Harman Kardon AVR-146 AV Receiver First Look

[admin]

Do you have components in your current home theater system that offer better video signals via their HDMI outputs, but you cannot utilize that feature because you have not upgraded your A/V receiver to a unit that can switch HDMI signals? You probably think it's going to cost you $400 - $500 to upgrade to a HDMI switching receiver. Well it doesn’t have to. The Harman Kardon AVR-147 offers HDMI switching among other great features and has an MSRP of just $299 and a street price of less than $250 at the time of this review!

Discuss "Harman Kardon AVR-146 AV Receiver" here. Read the article.

 

[birdonthebeach]

It's amazing how much technology you can get in today's low-cost receivers....

 

[Seth=L]

It's amazing how much technology you can get in today's low-cost receivers....

Indeed it is, I would still like to see a receiver at this price point with all the fixens.

 

[brulaha]

Anyone know if this receiver can transcode video? E.g. take a S Video signal in and output via HDMI.

 

[Seth=L]

Anyone know if this receiver can transcode video? E.g. take a S Video signal in and output via HDMI.

It does not transcode, but what receiver does at this price. The least expensive receiver to support this feature, at least in my most recent findings, is the TX-SR605. The older TX-SR674 may also support this feature, but I am not certain.

 

[Alamar]

I will admit that the reciever has good features for the price and is a very good value at 200$ [if you shop around]. If I had a friend looking for a new AVR and they couldn't spend a dime over 250$ this would be a unit I'd let them know about ....

However I doubt that I'd feel comfortable recommending this system to anyone without the caveot (sp?) that you can't grow with the system:

1. Why bother having only 2 HDMI connectors? Cable box + PS3 + anything else with HDMI means that you'd want a 3-4 port switch anyway .....

2. Why bother having HDMI connectors if the AVR won't process any of the audio??

3. Where is the enhanced value of this solution compared to using a friend's castoff 5.1 DD / DTS receiver and getting a 3 port HDMI switch??? What's the point even of going that far ..... just connect your Blu/HD player to the TV and use component for everything else???

I guess my point is that I'd much rather have a 300$-500$ receiver that is more flexible & expandable for the future rather than having this particular 200$ receiver.

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Devil's Advocate: You do get a good value for your $ and I'm confident the receiver will do a fine job in its niche.

For a friend I'd still recommend that they use my castoffs and upgrade later if they see the need to.

 

[agabriel]

I would think this receiver is more targeted towards people that have a cable box and dvd or inexpensive hd dvd. If you have a list of devices it only makes sense that you will need something more capable, but the price point is focused on much less than that.

 

[Alamar]

I would think this receiver is more targeted towards people that have a cable box and dvd or inexpensive hd dvd. If you have a list of devices it only makes sense that you will need something more capable, but the price point is focused on much less than that.

I agree that it seems like an entry level system and that's all that it's intended to be. [And is likely a very good entry level system]

I just have a hard time recommending such a system to anyone that "might" want to expand beyond just an HD-DVD && cable box.

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As an aside the power ratings in the article seem to be a very honest set of ratings .... I hope many people don't discount that receiver because of it.

 

[nader0903]

I have this receiver. I'm sure it would be great, but I can't get the HDMI video switching to work. All I get is a blue screen on my tv. When I hook my DVD player or cable box directly to the tv with HDMI, the picture shows up just fine.

HK's tech support really isn't much help, but they have been nice about replacing the product (I'm on my second unit with the same issue), though I'm getting to the point that I'm just going to return it.

People at both Ultimate Electronics AND Best Buy said it is because the AVR 146 uses an older HDMI version. Any thoughts?

 

[02ViperTodd]

I don't have this model but I do have the AVR 445. HDMI switched fine when I had a DVD player with upscaling. When I bought a BD30 the switching effected the signal. I believe HK must buffer the signal going through the switching process and this caused some sync problems. I would initially get the whole Bluray screen then it would begin to pixilate until the whole screen was colored snow. The screen would then go black. This took about 30 seconds and would repeat every 30 seconds. I took the BD30 back to BB and exchanged it for another, which did the same thing. I was then told some HK units will not pass the 1080p signal (I assume the buffering issue). I hooked the BD30 directly to the TV and all is good.

I just reprogramed my Harmony remote for the new settings and all is well.

HK now has a software upgrade that I'm going to install tonight. HK doesn't say what this upgrade does but since I see no other issues with the unit I'll assume it addresses this problem.

Todd

 

[Addy]

ITS 200 DOLLARS 1/3 the price of a ps3...give it a break! lol my cables are worth more then that

 

[Garyb48]

I have this receiver. I'm sure it would be great, but I can't get the HDMI video switching to work. All I get is a blue screen on my tv. When I hook my DVD player or cable box directly to the tv with HDMI, the picture shows up just fine.

HK's tech support really isn't much help, but they have been nice about replacing the product (I'm on my second unit with the same issue), though I'm getting to the point that I'm just going to return it.

People at both Ultimate Electronics AND Best Buy said it is because the AVR 146 uses an older HDMI version. Any thoughts?

I have the same model and cannot get a video image using component video, nor can I access the On Screen Menus. It's as if there is something blocking video-out. Sound is great and I've by-passed the receiver for video directly to the TV, but it seems like a pain to have to do that.

Programming this thing is like taking a step back to Windows 3.x. Whatever happened to plug and play? Should I really have to read the manual, front to back, to get this setup? This seems like a totally engineer designed system for engineers rather than the average user. I love the sound, and I'll probably keep it for that, but it's disappointing to have spent money on an AVR when I could have just kept my Denon receiver and gotten the same results.

 

[Alex2507]

Should I really have to read the manual, front to back, to get this setup?

Evidently yes.

 

[mike c]

are you sure you connected the component cables to the right output on the HK (it should say monitor out, and not TV in)? sometimes i plug in stuff to inputs instead of outputs

 

[Alex2507]

are you sure you connected the component cables to the right output on the HK? sometimes i plug in stuff to inputs instead of outputs

HK might only send the on screen menus out via composite video for all we know. That's how my AVR 430 does it. The manual will tell you for sure. Then when you do access the OSD, you can have at the input setup. You might have to change the source on your TV.

Not reading the manual and not having it work go hand in hand. Usually I have questions even after reading the manual.

 

[mike c]

my 335 also needs a composite cable, but was hoping these new receivers (like my two denons) can now send directly through the main output.

but he did say, he didn't have a picture AT ALL. which means there's a wrong connection somewhere.

i used to assemble the zoids toys without the help of the manual/assembly guide but this really doesn't help with receivers. (read the manual Gary)

 

[FatStrat85]

It's only 30 watts per channel...

 

[allargon]

One can get (last year's) Onkyo TX-SR505 or Sony STR-DG510 pretty cheaply if you just want to do HDMI video switching. The HK might do better audio processing than the Onkyo or (highly likely) the Sony. It would be nice to hear/read an audio blowout between the cheap(er) switching only receivers like the Denon-AVR588, Onkyo TX-SR506 and this HK AVR-146.

Hopefully, Audioholics will review the upcoming HK AVR 254.