Power....lots of power. THX processing. Sound, build quality. Clean front panel.

I always run out of buttons on the remote, and I think the memory's almost full, too.

When I started building my home theater two years ago, I initially purchased the AVR 85 to power it. Being a new-comer to home theater, the shortcomings of the AVR 85 were not apparent to me at the time, and the AVR 85 offered more current (rated 65 amps vs. 45) and built-in DD decoding. The AVR 85 was a great receiver, and I never had any problems with it whatsoever, but as time went on, the lack of direct six-channel inputs and no on-board DTS began to worry me. I was in the stereo shop one Saturday to pick up some speaker cable, and by happenstance was able to turn a deal to get one of these (a trade-in) along with a Technics SH-AC500D DD/DTS decoder (for a modest upgrade price).

So I brought it home, hooked it up, and watched the Tombstone DVD, and I immediately noticed greater presence in the rear speakers (although their rated power is 20 watts less than in the AVR 85). THX mode was amazing, as well - I could actually enjoy watching a VHS movie again without constantly thinking how crappy it sounded compared to DVD. Stereo music sounds great, as well. Saving Private Ryan in DTS sounds fabulous. No sacrifice in sound over the AVR 85, but this receiver's flexibility are what really sets it apart from the AVR 85. The ability to send a signal from an input other than the current listening source to the record out jacks on VCR1 and Tape1 are great; I have the VCR1 record-out jacks connected to my TV, so I can listen to music through my receiver and watch TV with sound at the same time (without having to switch the input on the TV from S-Video to coax). Also nice for dubbing in the background. The receiver also has 7 S-Video inputs in contrast to the AVR 85's 5. And of course, direct six-channel inputs.

A few really picky things. The remote doesn't have enough programmable buttons. And the speaker binding posts on the back have the positive and negative terminals for each speaker lined up vertically in pairs; I preferred the AVR 85's approach of having the pairs of terminals horizontally positioned in one column - it's easier on the speaker wire. But that's a tiny nit.

Overall, this receiver is outstanding value for the money (especially what you'd pay now). The AVR 7000 appears (on a feature-basis, anyway) to be the true, albeit expensive, successor to the AVR 80II. So yes, you can get better - for a pretty penny more. This receiver will continue to be part of my home theater for a long time. Which is a good thing, because I, too, hate obsolescence.

Similar Products Used:

AVR 85

Clean power awesome sound

no sleeping mode

After having this receiver, I hadn't do much things except just listenning to the music and watching movies at home. This receiver is really something! It is Awesome!. Needless, to say much. It helps producing clean warm powerful bass, too. This receiver is one of the amazing products on the market so far. I bet who got this receiver will not have much time to sleep like I do. I will surely and gladly recommended this receiver to who would like to have the theather sound at home. As the matter of fact, it does a better realistic sound job than some of the theater I had went in some areas. Thus, why not all 5! then.

THX, DD and DTS Ready.

Remote if any.

I prefer the AVR 80 II over the AVR 65. The difference in power is noticeable especally during Prologic playback. The AVR 80 II is just a SOLID Receiver.

I was excited when I received the AVR 65 to replace the AVR 80 II that I had for over a year. I figured with the DD and DTS built in it would make a big difference. But the difference was slight to say the least. The power was not present in the AVR 65 that I had grown to know in the AVR 80II. The THX mode is unbelievable and its a must have for playback of VHS tapes and Direct TV movies.

I was able to hook up my DVD player directly to the DD/DTS ready inputs of the AVR 80II.

I have a friend who has the AVR 85 and its a very nice unit. I got the AVR 80II for about $200 less then he got the AVR 85 for. The AVR 85 has the DD built in, But I'd rather have the THX in the AVR 80 for my VHS tape collection and for the Satellite Dish DTV. None of the movies are broadcasted in DD yet and I would have to upgrade to a more expensive dish receiver for the DD to work.

I paid about $1100 for this receiver over 1 year ago and now I see them for $500-$600 on ebay and yahoo auctions. Quite the bargin indeed. IMO.

Similar Products Used:

AVR 85 and 65.

very refined and clean sound, good enough power, THX mode, S-video for all video sources, 6 ch inputs, Built-in PCM D/A converter, Learning remote

overall ergonomics...

I got a pair of Wharfedale Sapphire Blue 87 bought from Ubid earlier for $250. As soon as H/K was in place, it revamped my Wharfedales. Since then, I can not completely agree to any bad opinions about my bi-wired Wharefedale. With H/K, it's very well sonically balanced for the money. I do know the sound of Paradigm Atom and Acoustic Energy Aegis One. I can admit they give better image with less coloration but their upper(bigger and pricier) models suffer from the advantages of their little brothers unless there's another zero at the price tag. So does my Wharfedale simply because of its size and price. However, big ones can handle bigger music better and this H/K wondefully support it. If you want to know potential of your speaker, this H/K is the way to go.

THX mode was a big plus for me as well. I didn't realize that how crummy Dolby ProLogic surround was before I got this H/K.

Listening to any CD music through built-in PCM D/A converter was also a quite pleasure. It gave much more refined and neutral sound.

One small drawback was very short tick sound whenever the volume changed. This can be quite annoying for someone wants to change volume setting quite often.

Overall ergonomics is not as good as other competing brands, specially the remote. But this one is a learning remote which beautifully handles my 2 VCRs, a DVD player, a TV, and H/K.

For the the price I paid, $350, this one was an absolute steal and furthermore, its price was quite spouse friendly.

Similar Products Used:

Yamaha, Sherwood, Sony

In my humble opinion, the best dollar for dollar receiver on the planet is the Harman/Kardon AVR 80 II! Now let me tell you why.
Like most, I considered the vast gamut of receivers on the market. I compared the newer Harman/Kardon AVR 85, the Onkyo TX-DS 939THX, TX-DS 838 and TXSV-828THX receivers. I auditioned the Denon's, the Yamaha's, the Sony ES units, Technics "top dog" THX model, Kenwood's "Ace in the hole" and the result was the same, the AVR 80II was still the better buy and much more lavish sounding receiver in my humble opinion!

The most powerful and flexible receiver was of course the $2,800 Onkyo TX-DS 939THX receiver which by the way has Dolby Digital built-in, THX 5.1, pre-amp out/main-ins for all six channels, a nifty sound meter for detecting and measuring the sound levels of each speaker and a slew of other bells and whistles! However, at twice the price of an AVR 85 and more than three times the price of a "B-Stock" AVR 80 II from the Harman Audio Outlet, it's cool bells & whistles weren't enough to sway me. Especially given the Harman/Kardon sounds warmer, the bass fuller and the midrange astoundingly more life like! The other Onkyo's suffered the same flat at times and bright at others sound of the 939 and were far less flexible so they too were eliminated.

Next, it became a showdown between the AVR 85 and AVR 80 II. To make it fair, the Audio Consultant included the Harman/Kardon ADP 303 Dolby Digital decoder performing an A-B Dolby Digital comparison. Both receivers sounded absolutely awesome, and almost identical in revealing slight nuances in scenes from the AC-3 version of "The Long Kiss Goodnight" however, the AVR 85 did seem to reveal a bit more theatrical excitement (probably because of it extra power: 65 amps of high current versus 45 amps of high current on the AVR 80II). Surprisingly, I heard no audible differences in the rear speaker performance, which I was a little dismayed since the AVR 85 features a power rating of 85 x 5 versus 85 x 3 (FL/C/FR) and 60 x 2 (RR.RL) in the AVR 80 II! Then we compared both receivers in analog Dolby Pro-Logic mode (the AVR 80 II in Dolby Pro-Logic Home THX Cinema). Unlike the differences in Dolby Digital, the differences in analog Dolby Pro-Logic versus Home THX Cinema were night and day to me. In this comparison, the AVR 80 II really showcased the importance of Lucasfilm's Cinema Re-Eq, Decorrelation and Timbre Matching techniques. While Home THX Cinema was impressive in the way the sound seemed to flow seamlessly between front and rear in analog Dolby Pro-Logic, it's still no Dolby Digital substitute. Then again, if you own tons of prerecorded VHS tapes and frequent Block Busters like I do, the AVR 80 II is definitely an winner in this category.

The last comparisons involved expandability and flexibility. In this category the AVR 80 II really shines as it offers pre-amp out/main-ins for all six channels (which provides future upgrade paths for both amplifiers and/or future processor formats). There's also a 6-channel discrete input for an easy upgrade path to Dolby Digital or DTS! The AVR 80 II also has more "S- Video" jacks (7 versus 5 on the AVR 85)!

Finally, I paid $587.70 for the last "B-Stock" AVR 80 II at OneCall (www.onecall.com or 800-663-5255) with the full manufacturers 2-year warranty. I also paid an additional $69.95 for their 5 year extended warranty which covers parts, labor, power surges, lightning damage and etc. My total bill was $677.65 delivered to my door, which is still about $900 less than I've seen it at Circuit City and about $600 less than I've seen it at other mail order houses. To my knowledge OneCall has plans to receive another shipment of drastically reduced AVR 80 II receivers, but only brand new ones (so I'm not certain what the price will be). You can also contact the Harman Audio Outlet Store in Oxnard, California, where I last heard they had both Class A and B stock receivers with the full manufacturer's warranty. You can reach them at 800-981-3810 (ask for Tom Sonneman. Concluding, it's my humble opinion that the H/K AVR 80 II is the better buy and dollar for dollar the best Mid-Fi receiver in the world! Well, that's my .02 cents!

Andrew

I have owned this receiver for two years. It is a clean sounding piece of equipment. The AVR 80 II is muscular in its power delivery and very smooth. The prologic decoding is accurate. The THX mode enhances the the audio pleasure when viewing VHS material. This receiver was highly acclaimed by the press ( US & British ) when introduced, and after ownership I can say the reviews were quite accurate. I have 4 ohm rated speakers and the unit produces little heat even at volumes. Additoanally, reliability has been superb. The build quality and feel of the controls of this unit are also excellent. I don't understand the trashing of this wonderful unit by the poster below. I don't believe he is an owner of this unit. As a matter of fact, I am certain that the post does not belong here. Jetsons.

I bought this receiver mainly because of the flexibility of the 6-channel pre in/outs and the 6-channel inputs. This will allow me to hook up practically any decoders that come along in the future for DTS or whatever. I currently have the HK DD decoder plugged into the 6-channel input, and that works great.

Another reason I bought it was because laserdiscs were big when I got it a few years ago, and this receiver has a coax digital input which gives excellent THX dolby surround because the processing is done entirely in the digital domain, never going to analog until the final output stages. In fact, I like the overall quality of a good laserdisc through the direct digital input of this receiver more than Dolby Digital. The vocals come out much smoother on THX Pro-Logic. But Dolby Digital does give better spacial cues.

Yet another reason why I bought it is that that if you don't use a center channel speaker, you can use the center amp in this receiver to power an unpowered subwoofer.

I found that this receiver gives really great sound, clean and crisp. It's not as good as the $3000 Spectral amplifier that my roomate has, but is definitely better than the $800 Carver AV405 Amp that I also have.

The remote isn't great, and the onscreen menus are poorly organized, but everything is there and usable once you figure out what is what.

The FM tuner really doesn't pull much in, but who uses a tuner anyway?

Overall, this was a great deal when I bought it for $1200, and so you folks who have them available for half that are getting a great deal. Although I might go for the AVR85 if I were in the market today for the built in DD decoder.

The main thing I love is that this thing is future proof. I don't have to worry that I will have to replace it any time soon!

still plays my movies just fine,6 channel input future proof,still reliable no problems.

stupid design remote,not backlit and the keypad has too many similar sized buttons. I.C. stage surround amplifier.

After more than a year of using this reciever as my home theatre reciever,I must say that it has done well. Flexibility is its' strong suit. I need not worry about obcselence here at all. Its' pre out/in section and 6 channel direct inputs make DTS and AC-3 processor integration a no brainer. I will get a DTS processor soon. I have enjoyed my DVD movies and VHS movies without a hitch. I just run clean power to it,and it goes. It makes a dandy control center for my home theatre. Eventually I will not use the amplifier stages at all. I will run all external amps later. I use a NAD 2400 for my subwoofer. My NAD 7400 doubles as the surround amplier. I used the H/K surround amplifier and was dissapointed with its performance. The main front channels and center channel are discrete MOSFET outputs but the rear is an IC like darlington power pack mess. I disdain these things for their inherent poor sound. Only one company knows how to make an IC stage sound good and that is "LINN",but who has that kind of money anyway. I must say that the tape loops and copy functions are great too. I often use this reciever for some of my monitoring of my multimedia projects. The main reason this AVR-80II continues to impress is its' value. Sure the Denon and Yamaha monsters steal the show for the best mid-fi to Hifi honors,but for what you get here,I paid around $500.00 something dollars,it was hard to pass up. You don't get the fancy great looking aluminum panels,but the guts inside aside from the IC stage surround amp are just as good as those other recievers. The THX mode is a nice touch too. Although the H/K doesn't have the multitude of effects like the Yamaha units,it does keep it simpler for me that way. Long since discontinued, the AVR-80II still does fine duty in my home theatre environment. It looks like it will continue for quite some time. Final incarnation will be basically a control unit,with external processors and amplifiers for all channels. I am glad that the H/K will be around as my bargain home theatre router or hub. I hate obscelecence.

Similar Products Used:

NAD 7400,Harman Kardon 670i

I WASN'T A BIG FAN OF HOME THEATRE,ALL THAT BOOMY,PHASY SOUND JUNK WAS NOT ENTERTAINMENT TO ME. THEN CAME DVD. WOW,KNOWING MY LIMITED BUDGET,BUT DEMANDS OF THE DVD. THE HARMAN KARDON AVR80-2 WAS A BARGAIN. ALTHOUGH JUST DISCONTINUED.HENCE THE CHEAP SEATS PRICE. THIS RECIEVER STILL HOLDS "HK" VALUES HERE. HIGH CURRENT,MUSICALLITY,GOOD BUILD QUALITY. KILLER SOUND WITH MY KEFS'POLKS,AND HSU SUB. THIS RIG SHOULD DO WELL FOR AWHILE. THE REMOTE SUCKS THOUGH. THE QUIRKY SHUT-OFF AFTER 5 MINUTES WITH USING "TV" SOURCE OCCURS BUT SINCE I DON'T USE THAT INPUT,NO BIGGY. LOVE THE CLEAR BIG DISPLAY. USER MENUS ARE FINE. THE AVR-85 I UNDERSTAND IS ITS' REPLACEMENT WITH AC-3 BUILT IN,AND OTHER STUFF.BY THE WAY THE TUNER SECTION IS ONLY FAIR. OVERALL I VERY MUCH LIKE THIS RECIEVER. FOR HOME THEATRE,JUST KILLER. FOR MUSIC LISTENING MY NAD 7400 IS THERE,ESPECIALLY ON "FM".SO I CAN STILL RECOMMEND THE HK,EVEN WITH ITS' QUIRKS.

This Receiver has excellent sound quality, and an abundance of inputs and outputs to make any stereo buff connect all there toys to it...!

None so far, maybe if it had a sleep function

This is probably the highest end receiver that I have had so far.. I am really happy with it and think that I will finally keep this one for a long time...!!!

Similar Products Used:

None Really.. A Sony STR-DE 705 or a Technics SA-AX720