Harman Kardon AVR330 v. Yamaha RX-V750 v. Denon AVR1804

[avnovice]

Looking for some advice on an av receiver. I've narrowed my list down
to the HK 330, Yamaha 750 and Denon 1804. I'm basically trying to find
the best av receiver for under $600. I plan on hooking it up to a Polk
Audio 6700 surround sound system with the psw303 subwoofer. The room
it will be in is 11x19 (basment). The receiver will primarily be used
for tv watching/listening but I also plan on running my cd player
through it as well. Any advice you can offer would be great. Thanks.

 

[Unregistered]

H/k

I have a HK AVR-630 receiver with JBL 7.1 speakers. Previously had a yamaha htr-5790 receiver. Go with H/K, spend the extra $150 for the AVR-630, it will blow you away.

 

[audioman00]

HK all the way and here is why...

Harman/Kardon uses an advanced HCC high current amplifier that actually allows the amp stage to be very linear, by this I mean it has a very impressive 5hZ to 100khz bandwidth, the human ear can usually only hear 20hz to 20khz, but anything above or below will add to the realizm and depth of the music. HK rates their amplifiers at full power across the scale. The hk's will crank up high volumes and still stay clean and also keep their 0.06 or 8 t.h.d. rating across the entire volume allowance. If you are into tech specs, then , they are not the brand for you, but if you're into precise sound reproduction and reliablity then you will be very happy with HK, I say this having owned about 20 receivers over the course of 12 yrs or so, and I finally just couldn't beat the overall sound quality of HK. Mine is just the AVR 110 DTS receiver rated at 45wpc, but this is the most impresive and powerfull sounding 45 watts I have ever heard, and most of my fellow enthusiast friends agree that is sounds like anyone else's 100wpc. Word to the wise: make sure whatever amp you buy says ALL CHANNELS DRIVEN SIMULTANEOUSLY! not 100 x6 @ 1khz. That 1khz is only one frequency in the entire 20hz, 20,000hz range. Hope this info helps.

 

[Rÿche 1]

Harman/Kardon uses an advanced HCC high current amplifier that actually allows the amp stage to be very linear, by this I mean it has a very impressive 5hZ to 100khz bandwidth, the human ear can usually only hear 20hz to 20khz, but anything above or below will add to the realizm and depth of the music. HK rates their amplifiers at full power across the scale. The hk's will crank up high volumes and still stay clean and also keep their 0.06 or 8 t.h.d. rating across the entire volume allowance. If you are into tech specs, then , they are not the brand for you, but if you're into precise sound reproduction and reliablity then you will be very happy with HK, I say this having owned about 20 receivers over the course of 12 yrs or so, and I finally just couldn't beat the overall sound quality of HK. Mine is just the AVR 110 DTS receiver rated at 45wpc, but this is the most impresive and powerfull sounding 45 watts I have ever heard, and most of my fellow enthusiast friends agree that is sounds like anyone else's 100wpc. Word to the wise: make sure whatever amp you buy says ALL CHANNELS DRIVEN SIMULTANEOUSLY! not 100 x6 @ 1khz. That 1khz is only one frequency in the entire 20hz, 20,000hz range. Hope this info helps.

Precisely why I just sold my Yamaha RX-V630, and bought a H/K AVR-525 off eBay, direct from Harman with full warranty.

 

[radaray58]

very happy with my AVR630 except...

Hi,

I really am enjoying my new AVR630. I must admit that buying it was a bit of an impulse. I began looking at a HTIB Onkyo system, but knew that I wouldn't be happy with the bass output after living with 12" Altec speakers over the last 20+ years, driven by a Technics 65w/channel amp. So I dove in and got the HK after reading excellent reviews on another forum (they don't seem to cover HK here). I purchased Def Tech 2006TL's, a DT CLR2500 center channel, and BP1.2X surrounds for my speakers. All I can say is that Def Tech is all they say it is. The sound is fabulous to my ears when combined the the HK amp.

My only concern is that the volume level is not as high as I had anticipated. The bass output is incredible with over 650 watts of powered subs in the front 3 speakers. But the overall volume seems to have less impact than my old stereo system. I'm not sure why this is, except I have moved into a new house and maybe the volume is damped by the acoustics of the room (heavy carpet, coffered ceiling). The listening area is only about 15 x 15, but open on the end toward the kitchen. With a 75W per channel rating on the HK I'm wondering if I shouldn't have gotten a Denon or Onkyo with 100+ watts to have additional volume capability.

 

[annunaki]

A Denon or Onkyo unit would not do muchfor you at all. For one they only have slightly more power when running STEREO ONLY. In surround mode the H/K will output MORE POWER than either unit with all the channels active at once. Most of your difference is coming from the change in room acoustics. One cannot compare one component with the same speaker system in two different rooms. The variables will have changed making the comparison flawed. At that point you are comparing rooms, not receivers.

There would be no audible difference in overall spl from 75 watts to 100 watts. In order to gain a theoretical 3db, one needs to double the output power. If you are at 75 watts cont. one would have to go to 150 watts cont. just to see a 3 db gain on paper. In the real world due to speaker inefficencies one would realistically see, at best, a 2.5 db increase. Keep in mid that most people JUST START to perceive a change at +- 3db with music. In other words it is barely audible.