the harman kardon hk 980 is a very powerful amp. I was running 200 watt mission speakers and even these got really hot when playing to loud. the amp never gave up. its got as good bass and treble and a pre out is used for me epos els sub.

Its not 5.1 but stereo for music is better.

Just out of the box my HK 980 after few hours went mute on one of the channels. Took it back to the retailer, who in disbelief accepted to tested in the store. Next day he called me, and gave a new sealed box with a second HK 980, apollogizing for the misshap. The equipment worked fine, connected to a 980 CD player and )(= tuner, for three moinths, then, again: one of the channels went mute. I boxed in 2011 and still is in the box today in 2016. The CD works fine with a Cambridge Audio driving a couple of Cabasses.
So much for a previous prestigious brand. HK uses the same pre-amps in more than one configuration and probably they never checked compatibility with the power amps they were connecting them. Poor design, no QC.

I have ordered one HK980, and when it has arrived went to take it. The first impression was quite good (packaging, look, weight)... The surprise appeared, when we have connected and switched it on. The left channel of amplifier was absolutely silent. The sound from right channel has shown good guality of reproduction (if it is possible to say so), also design was solid one. So i am so grateful to Harman Kardon for such a present, but i am not going to buy mono amplifier for stereo price. One day later salesman has told to me that amplifier is fixed (there was some weak connection inside), but it is not exscuse. I think it is good time to anderstand at Harman that it is not enough to design amazing product, but also necessary to have adequate assembly control to prevent such situations. In addition i want to say something about previous model HK970 ,that i have been using 1 year. The HK970 II (black colour) has not only solid construction, but also confident sound quality. The only minus is a little softer presentation, than sometimes necessary, and not perfect dynamics. However it depends on other components choice too, so amplifier deserves even 5 stars for generally enjoyable sound (considering price).