Price Paid:  $0.00

Summary:
Had this unit for about two years but only use it VERY sporadically. The sound is good when I can turn it ON-therefore the 3 star rating- but that is the PROBLEM! Very often the damn thing just would not turn ON manually or by remote. It is very disappointing. Sometimes I unplug it and after repeated tries in turns on just to turn itself off automatically whenever it pleases. So far, no help from MediaMarkt, the chain where it was purchased and I do not expect them to move a finger. These guys just move boxes.
Hey HK, any tips? Soon it will be Good-Bye for ever.

Price Paid:  $0.00

Summary:
I have owned this unit for about 2 years. This is my first and only stereo receiver I have owned and I have been very happy with the quality and sound of this unit. It was quite complicated to set up for me being a beginner but Circuit City hooked it up nicely for me when I purchased my LCD TV.
The sound is amazing, at only about 30 watts it delivers a lot of boom to my movies. I am presently in the market for a second receiver for a family room entertainment center and plan to upgrade to a more modern HK receiver with HDMI.
The only weakness I have noticed about this receiver is the remote is a bit complicated as is the set up for a beginner. Also, being a little outdated compared to todays receivers, there is no HDMI outlets in this unit.

A very good receiver and I highly recommend it to anyone looking for a good quality receiver without paying the big bucks.

Price Paid:  $250.00 from HK

Summary:
I decided to jump from the mid-range products (JVC, Sony, Kenwood and the like) to the relm high-end stuff. Of course my budget took my down to earth a bit but I figured I could afford a nice HK receiver and DVD player. I got them and hooked them up with much haste!! I was blown away by the sound this unit produces despite it's modest power level. It made my Celestion Monitors sing like never before. I was in love.
But all was not well. After about 9 months the processor would not switch to different modes, it couldn't find dolby signals! After quite a few calls to HK they told me to send it back. None to happy was I. After 9 months of use it was dead!? I did send it back (at my considerable expense) and got another one promptly. The new one lasted about 5 hours and it has died. After a few days I have not recieved a response from HK.
I'm shopping for a Marantz or Onkyo, see ya HK.

Strengths:
Sound, that magnificent sound.
Price point
Looks

Weaknesses:
That damn remote control, who designed it?
Reliability

Similar Products Used:
None in this relm of audio....yet.

Price Paid:  $299.00 from Circuit City

Summary:
This is my first all digital a/v receiver, compared to my fiirst Aiwa analog this unit is underpowered. But on the good side like the others stated it produces amazing sound, with plenty of digital inputs it was a perfect buy for me and anyone else who cant afford a 1000$ receiver. Remote is ok once you get to know it. I would like to see a LCD remote with my next HK purchase!!! I would buy from them again, unless Yamaha comes down in price i will stick with HK.

Strengths:
Plenty of A/V Digital inputs, Good sound,great price and HK quality look.

Weaknesses:
No power, in stereo 5 channel it produces 60 watts per channel but in Dolby anything,5,6,7 logic it only produces 40 watts.

Price Paid:  $220.00 from HK on line EBAY

Summary:
I moved to a mini apartment in manhattan, I sold my HK AVR7300 and auditioned some mini receivers to match up with my athena .5 mk2 mini speakers system
The contenders
1- Onkyo TX-LR552 from Ubid
2- PANASONIC SA-XR55S from J and R
3- HK AVR135 from HK online ebay

1-First up the Onkyo TX-LR552 purchased from UBID. It was a refurb with a 1 yr warranty and a rip of cost of $25 for s&h. It was defective out of the box. The volume control skips up and down in unequal increments if used manually.
The sound was very good. The feature set very good and the remote excellent. The remote was the best of the three. The seller UBID was the WORST. They wanted to charge me 15% to return the defective unit they had sent me. What a rip off I wont be buying from them again.
2- Next up the PANASONIC SA-XR55S from J and R music world. Good price at $239. 100 % functional out of the box. Great feature set. The remote ok. The sound was the worse of the three units. Absolutely terrible. Thats my opinion, its a digital amp and to me it sounded very sharp and shrilly in all modes.
3- HK AVR135 refurb purchased from HK online via ebay w 2 yr warranty.
100 % functional out of the box.
The sound was great, number 1 in this group and far better then the other two. The feature set excellent but the remote dead last. The remote was the worst in this group.
The seller is excellent and mantains an excellent rating on ebay.
Final rating
1-The ha avr135 awesounding little receiver for the money and the one I kept.
2- the technics sa xr55 wonderful feature set and easy to use and set up. Sounded good in home theater bad in stereo.
3- Last was the Onkyo. Just a terrble experience with the seller, UBID, compounded the functionality problems. The Onkyo would have placed a close second but theres no forgiving a non working unit.
I work too hard for my money to throw it away.
The seller, UBID IS THE WORST. Its like legalized robbery on the internet. I would not recomend them to anyone for anything. I now have to spend more money to send the unit in for repair.

Strengths:
The sound is a1 top notch.

Weaknesses:
The remote.

Similar Products Used:
PANASONIC SA-XR55S from J and R music world.

Onkyo TX-LR552 purchased from UBID