers, center channel and sub.

Budget wise and specs wise the HK AVR 2600 looks ideal to me. Wattage is right, features and everything and the iPod dock compatibility convinces my wife.

I'm throwing this out there, well because the HK's were great to me a while back... so, is there something out there that is rivaling the HK's in their price range... and, in other words, am I going to regret going with the HK or AVR 2600 to be specific?

Thanks for any feedback, discouragement or commending..... !


EDIT: on an additional note, the model I'm looking at is a 7 channel AVR. As mentioned, I'm powering a stereo pair of bookshelves, a center and a sub... no interest in doing all 7 channels. Is it a tragedy to get a 7 channel with no intention to utilize all seven? Would the wattage balance out to the allocated channels for however many are unused?

 

[dapack69]

Funny post about the Ipod being like a beeper.

 

[rnatalli]

The newer HK receivers look good, have great amp sections, and a great GUI. The downside is that they're buggy and their EQ system sucks. I would look at Denon and Onkyo as they have good amp sections and include Audyssey.

 

[lsiberian]

The newer HK receivers look good, have great amp sections, and a great GUI. The downside is that they're buggy and their EQ system sucks. I would look at Denon and Onkyo as they have good amp sections and include Audyssey.

Having an HK Receiver I will say they do have great amp sections, pre-amps, and the EQ system is fine. The software and bugs take away from the receiver. I suggest an Onkyo 807 from accessories4less.com. Onkyo has less bugs and better EQ, and Software.

 

[HintOfLogic]

I'm going to see if I can demo the Onkyo 807 near me... good suggestion and the specs look appealing too. I think it was Onkyo gear that replaced the Harman Kardon's in the stores that used to carry them. First it was Circuit City, then Best Buy. Do you think the buggy / glitches lost those big vendors support?

 

[dapack69]

Here is a great deal on the 807.

http://www.accessories4less.com/make-a-store/item/ONKTXNR807/Onkyo/TX-NR807-THX-Select2-Plus-Certified-7.2-Channel-Network-Receiver/1.html

 

[audiok]

I would take a look at Denon, Onkyo just for Audyssey MultEQ room correction. The sound that ends up at your ears is a product of speaker and room. And with solid state amps getting accurate enough these days, it's the room that needs attention. MultEQ will eq your subwoofer too. Vanns has a couple Onkyo 806's in clearance for great price. A4L has refurb Onkyo and Marantz. Look at refurb Denons on dakmart.com.