To EJE, and to all. Especially on CD's even the best D/A converters push alot of the information on the disc beyond the 20HZ to 20000HZ range. This is due to the error correction circuits in most cd players, even Runco and Krell, especially low end players such as JVC, and Kenwood. This is completely lost information in any receiver except an Harman Kardon. All I have to say about HK is that their receivers sound better (I should know, I have compared, sold, and owned many fine receivers for years, including HK, Denon, Nach, Onkyo, and Yamaha ha ha.) than any other at the same price and feature range. Why is this? Hmmmm, let's see. All high end receivers are high current, so it can't be that. All high end receivers are completely discrete, so it can't be that. By George I've got it, it must be Ultrawide Bandwidth, the frequency ranges that you can't hear, but affect the sounds you do hear. Harman Kardon would not push their product based on this technology unless it worked. If you are cutting on HK's technology you are cutting on Harman Consumer Group, if you are cutting on Harman Consumer Group you are cutting on all of their brands, including Mark Levison, and Proceed, which both use Ultrawide Bandwidth, although do not tell the salespeople to sell based on that feature. Harman representatives told me to sell HK on Ultrawide Bandwidth, and I do, and they sell, and you can hear the difference. So am I full of crap? Mabey? Tell it to Sidney Harman (if you know who that is) and the wonderful folks at Harman International. I'd have to say (for Wrastlin' fans at least.) "I put tha smack down on your Roody Poo."

The AVR65 is a very good product is you can get a working one. I had a chance to listen to one at J&R Music world in NYC.
In stereo mode it's as good as all of the other fine HK receivers. I didn't have a chance to listen to it in any surround modes but from other reviews here I'm sure that's pretty good too.
For the record it blew the Yamaha receivers away in stereo mode. The salesman and all the other shoppers all felt the same way. Not significantly but it definitely sounded fuller with better bass. We were listening to both on Klipsch 10.5 speakers.
Read the reviews here and you will see that the new line of Yamaha receivers can't play DTS discs so the Yamaha quality control needs a bit of upgrading also.
Five stars for the sound
One star for poor quality control.
Three stars.

First of all there is no Yamaha 775, there is a Yamaha RXV 795 but the retail on it is $400 less than the Harman Kardon AVR 65.The Yamaha RXV 995 retails for $1000 and is more of a fair comparison to the HK AVR 65. The RXV 995 has a much better processor, better power supply, better DAC's, much better build quality, better sound, better reliability than the HK ZVR 65.
Yamaha receivers have no problem playing DTS disks. I am not sure where you heard that from?
The AVR 65 has cheap knobs on the front, small thin heatsinks for the power bjt's and only a total of 20000uF total power supply capacitance. It is a toy when compared to other brands in its price class. Not to mention it has the worst track record in reliability of any receiver ever made.

everything

only one optical input, blew the right front channel...therefore possible poor build quality

I really like this reciever, the sound is incredibly clear and accurate. I did blow a channel, but the warranty covered it and I have a good repair shop available so it was not a big problem. I also can just barely notice a slight hiss/buzz through the center channel, and I expect that to go out next, but when listening at any audible volume, it is unnoticable.
For the money I paid for it, this is an amazing reciever, but beware of things busting on it!!! Ubid has its problems, but if you are patient and know what to look for you can find some excellent deals.

Similar Products Used:

high-end Sony, Sherwood, Pioneer

Sounds Great (when working)

Possible audio cutout problem

I just got this as a Christmas present bought from HK's own factory store. Sounds great. However, I think I may have a problem...after the unit has been running a while (4-5hours) the audio starts to break up and the unit goes silent. When I deselect and reselect the source, the audio comes back. Will post more after I hear what HK has to say. Jury still out...

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Sony STR-DE445

Quality sound, features (DD, DTS, inputs 5.1 ins and outs), dare I say quality construction--it's heavy anyhow, looks good.

Hmmm, no 5-channel stereo, remote has limitations, minor problems, interference w/ video signal when not routed through the receiver, no loudness button.

I bought this item second hand for $250 a little under a year ago. I was apprehensive to say the least because I'd done my research and read all these reviews. The seller was believable, and appeared trustworthy, and said he'd bought it from Circuit City a year before and hadn't had problems so I gave it a shot.

First off--never had any problems with blowing channels, and I push it fairly hard from time to time. It appears HK's QC on these was lacking, but if you get a decent unit, you've got a great AV-Receiver.

Receiver has very adequate power. I had a couple of Marantz lower end units (SR-3000 and 580) before this one, and they had far less power and punch then this one. I did however have an HK AVR-20-II as well, and for straight 2-channel stereo listening it packed in better power and punch then the 65. They both provide great stereo listening, but the 65 needs a powered sub if you really want to hit--but don't let this scare you off. It is a great musical receiver (and that is rare in the home theater genre). I'd give it 4.5-stars for stereo listening.
Home theater is a dream here.

DD and DTS both provide great surround (perfect 5-stars here), and are fairly easy to set up, and the 65 has good features for saving your listening preferences for different modes. Pro-logic is OK I guess, but as with all receivers the other DPS's are worthless (never buy a receiver for it's high number of DPS's--none of them are worth a dime--quality stereo is always better for music).

I guess this receiver is multi-room ready (or so they it says, but needs a seperate amp), but I miss receivers that can power two sets of main speakers. Hardly anyone makes these anymore (Onkyo mid-fi and up, and high end for the other guys).

I do get video intereference with this unit when I turn it on and watch standard cable (maybe it's somewhere in my lines, but only happens when the 65 is on). I do NOT get any interference when I view the same cable signal through the 65's video switching (???). I also do not get the interference when I use another video in on the TV (direct S-Video or Composite inputs do not receiver this interference). Not that big a hastle so I never researched the problem.

The remote is great --- except -- no learning, and the programmable codes are quite limited. If you have a DVD player, don't count on the 65's remote to work it. Good unit, and the backlight is killer.

Overall this is a top notch unit with some minor problems, but if you can grab one for under $400 you have yourself a great AV-Receiver. I've had so many AV-Receivers that just couldn't do any justice to music. Be wary of Yamaha--good home theater, bad music (the higher end units are probably OK, but the low and mid-fi's suck). The Marantz units I had were just underpowered--but I still think they make great receivers.

Similar Products Used:

other HK's, Marantz, Yamaha, Technics, Pioneer, and tons of vintage stuff.

Great HK Value for the price.

Remote?

I have had this Great Receiver for almost 1 year now and thanks to the info that the prior reviewer left, I'm happier than ever.

I nver did "run in" the AVR 65 in as he did, But a few changes to the speaker settings and wow, I thought it was clear and powerful then. Its wonderful now.

I love the way I can turn it UP while watching DVDs and get that clean and clear HK power.

I picked mine up back then for $900.00 and now I see them for Under $500. on ebay. What a bargin!

Its much better than the pioneer and kenwood receivers that I've had in the past.

Similar Products Used:

Pioneer, JVC, Kenwood and Sony

Just bought a new production 65 (SN 14,780). Quality improvement is noticeable, face plate is now aluminum, speaker binding posts now accept banana plugs. My unit is made in China. No problems so far, lots of clean power. Compared it to Denon, Onkyo and others. No comparison in sound. A,B from Denon 3300, Onkyo 777, couldn't believe the difference. Not real happy about # of digital inputs, and lack of 5 channel stereo. Great sounding receiver!

Great sounding receiver, never loses strength. Sharp crispy dekoding

Generates a lot of heat, don´t put anything on top of it. Only two digital inputs, one coax and one opt.

I have had no problem with the quality, except for some distorsion on my TV when put to close. Otherwise the receiver sounds very hifi, a good not to bumpy bass. I can´t get involved in the matter of quality, since I havn´t had any problems. But for those loving there 2 channel recordings but still want´s to enter the home cinema arena this is your receiver. Great sound!!!

Similar Products Used:

Denon AVR - 1600

High current, s-video switching, Dolby AC-3 and DTS, dual-room and dual-source capabilities

Could use more digital and s-video inputs as well as another speaker set out. The "Level Down" button on the remote operates at the same frequency as my tv's PIP (icq27fw).

I bought this refurbished receiver from ubid.com for $289 on Monday (6-5-00). Be aware that this model retails anywhere from $400 to $900 (refurbished or new), so if you are able to get your hands on this unit for about $300, it's a steal! Mine came with a 2 year manufacturer's warranty. It arrived yesterday (6-8-00) and I've been playing with it since.

For those of you who care to know, I bought this system without any prejudice. In fact, I didn't come accross this site until today because I wanted to read some reviews on this model.

I've been wanting to purchase this amp for awhile, but thought that the varying prices were a bit steep. Well, I finally got one!

I've been a fan of HK amps since my room-mate at Emory U. brought one back winter of '94. The sound quality was amazing! I would listen to CD's that I had had for quite some time and find certain instruments that I didn't know existed on the CD's thanks to the high current design. I had listened to other high current amps, but thought that the HK was much cleaner in terms of frequency reproduction. Anyway, the AVR 65 is not much different from the HK stereo amps of the past in a sense that it delivers a full range of frequency (ultra-bandwidth) response, and nowdays includes video features, too.

But the fun doesn't stop there. What if you wish to take advantage of the higher video resolution (NTSC: max. 250 lines of resolution, s-video: max. 400 lines of res.) capabilities of your various video sources that use s-video, and your tv only has one s-video input? Until now I've had to use a third party audio/video switch to do my switching for all my s-video signals (PSX, LD, S-VHS, PC and DVD). That's now a thing of the past since my avr 65 has 3 s-video inputs (that's more than most, but I could still use some more). No more having to get myself off the couch to switch the video source at the front of my entertainment center. Now I can control my video inputs with the avr65's remote.

Another aspect of the avr65 is that it supplies both AC-3 and DTS decoding capabilities. This is nice, because until now the predominant built-in decoder has been Ac-3 (inlcuding the avr85). Also, it comes with 6-channel input for future upgrade.

I spend all night listening to as many CD's as possible, until I figured it was time to test out the surround sound features. The speaker setup seemed a bit unnerving, but ultimately, once all speakers had been calibrated, the result was very satisfying.

In regards to those comments made by all the previous reviwers, I would like to say this:

Don't be influenced by anyone who'll put down a product without supplying details to why they feel this way about the particular product.

Always remember, everybody's entitled to an opinion. It's up to you to decide whose opinion you'll value and whose you'll discart.

To all those who bought this and very blown away by it, CONGRATS! Job well done!

To all those who just like to "rip" on others, maybe that's what you expect others to do to you. KARMA much?

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Denon, Yamaha, Kenwood, Sony, Adcom, other HK models