Harman Kardon

The brand is certainly reputable, and they used to be one of the high-end audiophile manufacturers before all the surround stuff was common.

Many high-end audio manufacturers to my mind though have lost out with the digital 'revolution', as reasonable quality goods are available for often a fraction of the cost of similar items 20 years ago.

The specifics about the model are obviously paramount - it may just be an old analogue stereo receiver with no surround capability, or a box that does DPL not true discrete 5.1 channel (or higher) surround. You probably need to ascertain what the model number is to be honest.

This is the US site for receivers with links to older products:

http://www.harmankardon.com/category.aspx?Language=ENG&Region=USA&Country=US&cat =REC

It would also be fair to say that even new surround capable receivers are available quite cheaply these days - check out somewhere like richer sounds which doesn't always have all the most up to date equipment but does often have good prices on reasonable audio equipment.

AC

just got this one yesterday
http://www.sonystyle.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?catalogId=1055 1&storeId=10151&productId=8198552921665360001&langId=-1

Alley_Cat wrote:
Many high-end audio manufacturers to my mind though have lost out with the digital 'revolution', as reasonable quality goods are available for often a fraction of the cost of similar items 20 years ago.

Just to expand on that, before widespread DVD and home cinema options were available, specialist hi-fi stores could still do well from high-end stereo audio kit.

These days though consumers want kit that is a jack of all trades and the perception of value for money factors highly. 'True hi-fi' products have been marginalised by the home cinema factor, and many hi-fi stores who used to turn their noses up at anything other than pure stereo have had to adopt cheaper AV kit simply to stay afloat.

As with all purchases there's often a law of diminishing returns with hi-fi. The £5000 separates system will be far better than the £500 all in one mini system, but not 10x as much.

How do you attract the average consumer to spend a few hundred pounds on a 'quality' DVD player when they're £15 in Argos or Asda - it has to do a heck of a lot more to justify the price tag, whereas as an early adopter I was happy to pay nearly £600 for my first DVD player some 10 years ago. I would be very reluctant to do so now.

High-end manufacturers also sometimes seem completely out of touch with reality in terms of pricing - for example I've just had an invite from the local hi-fi dealer to go to an evening demo of a Naim hard drive based player.

The spec includes 2x400GB mirrored internal drives, USB and network functionality, and undoubtedly very high quality audio circuitry. It can output/playback non-DRM FLAC at up to 24 bit 192kHz which admitedly AppleTV cannot, but even though I'd love to have one for it's sonic prowess, I have to wonder how much better it can sound compared to the AppleTV when it costs £4,500 vs £200! The interface also looks clunky - onboard TFT display - you may be able to connect to a TV but looks like it's composite or S-video only! You appear to be able to connect a keyboard/mouse and control from a PC.

Now I'm sure the Naim device will sound very good, and if it includes a high-end CD player anyway might be more justifiable, but in terms of VFM AppleTV blows it out of the water.

I guess there are plenty of people out there though that have no desire to use a computer and would be happy to pay for a high-end all in one solution.

Sorry to digress - more of a blog type comment!

http://www.naim-audio.com/products/hdx.html
http://crave.cnet.com/8301-1_105-9932321-1.html
http://www.pinkfishmedia.net/forum/showthread.php?t=47322

AC

Hi Winston,

I have the Harman/Kardon AVR-146, which could be the model you're looking at. It has HDMI connectivity (two in, one out), and is capable of processing 5.1

I'm not using the HDMI switching on the receiver at the moment, so I can't say how well it works. (As you're well aware, many compatibility issues have been reported.) I'm running a TOSLINK cable from the ATV to the receiver. I'm not set up for 5.1 -- only using two speakers -- but the sound from the HK receiver is really super. Honestly, for the money, it's amazing.

Best of luck with your decision.

Wondered what you'd decided on!

Are you using existing B&W speakers - if not sounds as though you got a very good deal!

Talking of B&W, a couple of months ago I decided I wanted a better quality speaker for my study than the Creative labs ones I've used for the last couple of years. Couldn't resist the B&W Zeppelin:

http://www.bowers-wilkins.com/display.aspx?infid=2466

AC

For silly money you want an yamaha E800. They go for 50 quid now and have 3 channels power (rears and centre) DTS, etc.

Gary i wrote:
For silly money you want an yamaha E800. They go for 50 quid now and have 3 channels power (rears and centre) DTS, etc.

That's precisely what I have myself. Yamaha DSP E800 hooked up to the main stereo.

Bought it soon after it came out - £400 at the time I think.

Saw one 'end of line' for £100 in Comet or somewhere a couple of years ago and am kicking myself for not buying it as a spare.

Edit>

This review says it was £299.

http://www.homecinemachoice.com/reviews/hccreviews/Processors/Yamaha/YamahaDSP-E 800.php

AC

Message was edited by: Alley_Cat