Harman Kardon AVR 310 Audio/Video Receiver

The 310's video amps just died and the repair shop sent it back to me with video 1 still dead and surround sound dead.

These suck. I am buying a new AV receiver.


A budget receiver that delivers high end quality   December 7, 2001
 20 out of 22 found this review helpful

I recently purchased this receiver with a pair of jbl s38 speakers for fronts, a jbl s-center channel speaker, and jbl n26 rear speakers, and I have never heard a home theater setup sound so good at this price. I have definetly heard better....from 4000 receivers, but for 99.9 percent of the population (me) this receiver is brilliant. It has 6 total digital inputs (3 coaxial, 3 optical), multiple digital outputs, enough power that I have not yet brought my self to crank the volume for fear of ruining my hearing (for some reason Harman/Kardon underrates their receiver's power. 100 watt/channel sony is equal to about 40 watts or less on the HK scale), a really nice looking front and easy to use receiver, and to top it off you dont need a degree in home theater to set it up in a few minutes.
The only downside to this receiver that I have found is the lack of component video input/output, but this wont be a factor for the majourity of people. One thing I was very happy, and actually suprised about, was that this receiver not only does a superb job at digital surround (DTS, Dolby Digital), but it also puts out transparent, crystal clear stereo sound from your favorite cds. So many of those "home theater in a box" setups, with mini speakers and a subwoofer are able to nicely reproduce movies, becuase no single speaker/pair of speakers has to carry the load the entire time. During Stereo listening, on the other hand, these setups really falter. Sound becomes distorted, volumes are not very capable, and the sound is very tinny. The HK avr 310 exposed to levels of ambiance to songs that i've been listening to for years.
The inclusion of Logic7 and the best Pro Logic I have ever heard on any receiver, make watching tv a whole lot more fun. I've owned this reciever for about three monthes now, and have only spent probably twenty-five minutes total setting it up, and I get great results. In this price range, I challenge anyone to find a receiver that even comes close to the Harman and Kardon avr 310.
PS: This receiver comes with a two year warranty from h/k if something were to go wrong. In past experiences with Harman Kardon, they have been exceedingly helpful in terms of repairs/replacements.