Harman Kardon AVR 630 Dolby Digital Receiver

Rating:
Summary: I absolutely love this receiver!!
Review: Don't be fooled by the low wattage, this receiver is all about high current amperage! Clean sound and very detailed. My Sony died on me and I decided to go with H/K for a replacement. The AVR 630 completely changed the sound of my speakers. It was like getting a new receiver AND new speakers!

Rating:
Summary: Harman Kardon AVR630 - Wonderfully Beautiful Sound
Review: This is a very clear, powerful, and relaxing Receiver. I tried many other units and spent hundreds in restocking fees and returned postage before I tried and settled on this one as my favorite pick. I tried an Arcam AVR300 which had very revealing tonalities at twice the price - but had so much treble (I almost heard every breath of everyone in the audience and every sizzle of a cymbal) that it made my B&W 805 speakers which are already prone to be a little bright and revealing sound harsh and annoying after only a few minutes of listening. When I connected the Harman Kardon 630 suddenly I relaxed and enjoyed listening as I heard smooth, clear, and warm yet natural and open sound from this high powered amp. Don't be confused with the advertised 75 watts. The Arcam AVR300 at twice the price advertised at 100 watts and the Denon 3805 at 120 watts did not seem as powerful. The total power output is a related to the level of current X watts which is very high in this receiver since it puts out more total power than many receivers advertising twice the power because of its high current (a little like comparing a fire truck hose (the Harmon Kardon with high current) to a garden hose (others with low current (a small hose diameter) but water moving a little faster out of the end (watts)). You can immediately hear the improved fidelity and very clean sound associated with this powerful receiver. I also compared the Denon 3805 which was even harsher and brighter than the Arcam AVR300 - but at least had a built in full spectrum EQ to try to compensate unlike the Arcam which only had base and treble.

How your music sounds is effected largely by the built in tonal bias of both your Receiver, Speakers, and CD player together. In my opinion, as far as speaker receiver combinations go, the B&W 805's (bright speakers - yet warm & revealing) combined with the Arcam or Denon receivers (which are also bright) would induce listener fatigue in most listensers. The bright sounding Infinity speakers would probably have the same effect with the Arcam and Denon receivers unless you have a cheap CD player with poor tonal output (I like the Arcam and Jolida CD players for their revealing and warm sound). For my listening tasts the Harman Kardon AVR630 wins hands down as the best receiver with my B&W 805's. I feel it would complement almost any speakers out there nicely. Wish I had started with it in the beggining in my search for the "perfect sytem".

The Harman Kardon AVR630 is currently discounted as it is soon to be replaced. If you don't mind paying a few hundred more, any week now (this November) Harman Kardon is coming out with a new receiver line that looks the same (beautiful) as the current line but with a built in full spectrum automatic EQ which I assume will allow you to override its automatic adjustment to adjust the sound to the accoustics of your room and personal listening preferences. My experience with EQs is that they can dramatically improve the overall quality of the sound which is already near perfect in this unit. If you have a fairly laid back speaker (such as the Polk LSI series - which are also wonderful sounding - but not quit in the class with the 3X more expensive B&Ws) you may be happy with one of the bright sounding Arcam or Denon receivers, but from my experience and personal listening preferences - the Harman Kardon AVR630 is one of the best and most easy to listen to natural sounding high fidelity receivers around bar none and my personal favorite - with perphaps the exception of the soon to be released HK AVR635 sometime in November, 04.