While I was disappointed when I first hooked up the AVR3550HD I was undeterred. I felt that HK had not dropped out of the high end quality slot that I had been used to and as many retailers who sell competeing products told me. I replaced my HK DPR2005 receiver only because I wanted the HDMI inputs. I have had a number of HK receivers in the last 30 plus years and was never disappointed. As I stated earlier I was initially disappointed. I played with all settings, replaced speaker cable and talked to others about what might be going on.. I finally read a blog that started talking about how HDMI was not yet perfect! I decided to go back and use my optical cables to transmit the audio from my sources. OH MY! MY PARADIGMS STILL LIVE! Alkl is well at Harman Kardon, the receiver is great! I understand that the 3550HD is already being replaced by a new model, the 3600. I am sure it will meet or exceed anyone's expectations if they take the time to eliminate the weak links in their system.

I must say Harman kardon is still one one the cleanest sound A/V receivers I have ever demo'd, I A&B 'd it with and without my NAD 272 Power Amp, and I got to tell you the 3550HD hung in there with it with a sweet sound extremely warm, the NAD was well defined and louder (but also very clean). I know most would say you can't run Paradigm Reference 100's with a 75 watt amp but they keep forgetting about the high current, which incidently drives the speakers not wattage!. I have an old reveiw on the AVR 7300 (which I recently sold) the guy that got it loves it! I am into Bluray now and wanted to upgrade to the AVR 7550HD (which is currently not available) and I don't think I can afford it right now, so I went and purchased his little brother. I found and posted some nice images of the 7550HD it will be a force to be reckened with once it it released trust me. JR (HK Fan) link: http://www.jmrstudio.com/demos/hk/