I found a fix for the video distortion!

I had been using the AVR65 for several months with no problems of distortion. After moving to a new apartment, I could barely watch TV on the new setup. I tried plugging the TV into the unswitched outlet on the back of the AVR65, and everything cleared up!
This is an amazing receiver, I have never been happier now that it is working again. Play around with your power configurations before you dump this receiver.

David

Sounds great for the price I paid.

List was $999.00 Although I don't think anyone pays this.

To R Dewitt, I bought the 65 as an "open box deal" for $450.00. Hooked it up and the thing shut off after 2 hrs. I figured the thing is broken andthat was why I got such a good deal. Then I read the manual and figured out that I had the sleep timer on. You need to keep pressing the button on the remote until it reads off on the display. I'm not sure if this will help but it is worth a try. The thing sounded great but one of the processors or converters was not working. I had no sound in Hall 1 or 2 and it would take my CD player about 3 seconds before I could hear any music. Same with DVD's. I thought my CD playey was broken. But it seems a couple people have had this problem. Well I returned on the 30th day and and now have the Denon AVR 3300. It was going to cost another $300 to get the AVR 500, so I went for the Denon which was the same $$ as the HK 500. Would have rated it higher if it worked.

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Onkyo

good value, flexible set up capability

touchy fm tuner

This product line may have some spotty history, but my unit has been great. Picking it up for 350 seems to be a good deal and worth a little risk of hassle for product returns, etc (I would hope they'd stand behind any product sold on their own home site). Remote is a little complicated to use, but has a lot of multi unit capability. Only disappointment is the fm tuner's static. Seems that I'll have to put in a better antenna than the wire provided (not the case with my old yamaha).

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yamaha R9

none

60hz buzz, noisy dig inputs, delayed digital processing

I have been thru 4 of these things, they are $700 pieces of garbage. All four units have had varying degrees of 60hz buzz upon power up with no signal. and it is not a cable or outlet thing either! This buzz has proven to be audible during quiet dialog scenes. Especially apparent in center channel but also evident is fronts as well. This is just sad! to see a company like HK design junk and sell it as if it is good equipment. Since I have had four units all with the same flaw, it is obviously a design problem. so for all you people doubting me, turn the unit on, stroll by your center channel and clean the wax out of your ears. This thing is going back to OneCall! does anyone who is as critical as I have any suggestions as to what to buy next!?

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HK6500

Hi purchased the AVR65 a week ago. After hearing all the bad reviews this product has received I still could not resist buying one for myself. The customer service people at HK assured me that all problems had been taken care of. Well, I really like it so far...no problems. It has amazing detail and clarity. Much better than my Onkyo receiever. I am using mirage OM speakers and the DTS sound is spectacular. I would recommend this receiver if your budget is around $1200.

I bought the unit hooked it up and returned it the next day. The unit generated horrible RF interference and could not be used within 3 feet of a televion. This was a brand new unit that was manufactured in February 1999. I've heard that only some units have this problems, but I would say this is an indication of very poor quality control.

I spent some time listening, tweeking and making sure everything was setup ok in the store. I will give this component a little slack since I only tested for a brief amount of time. Basically thought that the Dobly Digital was flat, most unimpressive. I made sure the volume was up there and tried to even force a little bit of brightness by toning down the bass a little. I put it on a few different pairs of speakers, sounded the same. I guess the reason I'm so harsh on this thing is that most of the time someone will spec a difference between two receivers and you'll barely hear it. Well this thing is supposed to spec out well and it really just didn't sound as good as I expected. I didn't listen to enough music to rate it there. I listened to The Shadow,The Mask, The Mask Of Zorro, DTS demo disc with titanic on it. I also listened to a Onkyo and an AVR-85 that same day. The 85 wasn't much better, and for the price they're asking, geez.
All I can say is that this component will do most of what you need it to, just IN MY OPINION not as well as some other components that cost less.
Music: NO RATING since I didn't listen to enough
DD: 3 flat with no smooth steering
DTS: 3.5 I've heard that disc sound better else where, But I'll be generous.
Value: 2, There are much better deals for a HT Receiver on the market.

Again, my final rating will be a bit higher then expected since I only spent a couple hours with this thing and feel that it is still possible to tweak it out enough to sound much better then I could make sound in the store. I apologize if I offended anyone, It's just my opinion.

- David

Clean look and design

Low volume, hard to use remote control and on screen menu.

I bought it from Circuit City for $349 (their last one) as an upgrade to my Home theater system. It replaced my Pioneer Vsx-v555.
I like it for its clean front panel design and large readout. However, its remot control is very hard to use and the on screen menu is confusing. MY pioneer's learning universal remote was much better.

at 65 watts per channel, the sound output was also weaker than my 100 watt / ch. Pioneer and I have to turn it up a lot in order to be loud.

Overall the sound quality is pretty much the same as my pioneer, may be just bit bit better at high volume.

I was not impressed by the HK AVR65 at all as its harder to use than my pioneer and does not sound noticebly better.

So I decided to keep my Pioneer and returned the HK after 1 week of use.

Overall its is a nice receiver, but certainly not worth its orig list price of over $1,000. Even at $349 I still decide to return it as I saw the new AVR 500 for only $579 at www.ecost.com. which makes the old avr65 not as good of a deal.

Similar Products Used:

Pioneer Vsx-V607, Pioneer Vsx-v555, Kenwood 107VR

Great detailed sound for the money.

No loud button.

Initially purchased from Soundcity, a few months later the front left channel blew. Soundcity replaced it with a newer unit no questions asked. I thought I would wait more than a year to review it because of possible quality problems. Happy to say this unit has performed flawlessly since replacement in summer '99. Not audiophile equipment, but for those on a budget looking for the most solid and accurate sound from 2 channels or home theatre without having to finance, the 65 is for you. Definately a best buy in my opinion. The Yamaha products compared were of good quality as well but the sound was too "manufactured" and harsh. DSP's in a reciever is a waste and destroys sound.

Similar Products Used:

Yamaha

Price, digital, inputs, 6 ch outputs

Programming requires an Electrical engineering Degree - which I have!

Great unit for the price! I have only a few gripes. No phono input. No dedicated input for TV audio/video (I have satellite, VCR, DVD and the kids N64) All audio/video inputs are used up with no place for my TV!

Had one strange incident with AC-3 mode that went away by unplugging the main power cord and re connecting. In fairness 1000 watts of RF nearby from my Ham Radio may have confused the processor!

Main in Pre out jacks would have been a great addition to allow for reconfiguring the internal amps for use with less than 5 ch outboard amps. I use a McIntosh MC-7100 for the front l-r's.

Have some video interfearance but only when using the DVD's coaxial output to send digital audio to the Receiver and simultaniously view video from the satellite on my main widescreen - DVD a/v being routed to remote TV sets.

All in all you cant go wrong for this price and HK reputation.

Purchased from the HK outlet - so HK is standing behind it.

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HK AVR-25