Harman AVR 130 5.1 Channels Receiver

I purchased this receiver about a year ago. I was looking to upgrade to Dolby Digital from the old Pro-logic format. I had researched quite a few different receivers in the same price range from Onkyo, Yamaha, Pioneer, Sony and finally Harmon Kardon. Most of the receivers in this price range offered Dolby Digital and DTS, coupled with whatever proprietary surround processing each company uses for "enhancement". Amplifier power was also quite equal, somewhere in the 70-120w/channel range.
I've had experience with Sony, Kenwood and Pioneer and never really heard a huge difference in sonic characteristics between them. So when I auditioned this Harmon Kardon receiver for the first time, I was presently surprised by the crispness, clarity and dynamic power reserve available at high volume.
I ran the salesman ragged hooking up several different speaker combinations and auditioning several of my favorite audio tracks. Steely Dan Aja is my personal choice when auditioning audio components.
The look of this unit stood out above the rest, as well as the overally build quality and heft of this receiver. The only thing that left me slightly concerned was the conservative 45w/channel RMS power rating. Well, I was quickly assured after driving them through a pair of Klipsch Synergy SFIII's that underpowering would NOT be and issue. I was actually kind of shocked that the HK in fact seemingly dynamically outpowered the other receivers, even though the others were rated as much as 3 times the power output as this one!
After researching this a little on the internet and talking to some people in audio circles, it appears that first off, HK "RMS" power ratings are "full frequency rated" 20Hz to 20Khz as opposed to some other companies rating "peak power" at 1Khz. What amounts to is that you can ultimately drive this receivers amplifier to full output with very, very little amplifier distortion, which I can attest to. The output is linear throughout the full output range, a tribute to engineering and build components.
Now to a little about the working features.
The DTS and Dolby Digital steering are magnificent and represent the soure material well in my opinion. It also comes with a NEO:DTS and Logic7 surround option to simulate full range 5.1 (DTS) and simulated 7 channel - from 5 speakers, regardless of input source.
The music mode in both surround options sound very nice with believable output. The cinema and movie modes left a little to be desired by way of center channel clarity though. So I simply dont use the cinema modes.
Triple crossovers are included for the front, center and surround speakers to make it easier to set up using different sized speakers. There is also an option for running bass into the subwoofer output independently or running full bass signals to both the subwoofer and the front speakers together.
The overall set up of this receiver is pretty easy and I found I didnt have to refer to the owners manual very often over the last year except to enter macros to control my other system components.
The look of the receiver should probably be the last consideration when purchasing, but in this case it is so classy and dare I say professional looking, that you dont have to worry about it clashing with your decor. It really is a very attractive piece of electonic equipment in my opinion.
Absolutely the only thing I dont like about this unit is the remote control. Not that it doesnt function well or provide access to every parameter you may need to adjust. Its that it lacks a backlight for all the buttons. It does drive me a bit crazy when needing to make an adjustment under low light conditions.
I highly recommend checking this out if you are looking to upgrade from entry level, outdated or small room home theater receivers.