Home > Consumer Reviews > Harman Kardon AVR35 Dolby Digital Audio/Video Receiver

The HK AVR35 is my first home theater system, which I combined with Yamaha surrounds, custom built front and centre speakers, and a Pioneer DV414 DVD player.

The whole system intergrates nicely and DVD's sound great, although after a couple of months and many DVD's and CD's later I have picked up a couple of short comings of this receiver. The main downfall of the AVR35, is the serious lack of power. Many reviews say that the HK produces more power than one would expect from it's rated power output, put this is not the case. I feel that power is one of the most important factors to consider when chosing an AC-3 receiver or amplifier. With the HK what should be solid bass is actually more like a pat on the back!. Another quibble I have is the harsh tops that this unit produces. This unit is a very poor performer when it comes to musical reproduction. The HK does not produce a clean reproduction of the original source material. This is normally the case with low end equipment, but unlike many other systems the HK seems to take away alot of the musical information in an attempt to some how filter the frequency bands. This results in a loss of low frequency response, and clinical sounding tops. I have found that adding a subwoofer improves the low end some what, but there is still a lack of response above 100Hz. Even the head phone jack lacks sufficient output, and there is not even enough range in the bass and treble controls to compensate for this. Adding bass with the bass control knob only adds boom anyway!.

On the positive side, this unit is very well built, and there are plenty enough adjustments for all speakers, even from the remote. The tuner section is good, and all fuctions are easy to operate once you get the hang of it!. The remote works with all my other components which I have found very useful.

Although this is a negative review, I must admit that the HK does a good job with DVD's. You cannot even compare stereo or dolby pro logic to dolby digital, the AVR35 only comes to life with DVD's, and if the only reason you want this unit is to watch DVD's, then I would give it the thumbs up!.

After owning two very average Pioneer receivers, I decided that I wanted to step up to a better brand to best complement the new JVC DVD deck that I had just bought. Wow! I really missed the boat by not going this route a long time ago. The salesman at Circuit City steered me away from more expensive units that had too many bells and whistles, and I couldn't be happier with my choice. This is an awesome unit with plenty of power and versatility. I especially enjoy the incredible fiber optic audio that can be used eith the purchase of an interlink cable. Great sound. I would recommend this unit to all that like ease of use and functionality in a mid priced receiver.

Speakers and source components (CD player, Tape Deck, Turntable) will have the greatest impact on the sound quality of your HiFi, but the receiver is also important. Harman Kardon receivers incorporate a number of innovative circuit designs that significantly improve the sound quality of the receiver and the rest of your system. My father had been using another name brand receiver for a number of years and had been quite happy with it, but it eventually conked out. We replaced it with a Harman Kardon receiver and were both struck by how much better his whole HiFi sounded and the receiver was the only component we'd replaced. Harman Kardon costs more than the run of the mill receiver, but they are well worth it.

I had a look at a review from a gentalman from JHB South Sfrica
I have a AVR35 and it has a lot of punch good all round sound and excilent head room. The lows or low and the highs are crisp and clean. The system does need high end speakers though cheep custem home made setup will not work well with this system. I have a set of ecco kefs front center and siround and bileav me it does sound good.