The AVR25mkII is an exceptionally well built product.
It has my NASA seal of approval.

Spring connectors for surround speakers.

I purchased my AVR25mkII for 359.99 at Damark in September of 1997. I remember it well because the day I received I had gotten all 4 of my moulers ripped out my mouth. I would recommend that experience to anyone. Anyway as I was bleeding profusly from my I was setting up my new home theatre system because I was so excited to get it. After I had finished setting up I turned it on only to hear the most clear and well defined music my ears had ever heard.
I had bought a pair of BOSE 4001 floorstanding speakers from Sam's Club a year earlier. They have 2 6 1/2" woofers and a 2 1/4" direct reflecting tweeter. The 6 1/2's also have a bass port for each of them. I have recently purchased the BOSE VCS-300 home theatre upgrade. My home theatre setup is also complemented by an Audiosource 12" powered subwoofer, since Bose does not make any. I hosted a Halloween party in '99 with the 2 4001, the powered sub,and my brothers JBL home cinema system which has one 6 1/2 sub and five satelites with 3 1/2" & 1"titanium tweeters. There
was at least 50 people there and quite a few people thought
that it sounded as a big city Rave. I would definitely buy a Harmon/Kardon receiver over anything else on the market. Nothing else can compete in the price range. Thanks for your precious time,

Neil Armstrong

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I just purchased this reciever and am having troubles getting the remote work at all. I've tried new batteries and the reciever itself works awesome, still nothing happens. Could it make a difference that I have nothing hooked up yet?

I bought mine for around $350 new mailorder. This is an excellent all-around receiver for music and Pro-Logic. No complaints. It's the best, still, in the $500 price range.

Unparalleled sound, Power, natural, true reproduction of music.

One channel had fizz at very low volumes, got that fixed tho, and its flawless

Awesome receiver. Sound is true, clear, and remains faithful to the sound. Powerful amp, and good value. Only problem is that it is not Dolby Digital. Doesn't bother me much though.

Excellent bass reproduction with a variety of music CD's. Everything from the Ramones, fast and hard hitting, to Christmas and country music. Very good mid-range seperation from higher frequencies. Can really define different instruments and seperation of vocals from instruments from backround. Sometimes has 3-D spatial effect when listening to CD's. Using a harmon-kardon 5 disc changer, 8300, with reciever. Good combo, I think. Speakers are Teledyne A&R (acousitc research). They are only bookshelves w/ a tweeter and 1 woofer. Reciever brought to life. Forget the Sony Reciever. Also, is used with satellite and panasonic vcr for home entertainment center. Excellent seperation with movies off tape. Using a high end center channel speaker. Lots of inputs and increase power with Harmon Kardon Amp. Like the treble and bass controls on reciever. Simple Stupid. No pain in the butt on screen progamming. Style looks modern and clean. Lots of power. Good price.

Needed S-video's for Home theatre. doesn't really matter, excellent clean picture through RCA jacks. Remote kind'a sucks, chicklet key pad with no backlight.

Reciever has supurb sound reproduction @ very nice price. It's all about the sound in this unit.

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Sony recievers, awful !!! Sony CD players, awful !!! Sony TV's, very nice, that's what made them people !!!

I researched about the realiabilty of the Harman Kardon products and came across a site www.ubid.com where they sell thousands of refurbished
Harman Kardon products. That tells you something about the Company and
its product.

May be they are the poineers but they have one on the worst realibilty
and service charges in the industry.

When you buy a high end product you expect it to perform and last as well.

For the same reason I would give this product a Single Star and advice
people to consider reliability before picking up a receiver.

I have the AVR25 MK I version which has been a flawless receiver. Only complaint is a little noise in the rear channels which I knew about before I purchased it. I purchased this receiver in 1994 for $385 from Sound City. It is arated at 75W stereo and absolutely blows away my 100watt Technics. This receiver is used mostly for home theater: DSS, paragigm CC-300 center, JBL JV9000 tower mains, paradagm titan full range rears, paradigm power sub. The response is very flat accross the full frequency range and power is more than adequate. I'm not a big fan of sound effects so the Hk's lack of different sound fields was a plus to me.

Looking to upgrade to an AVR-65 with AC-3 and DTS

Brought one based on the reviews on this page and Home Theater magazine. Paid $314.99 from a mail order catalog company.I now have for sale a Technics GX-690 receiver.
I am amazed that I can hear such a big difference.
This receiver is the real deal!
Harmonics, clarity, dynamic power, everything I always wanted in a receiver I finally got!
Five stars!

Sounds great and doesn't get too hot.

Radio is a pain to work. Some functions are only accessable via remote. NO PROTECTION WHAT SO EVER!!!!!!!

For several hundred dollars you'd think Harman/Kardon could build some kind of safety feature into their products. With my JVC you could cross a speaker wire by accident and the reciever would shut off instantly. With HK you accidently cross a wire and you fry something!!!! I used this reciever for about 5 months and then moved it around and hooked it back up. Ran the reciever fine for 5 minutes not knowing a small wire was crossed to one of the speakers. The reciever shut off and smoke started pouring out of the top!!!!! Basic protection for something like that might cost a couple dollars to integrate but over a hundred dollars to fix when something screws up. DON'T BUY HARMAN/KARDON!!!! YES THE SOUND IS GREAT BUT IT'S TOO BIG OF A RISK BECAUSE ANY MISTAKE WILL COMPLETELY FRY THE RECIEVER!!!

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I've used JVC and pioneer before and for paid less for those 2 recievers combined than this one. I've also tried the AVR 100 too(see my review for that reciever too).

Nice appearance...good sound until it craps out!

Reliability

My last receiver lasted 24 years and is still making music. My HK crapped out after 4 years of light use and has now been in the shop for 6 months!!! I will never buy HK again!!! I just learned that the repair part is no longer made and my unit is obsolete. I am going back to my 1977 Marantz!!!! Ok...maybe not but I am not a happy camper.