Harmon Kardon Avr-354 Opinions

[CapiCoo]

I am not too smart when it comes to all of the audio stuff, just the basics, but I recently saw this receiver in Frys Electronics and I love the way it looks. Sleek. I currently own an Onkyo 605 and was just wondering if there are any big differences between the two or if I am better off with my Onkyo.

[kingofgrills]

Feature-wise, the 605 beats the H/K 354 hands down due to having HDMI inputs and DTS-HD MA and Dolby True HD decoders on board.

Sound-wise, I can't really tell you that one sounds better than the other.
Onkyos and Harmon Kardons tend to offer very different presentations when given the same source material. HKs tend to be very punchy and dynamic, while Onkyos tend to be a bit on the warm side, with perhaps a slight loss of detail.
Overall, both brands are well regarded, and it comes down to personal taste. If you're disatisfied with the sound of your Onkyo, you might try listening to the HK. If you're even remotely happy with the Onkyo, then you probably should stick with it due to the HDMI inputs and on-board decoding.

[kefrank]

Originally Posted by kingofgrills

Feature-wise, the 605 beats the H/K 354 hands down due to having HDMI inputs and DTS-HD MA and Dolby True HD decoders on board.

I'm not sure what specs you're looking at, but both receivers have HDMI inputs. In fact, the H/K has more - 3 to the Onkyo's 2. And both receivers decode Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD MA onboard. I think you must be confusing the 354 with some other model.