Going back to Harman Kardon from Onkyo

[cravnsn]

I bought a Onkyo TX-SR605 shortly after they came on the market. I had bought a Panasonic BD30, and wanted something to decode all the new lossless codecs, and the Onkyo had gotten some good write-up’s, plus at the time, it was the cheapest way to go for watts-per-channel, and offering all the connectivity I needed. But, listening to it always left me wanting…more. I was sure the issue was with my speakers, so I tried several different brands & models, but to no avail.

I had dug out my old Harman Kardon AVR 230 to use for a stereo setup in another room, and was immediately taken by the clarity, detail & depth of the sound. And that was from compressed MP3’s. On a whim, I picked up a new Panasonic BD55 (since it decodes internally & sends out via analog) and installed the HK where the Onkyo had been. WOW – detail I had never heard from BD movies with the Onkyo. Height, width, depth, soundstaging, dynamics…and an honest, balanced & organic sound that left the Onkyo sounding flat, dull & 2 dimensional. And that’s at a deficit of 40 WPC!

I know HK has new receivers that do the decoding & accept HDMI, but I am quite please with the setup as it is. I have had the 230 for years, and it has never failed to perform.

I would encourage anyone in the market for Onkyo, Yamaha, Denon, Pioneer…etal to give HK a listen. No, they’re not rated at mega watts, nor do the sport all the “bells & whistles” of some of the other offerings, but they more than make up for it in sound quality, and the power output is more than ample.