The H/K AVR-55 is a GREAT Poduct,They definatly put the money in the sound and not on glitz,and its built like a tank to boot,,the only thing i diddent like was the remote,it could have been a bit better in quality,At least like the one that comes with th HK AVR-25II,,,,but petty things aside this is a "wise buy" if there ever was one,,,,,

After comparing this reciever to a Sony, JVC and Yamaha, this was by far the best choice and the best value. There was no comparison with the Sony and JVC, they are in two different leagues. The Yamaha and the HK sounded similar, but the deal I got on the HK could not be passed up ($499, retails for $999.99). It has DD built in and can easily be upgraded with additional amps.
At home it sounds great on an old set of M&K's. I am waiting for my Polk RM7300 to come in. At Circuit City the HK played on the Polks was simply awesome, this is a great reciver that can be found at terrfic prices.

WoW this is a nice piece for not alot of money,,warm natural sound never harsh,Id recomend it to anyone,,Well done Harman/Kardon !!

I tried out 3 receivers befor I finally ended up with the HK AVR55. Compared to the Technics AX6 and the JVC's the HK really shines. The JVC sounded so bad I thought that I connected the speakers to it incorrectly, no such luck the JVC just sounded bad. The Technics AX6 however was a very nice and powerful unit.
The guys at Future Shop will be glad to know I won't be taking this one back.

What can you say about a receiver of this quality for $399 (Yes that is right, $399). After a week of use I am very happy with all phases of this receiver (the remote is another matter). Take a hint, light up the Blues Brothers on DVD in DD. SWEEET! At 50% volume I love the silence. Yes that's right, at 50% there is no audible hiss from the speakers. You audiophiles may not appreciate how exciting that is for average people. My previous Sony had audible hiss at 20%!!! This means loud listening, clear concise sound, and I am noticing small sounds in movies I have never heard in the past. For a receiver that originally retailed at $1199 HK should be ashamed of this remote. A reasonably ergonomic and better layout of buttons on the remote would force me to 5 stars.

I recently purchased the HK AVR-55 receiver, and I want tell you I thought I'd need a crain to get it into the house. I knew it was a good unit, but when I hooked it up in place of my top-of-the-line Kenwood V9010 Pro-logic receiver
with 130 watt in the front, it was like day and night, music to my ears. I just
finished the manual, and folks please read the manual on you equipment it really
helps! I just added a DVD player (on my PC) sounds crazy but I can't tell the difference between the home unit and the PC-Version. Hey it works for half the cost $$$, I using a 15' digital data link to run through the wall of my
studio , under the stairs to family room to the back of my AVR-55. I get true
5.1 sound (if the DVD is coded for it). Of I also own a Harmon/Kardon 350i receiver ,which I will never part with to me HK is truely THE BEST!!!

JR

I love this reciever except for one thing!!! I have full range speakers in the front and a sub, this reciever makes you input what type of speakers you have and if you say you have a sub it uses a crossover to shut off all low freq. to all of the speakers and redirects them to the sub!!!!! so that means my nice new infinty front speakers with 12" woofers do nothing but mids and highs. It wouldnt be so bad but if you say you dont have a sub it doesnt send any signal to the sub output!! So what I had to do was run the main speaker wires into the sub as my sub has high level inputs as well as rca inputs and then run the wires from the sub into my main speakers. I would have gave it a 5 star rating but beacause of this I'm pissed!! A guess it perfect if your runing satelites and a sub

Chris

Just like to concurr with the rest of the reviews. Excellent receiver. Still can't believe I only paid $399 for it.
55w/ch doesn't sound like much, but it can really crank.

Dittos, too, on the lousy remote. All the buttons are identical?! How the HELL do you operate this thing in the dark? Mine also kept forgetting everything I programmed into it, until I replaced the crappy included AAA's with some Energizers. Now all is good. :)

Would be 5 stars but for the remote.

FM section is not very good on the included dipole! Tuned lights up but no stereo?!
I can't figure this out, dipoles should and have worked on my crappy technics much better than this.

Very clean modest rating on output. Well constructed unit. AVR 45 is selling at CircuitCity for $799.00! WOW 399 was a deal or steal

HURRY, HURRY, UBID.COM IS AUCTIONING OFF 100 HAMANKARDON AVR 55 THROYGH MONDAY DECEMBER 21 AT 8 EASTERN