Harman AVR 340 7.1 Channels Receiver
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- Surround Sound: Dolby Digital® DTS® DTS ES® THX EX® Dolby Pro Logic II DTS Neo:6 DTS 96/24
- THX Certification: No
- Number of Channels: 7.1 Channels
- Type: Receiver
- Surround Mode Power: 55 Watt @ 8 ohm, 20 Hz - 20 kHz, THD: 0.07%
- Stereo Mode Power: 70 Watt @ 8 ohm, 20 Hz - 20 kHz, THD: 0.07%
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Sound is music to my ears
Pros
Dazzling sound
Cons
Factory repairs must be shipped to manufacturer
Recommended it?
Yes
The Bottom Line:
It does what it is designed to do: Provide an impressive surround sound experience, and make you feel part of the action.
I replaced my Yamaha RX-V440 receiver with this unit. I did not know if I was going to notice any difference with this unit but was happily surprised. The sound from the 340 is wonderful. It seemed like I was looking through a dirty window and once I washed it became amazed with the view. The EZ-set eq is helpful. I liked this feature and feel I could buy the best product in the world but if I could not properly set it up I would never fully enjoy it. It plays a series of test tones and equalizes the volume, subwoofer crossover and even measures the distance from each speaker to the supplied microphone. I found it did this well.
While there are enough inputs and outputs to operate a small tv studio I found I only needed one input for DVD audio, one for my HD-DVR audio and the front input for the game console of the day. I connected the video from the DVR and DVD directly to my HD-TV and one supervideo cable from the 340 for the game console (and to allow the 340 to display its' menu. So I am trying to say I do not use many of the inputs nor video features.
What I experience from the audio is exciting. The surround sound is enveloping, light and clear. The sense of spaciousness between my speakers is apparent. The dynamic range is also impressive. It is so great I find I need to limit it with the "night" setting. Something new to me is the fact that the default setting is for the volume control to be disabled. This certainly makes sense in a dedicated home theater, but not in my living room. Happily this feature can easily be disabled.
While there are many surround modes I am happy to say the unit allows you to switch between only ones appropriate based on the current audio source. This can be a bit confusing if you are initially setting up the unit since you will need to have a source playing to setup the surround modes.
In summary I really am excited about the AVR-340. I am both pleased and satisfied with it's performance. For my wife to notice the sound quality is indeed a compliment to Harman Kardon as well.
The bad news is the unit required service after one month. The protection circuit activated but apparently did not work properly. I have had had amps shut down in this manner before and reset in a few seconds, protecting the circuits from overheating or an overload. This unit did not.
Unfortunately Harman Kardon requires all in-warranty repairs to be shipped to them in AZ. This is unfortunate since there is a factory authorized repair shop ten miles from my home. This sort of defeats the purpose - doesn't it? While the obvious advantage is cost savings it is a bit of a disappointment. In any case you have the choice of emailing or faxing your service request. As far as I can tell direct human contact is not allowed. Within a day I was giving a RA# and instructions on returning the unit. Though the instructions stated I was responsible for return shipping cost, the email was immediately followed by a second which included a prepaid shipping label. They don't actually fix my unit - but instead when they receive it they send a re-manufactured one. I have no problem with this but with a week shipping time each way and 3 or 4 days turnaround I have no doubt I will welcome the UPS man when he arrives.
Despite this problem I still wholeheartedly recommend this receiver and HK to anyone I meet. Together with the HKTS-14 Surround Speakers I feel I have a first class setup and have no regrets.
While there are enough inputs and outputs to operate a small tv studio I found I only needed one input for DVD audio, one for my HD-DVR audio and the front input for the game console of the day. I connected the video from the DVR and DVD directly to my HD-TV and one supervideo cable from the 340 for the game console (and to allow the 340 to display its' menu. So I am trying to say I do not use many of the inputs nor video features.
What I experience from the audio is exciting. The surround sound is enveloping, light and clear. The sense of spaciousness between my speakers is apparent. The dynamic range is also impressive. It is so great I find I need to limit it with the "night" setting. Something new to me is the fact that the default setting is for the volume control to be disabled. This certainly makes sense in a dedicated home theater, but not in my living room. Happily this feature can easily be disabled.
While there are many surround modes I am happy to say the unit allows you to switch between only ones appropriate based on the current audio source. This can be a bit confusing if you are initially setting up the unit since you will need to have a source playing to setup the surround modes.
In summary I really am excited about the AVR-340. I am both pleased and satisfied with it's performance. For my wife to notice the sound quality is indeed a compliment to Harman Kardon as well.
The bad news is the unit required service after one month. The protection circuit activated but apparently did not work properly. I have had had amps shut down in this manner before and reset in a few seconds, protecting the circuits from overheating or an overload. This unit did not.
Unfortunately Harman Kardon requires all in-warranty repairs to be shipped to them in AZ. This is unfortunate since there is a factory authorized repair shop ten miles from my home. This sort of defeats the purpose - doesn't it? While the obvious advantage is cost savings it is a bit of a disappointment. In any case you have the choice of emailing or faxing your service request. As far as I can tell direct human contact is not allowed. Within a day I was giving a RA# and instructions on returning the unit. Though the instructions stated I was responsible for return shipping cost, the email was immediately followed by a second which included a prepaid shipping label. They don't actually fix my unit - but instead when they receive it they send a re-manufactured one. I have no problem with this but with a week shipping time each way and 3 or 4 days turnaround I have no doubt I will welcome the UPS man when he arrives.
Despite this problem I still wholeheartedly recommend this receiver and HK to anyone I meet. Together with the HKTS-14 Surround Speakers I feel I have a first class setup and have no regrets.
