Has a nice amp, great mids, better on music listening

No phono, no 6 channel for future uprade, no DTS

This is a great receiver, highly recommended. I have this unit for about a year now and cannot be more happier with it. Sound reproduction is great. Couple of drawback that knocks the rating a bit is it doesn't have phono, no DTS, and no 6 channel for upgradability. I knew all this when I purchased mine. I hope others are enjoying theirs as much as I have mine.

Build Quality, looks, ???????sound?????,

it does not work at all, it only displays, but no sound

I am truly speachless, my very good friend bought this unit for me online and had it shipped to me, when I received it I was amazed at the looks, build quality and heavy weight of the AVR-85. Hooked it up PROPERLY and refering to the owner's manual, which by the way is very clear and easy to follow, and when I turned it on everything lit up, but no sound came from my speakers. I have just contacted HK regarding this problem, and they asked me to send it in for repair, but the freight cost is like $200.00 to send it from El Salvador where I am living now so I wrote an e-mail to see if they can authorize me to have it fixed here at their cost, we'll see what they say, I'll keep you posted.

Similar Products Used:

Denon strd 775(excelent sound performance!!), HK- AVR-65, JVC, Pioneer

Agreeing with the gentleman below, if you want DTS, buy a NEW model receiver. I beleive mine was manufactured in '99 but is basically the same as in '97 when it was introduced.
This is an AWESOME receiver, a workhorse that will give you crisp, clear, powerful sound for as long as you want it to.
One of the best price/quality offerings of recent years.
You will not do better in this range.

Similar Products Used:

Integra,Denon

Power, Clarity, Asthetic Beauty

Remote, Initial set-up

I bought this at a great price at UBID.COM Though the initial price was the motivating factor for my love of this receiver, I have overcome the initial uphoria and grasped the actual splendor of this machine.
The power of this machine is intense. Though it is only rated at 85 Watts/channel, these are pure, clear, and powerful watts. There is nothing missing. I have never turned it above -10 dbl (on a -60 to +15 scale). I am afraid my ears will bleed.

The sound is phenominal when listening to a Dolby Digital source. Simply incredible! I did not expect such a jump in quality from an anolog Pro Logic signal. WOW! The clarity is intense; the imaging is distinct and accurate; the sound is pure.

The simplicity of the receiver's layout is very nice looking. Not overly filled with buttons and knobs.

Regardless of who you are, there will be things that you don't like. I personally did not think the remote is that bad. The layout isn't that great, and the memory will not hold all of your other remote's commands, but oh well.

When you send a digital signal you do have to push another button to let the receiver know where the signal is coming from. Once you get use to this (maybe thre or four times) you will automatically do it without thinking.

The receiver does not have a DTS decoder, or 6 channel input, but who really uses DTS in there home? The inputs would have been nice, but oh well.

Therefore, the problems with this receiver are miniscule, and overcomable with use.

When you first get the receiver, make sure you read the manual(very important), so that you can properly set the receiver up. This will pay you big dividends.

Similar Products Used:

Denon, Yamaha, Onkyo

Clarity / Power / Ambience

Remote sucks / no DTS

WOW! Love this RCVR. It blew me away from day 1. I had no idea 90 watts could sound so loud and clear. The detail, ambience and accuracy at high power levels is incredible. I think I am sold for life on HK. Yea, the Onkyo has more bells and whistles for home theater, but I doubt it can match the HK musicaly. I was a little worried after having additional "Wide" and "Theater" settings on my Yamaha that the lack of surround choices would dissapoint. This is definately NOT the case. The HK sounds fuller and wider than the Yamaha did when the Yamaha was set for its gimmick 30mm (widest) setting. In my opinion I don't mind sacraficing the gimmicks for sonic purity, and the AVR85 definately delivers that.

Similar Products Used:

Yamaha Rcvrs / Onkyo Rcvrs

This unit is very versatile. Digital, analog, and programmability. Clear sound on my Sony and my Advent Speakers. Display is clear and user friendly and power consumption is not excessive for the power it puts out.

The IR Remote is complicated, cumbersome, and down right ugly. Certain "on screen" features are complicated (i.e., programming presets for the AM/FM tuner. It has a large footprint - you will need plenty of rack room for this unit.

After playing with speaker locations and combining digital and analog inputs I've decided that this was the best buy I have made for my home system in 2 years (of course I got this unit discount). I enjoy having clear transitions in my music and the Dolby Pro is such an improvement over the analog "surround sound" I was using. I would rather have had an illuminated LCD type remote option. Also, the on screen programming is a bit daunting. But, once I had it set-up I was able to just turn it on and enjoy (This fine tuning and programming probably took me about 2 weeks). I also found the user manual severely difficient and difficult to follow. Anything worth producing at the "High End" is worth taking the time to make a quality publication for. All in all, I have not once regretted the expense and now my DVD-Movies jump into my living room!

Similar Products Used:

Yamaha AV Receiver.

Having tested many receivers from Rotel, Denon, and Harmon Kardon, I found that the AVR 85 supported greater channel seperation and general clarity. The power was more than ample, the features were all that I expected, including video and s-video switching, and the remote was intuitively laid out (but not backlit?!?) All-in-all I give it a double thumbs up!

I just purchased a HK AVR85 about 3 months ago it is amazing. I would like to see any other reciever get as loud as mine. No one can compair to the power. Especially for under a 1,000 dollars. On all the reviews I've red they make me sick I mean there winning about how that they need DTS. DTS there's only about one place in the cities that you can find DTS and they only have a selection of about 15 I mean whats the big deal half of u don't even have dvd. But I am really pleased with the way it pound the heck out of my vega's. Its the best reciever out on the market.

I just picked up a factoryB AVR 85 from the folks at OneCall.com, and so far I'm extremely pleased. For just under $600, I picked up a receiver that delivers extremely accurate sound, particularly at high volumes, for both stereo music and Home Theater. I combined this receiver with the Compact Theater Two series from Atlantic Technology (exclusive to OneCall), and the sound is impressive, particularly for DVD movies. I matched it with a Toshiba SD3109 from OneCall, and came away with a terrific sound for under $2000, plus coupons that saved me another $200 on DVD's.. The knocks on the remote are fair, but you won't notice them much after the system cranks up. I don't miss DTS at all, since every movie I've been interested in is sufficiently coded in Dolby Digital. I could pay the price for lack of a 6th channel output down the road, but I'm guessing that's still years away, and a converter can always be purchased at that point. I liked the SVideo outs, and the relatively simple front panel of the unit. The sound was consistent, whether it was cranking out a high-effect action flick (I started with The Fifth Element) to an acoustic Buffalo Springfield CD. The sound was so good, that I kept wondering where all the distortion was hiding. Even at loud volumes, the sound was so pure that I forgot that I was cranking it out -- until I woke up the baby upstairs. It was analogous to cruising in an extremely smooth riding sedan with a big engine, only to be pulled over for doing 95 in a 50. It may be 95, but it sure feels like 50, and that's what this system sounded like. I mean that only as a complement. One knock on the Factory B from OneCall, my first AVR85 arrived with a blown left rear surround, which was extremely frustrating after the time invested in setting up the system. I have heard negative comments about the reliability of this unit before, and my worst fears were confirmed after running the unit in test mode. On the bright side, and in defense of OneCall, they sent me a replacement unit within two days, and it was relatively easy to re-connect using my old receiver as a model. OneCall did charge my card pending receipt of the defective unit, but I trust that they will deduct the charge as promised. The shipping fee for the replacement was a drag, but I still feel that I saved a bundle by going through them, and the replacement receiver has been fantastic. For anyone interested in high-end sound at a fair price, I highly recommend this unit from OneCall.

After listening to the Denon 3200 and Yamaha RXV-992, I finally settled on thje the HK AVR-85. In my opinion, the bass is clearly superior to the competition. For home theater listening, the HK has fewer bells and whistles, but has better overall sound quality (actually the Denon may have a slight advantage in the midrange). I did find the Denon's bass to be lacking, even using the "large" speaker setting.
I also found the HK to be far more listenable for music. The unit has, in my opinion a more natural tonal quality. I also appreciate the receiver's high current capability. Why is it that so many audio companies offer mediocre remote controls with receivers costing over $1,000. The HKs remote will do most of what you want it to do, but it is certainly not ergonomic, and you will find yourself squinting to read the remote in dim lighting.

It would have been nice if HK had included 6 channel inputs, but I am of the belief that DTS won't be widely accepted. Admittedly, I could be wrong. Nonetheless, manufacturers should include the inputs on equipment of this caliber.

Still, I feel that this is an extremely impressive receiver and I am giving it the highest rating.