 |
|||||||||
| Home >> HDTV Reviews | |||||||||
 |
User Submitted Harman Kardon AVR-254 7x50W 7.1-Channel Home Theater Receiver with HDMI 1.3a Repeater Reviews Date: 2009-01-06 Harmon Kardon sound and home theater convenience Pros: excellent sound for both movies and music; very powerful considering the wattage rating; full array of surround sound options to improve various audio experiences; convenience of HDMI hub; upconversion of lower quality signals Cons: updating the firmware was a pain... but entirely worth it -- this receiver has been nothing but pleasure ever since the update _______________________ I purchased the AVR-254 a few weeks ago along with a center channel speaker. I'm running two Athena bookshelf speakers, an 8" Athena sub, and an Athena center channel from this receiver. I was going to use the pre-outs to make my old Harmon Kardon stereo receiver an amplifier for the bookshelf speakers. It turned out there was no need. Just using the AVR-254 I ran my system at half volume and could hardly stand it. Consider here, however, that Athena makes pretty efficient speakers. I live in an apartment and don't have a place to set up the full 7.1 array, so I'm going with 3.1 for the time being. I've found in watching movies that the AVR-254 can convincingly emulate a surround experience using the 3.1 set-up. You might have to play with the speaker settings on the AVR-254 (I've got mine set for 5.1 and that seems to work). I've also found that letting the receiver choose the best surround setting almost always produces the best effect. Unlike another post I read on Amazon, I've had no problem with the receiver switching to Logic 7. It chooses this setting for TV and some DVD's, but on some movies I've decided I like another setting better and the AVR-254 accepts my choice. Of course all audio settings are not available for all source signals, but I'm happy with what is available. There are settings for movies, music, and games (PS3 never looked OR SOUNDED so fantastic!). I've played regular DVD's, HDDVD's, BluRay, and CD's. So far, everything has worked without a flaw. A note on the con: The firmware update is important. If you purchase this receiver, be sure you have the cable to update your receiver right away. You'll need a nine-pin serial cable with MALE PARTS to plug into the AVR-254 which has FEMALE PARTS. Most likely your laptop -- or whatever you plug your AVR-254 into will need a nine-pin to USB cable (USB for the computer). My guess is that I've had no problems with this receiver because the first thing I did was update the firmware. I had to do it twice; I probably made a misstep the first time. It is a fairly complicated process so READ THE INSTRUCTIONS CAREFULLY. All in all I'm perfectly happy with this purchase. I'm sold on Harmon Kardon sound, and, as always, Amazon shipping is great (gotta love that "Super Saver" option!). Date: 2008-12-27 Fantastic Got this receiver for Christmas, got it all hooked up and ran into 0 problems. The sound is fantastic!! Pure and crisp. I have run into 0 bugs that people talk about. Haven't needed to upgrade the firmware yet either. I would highly recommend this. Its looks awesome and sounds even better with my 5.1 speaker set up. The Auto speaker configuration works like a charm. Oh I have heard that it's difficult and confusing to set up the system, if you have just a little knowledge of electronics you should have no trouble. I did not have to look at the manual to set it up. Date: 2008-12-24 WHAT IS GOING ON THIS PRODUCT IS OUTSTANDING! ALL YOU HAVE TO DO IS READ THE DIRECTION! A MONKEY COULD DO THE UPDATES ON THIS PRODUCT. THE MANUAL IS SO SIMPLE A BABY MONKEY COULD FOLLOW THE DIRECTION! WHEN I FIRST RECEIVE THE PRODUCT OUT OF THE BOX I UPDATED THE FIRM WARE. IT WHEN WITH OUT A HITCH! I HAVE 6 JBL SPEAKERS ALL ARE POWER HUNGRY! I HAVE A YAMAHA POWER SUBWOOFER. ALSO I USE A ONKYO CENTER SPEAKER. MY SAMSUNG 52" TV 650 SERIES WORKS WELL WITH THIS RECEIVER. THE VIDEO IS OUTSTANDING. FOLKS THE ONLY THING YOU NEED TO DO IS FOLLOW THE DIRECTIONS! ALSO YOU CANNOT USE BOTH CONTROLS ON THE TV AND THE RECEIVER. THIS GOES FOR ANY AUDIO OR VIDEO EQUIPMENT. IF YOU USE BOTH IT WILL NOT WORK! YOU HAVE THE TWO COMPONENTS FIGHTING WITH EACH OTHER! Date: 2008-12-16 HK Review I would highly recommend this HK Receiver. Have enjoyed this product so far. User friendly remote control and great overall quality. Date: 2008-12-16 Major Problems with this Unit Save yourself a huge headache and DO NOT BUY the HK AVR-254. There are major issues and bugs when you try to switch channels on your cable box or satalite box. If you start on a digital channel and change to an anolog channel the picture goes out and you have to turn the receiver off and back on to get the picture to come through to the TV. Same thing happens when you go from analog to digital. Everything that is in 4:3 ratio is zoomed to 16:9 and it is not a very good picture. There are still issues when using a PS3, the receiver trys to upconvert blueray movies and the picture ends up looking bad. Also, you need to hook the receiver up to your computer and install the updated software, I did this and it didn't really fix the bugs. If you are using a Harmony Remote, the ARV-254 does not work well with the remote. The unit is crawling with bugs. I am so disappointed with Harman Karmon.
|
||||||||
 |
|
|
|||||||
| Terms of Use | Privacy Policy | Contact Us | |||||||||
| ©2008 HDTV-Source, All rights reserved. | |||||||||
