Customer Reviews

Harman Kardon AVR520 Audio/Video Receiver

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I am extremely pleased with the rich, clear sound of my 520 receiver. DVD with optical cable is absolutely great. I had limited experience in home theater. So the setup was one step at a time; first the Denon speakers, tried the FM (very good), the Phillips DVD870P came next with optical out, then the VCR. I made at least three trips for various cables and speaker wire. One call to Harman/Kardon tech support. The call was promptly answered by a support tech (Steve). Steve must have thought that I was the village idiot, but he was pleasant and helpful. The remote is backlighted, it can balance the home theater speakers automatically, the on screen display is easy to use and the unit controls numerous audio/video sources, tape deck, TV, dvd, games... plenty of hookups. Plus there is a second remote... for listening to another source in a different room.
The more I play with it, the more I learn I can do with it, but mostly I enjoy listening to full spacious music without having to crank up the volume. I would not hesitate to recommend the AVR-520.

Don't be fooled here by reviewers that don't read the manual! This is an AWESOME amp! Using with JBL studio front, center and powered subwoofer, Audiosource 100 watt in-wall speakers. This amp powers them all with ease. I can't turn the amp volume all the way up, it's so loud, it hurts! Dolby 5.1 and DTS are immersive. Sure, the manual won't win a pulitzer, but it does the job. Common sense is also a must (lacking by some quick-to-complain reviewers here). Unit runs a bit hot, make sure you have sufficient ventilation. FM tuner may need an additional FM antenna, get the best one you can (Terk hi-end). Plenty of inputs to mix and match, which you can assign. A fourth input on front w/S-video, optical, etc. Have a Sony DVD 5.1/DTS player, mid-range stereo VCR, DD satellite receiver and older LD player. No problem with ANY of these and the HK. You may want to pick up analog to S-video converters so you won't have to change the input on your TV. Get the converters from RADIO SHACK ($...) - NOT THE MONSTER VERSION ($...), RS is obviously much cheaper. This makes all your inputs from RCA jacks S-video. Also - USE GOOD CABLES! Monster, Acoustical Research and some others. Not Radio Shack cables. Also use good speaker wire like Monster. YES - IT MAKES A DIFFERENCE! If you get a hum, you may need to plug the HK into it's own surge protector, check the manual. I like the remote, has a digital meter with speaker built-in to adjust your speakers! I have a large media room with 60" TV and this receiver delivers. Tested with MP3's, CD-R/W, VCD, movies like "Matrix"(the bullets whizz by!), "Gladiator", "Blade 2", "Saving Private Ryan", "Attack of the Clones" and others. Classy front looks great! This guy is heavy too, make sure you have a good cabinet to put it in.

For a semi-serious home theater enthusiast I have been extremely pleased with the AVR520. I switched to this reciever from an old Pioneer Elite VSX-97 and seriously consided another Pioneer Elite, Denon and Integra AVR's but found the sonic clarity unsurpassed by any of the other models. The receiver was easy to setup at the GUI was fairly easy to navigate. DVD's and CD's played on my Pioneer Elite DV F-07 DVD/CD Player have never looked or sounded better. The surround performance with this reciever is simply amazing. The Multi-room capability and the optional MP3 translator (allows MP3 playback from your computer through your reciever) are great additonal features.

I get the feeling that the reviewers that had difficulty with this receiver were either not reading and following the manual or really just did not understand what they were doing. I've had the machine for just over 2 months, and it performs great. The sound is fantastic, and it can handle anything I want to run through it, including my DVD, CD, Tape, 2 VCR's, and TV, and I still have room to hook up additional components if I can think of any. It supports 5.1, 7.1, dolby digital, and all the simpler formats, has plenty of optical, s-video, and component hookups to run everything at higher levels. The remote has little difficulty running my complete mutt of a system (toshiba, techniques, HK, JVC, Onkyo, and Hitachi). I think it's a bit spendy at anything close to full price, but I can't say it isn't worth the money. Overall a great machine.

I owned this Harman Kardon AVR 520 new since it came out and bought it in early 2003. I have never looked back or longed for some other brand since this euphoric listening experience began. I don't think there is any other brand in this price range, besides maybe Denon, that can offer an amplifier that is more powerful than the specs advertise or more sonically accurate and transparent when faithfully reproducing any musical or movie content on quality Infinity Interlude or Beta series speakers. Harman owns Mark Levinson, and so the supreme quality Harman puts into their world renowned amplifiers on all their products naturally reflects this acute attention to detail and perfection. Frankly speaking, most home audio makers at these consumer price points simply reconfigure cheap car audio amplifier technologies along with their higher distortions and audio frequency clipping and rebox them as home audio receivers for home theater use. But not Harman Kardon. They actively strive to outperform all other brands through their dedication to harmonic excellence and attention to design details. I think this particular series design with the jet black front and the multi-colored display should be just as revered as the spectacular sound it reproduces.

It's true it is a bit outdated from the connections standpoint, and does not support HDMI or HD surround codecs or other recent nifty tech additions, but the 5 channel amplifiers are still golden. It IS a 7.1 receiver, too, but requires a 2 channel external amplifier to achieve this. Keep in mind when it came out, there was not much 7 channel content. And it also supports multi room configurations on the other 2 channels, which you would want externally powered anyway. It also supports 8 Channel Direct source Inputs, and amplifier inputs and preamp outputs, making it an extremely versatile 5 channel amplifier in its own right.

I am sorely tempted to keep this audio workhorse of a receiver and amplifier, but alas, due to financial and storage space considerations I think it's time to say goodbye and good luck, and may the next owner enjoy you and your pure sonic nirvana as much as I have all these wonderful years.

I was thrilled by the performance of my 520 when I first got it. I was powering some relatively efficient energy eXL 26 towers and they sounded great. However, I recently upgraded to the Veritas 2.4 from Energy and the 520 doesn't even come close to providing enough power for these speakers. At moderate listening levels the bass is almost nonexistent. If you really turn up the volume, the bass does emerge somewhat but who wants to crank their music just to hear a balanced sound? I plan to upgrade to a very serious power amp. Bryston 14B ST. with 500 watts per channel. My Veritas speakers should really sing. One positive thing about the 520 is that it does a masterfull job with 5.1 surround. Movies sound awesome with this reciever. If you have high end speakers you will be disappointed with the two channel performance of the HK avr 520. Good Luck!

I don't like this amp at all, there are so many quirks. If you want to isolate the narrative audio during a movie and pump up the center speaker so not to wake your neighbors, you'll find that even with the DTS light on, all the tracks will become louder via the center speaker. Something I've noticed in more than one HK amp. If want to control the bass, turning the bass knob up or down on the front of your amp does absolutely nothing. Adjusting the bass requires you to go into menu and select LFE (subwoofer) and change it that way. I got excited when I read about the "delay" function, giving my music reverb would be cool. But alas, it doesn't come on when I hit the "delay" button. I was able to adjust it the first time I pressed it and not again since, according to the manual it should be working. There is undoubtedly a way, but who has the time. The "night" function is pretty neat too so I've read. You press "night" on your remote, and your woofer automatically filters out the really low bass. I got that to work many times before it changed for no reason. There are dozens of irritations and headaches, I call them alot and they are helpful, but I still hate their amps. I think there are much better ones out there ... .