Klipschorns + Belle HT saga - part 2

[DTLongo]

The receiver I have found and that I think I will keep is (drum roll)...a Harman-Kardon AVR-130 5.1 channel home theater receiver. It is the baby of their line, rated at a modest 45 watts per channel but said to have high current handling. That, to my ears, translates into deep low and mid-low bass and lower and low midrange through the Klipschorns at least as good as my old Pioneer VSX5700 Ive been raving about, and to the new Jolida 102B tube amp I tried and then sold.

Nowadays apparently, 5.1 receivers are at the bottom of the line for most or all manufacturers. Searching on the Net I found ones from Pioneer, Yamaha, Sherwood and the like ranging from $149.00 to $400 or so. The HK was at the higher end, $350. I got mine on sale at Circuit City (!) for $300. HK AVR-130s are findable on the Internet for as little as $270.00 or so.

What attracted me to the 130 on the Net was 1) It was the only 5.1 I saw that had banana-plug speaker connections on all five channels. Others had spring-clips or, at most, banana-plug connectors only on the main front speakers. 2) The 130 had S-Video connections in and out, some others did not. 3) Favorable reviews. (continued)

[DTLongo]

(continued) In my view this modestly-priced receiver is a real sleeper. Plus, the thing looks good, too, not an all-shiny-black Darth Vaderish ebony box as was the Pioneer Elite 52. See attached closer pic. The blue lighting is nice and the large blue-white letter display is easy to read.

Sound-wise, the HK in two-channel stereo mode sounds every bit as good and perhaps even a bit cleaner than my previously mentioned reference old Pioneer VSX5700. The HK in straight-stereo mode makes my Khorns truly sing. But having that big Belle center, I of course want to use it. Switching to five-channel mode makes the Belle sing too, with NO audible (to my ears) degradation in sound quality, and the surrounds are there too as dessert, so to speak. This is without the subwoofer. With the sub in for movies the HK makes the sub sing too. (So did the Pioneer Elite VSX52TX, at 2½ times the price but no better.)

I was cautioned by other posters that a HT receiver will degrade the sound of stereo sources when switched into multichannel mode. To my ears, not at all with the HK in three-channel or five channel stereo mode. Apparently, the signal processing in those modes is not as electronically challenging as in Dolby Digital, DTS or such other decoding modes. But even there, deterioration is barely audible, if any.

(continued)

[DTLongo]

(continued/last) Drawbacks: a non-illuminated awkward remote and rather hard to understand setup. The manual and setup will not come easily to HT novices. Inputs are limited, Video 1 (VCR) in/out, Video 2 in, CD, DVD, plus Video 3 on the front panel including S-Video and coaxial and optical digital inputs there, thoughtful. No phono input. I have programmed relevant HT component operations into a reasonably capable Radio Shack (!) $30 illuminated learning remote, so ordinary use is not a problem.

The 130s tone controls cover a full plus/minus 10 db range in the stereo and stereo three/five channel modes and to a lesser extent in the movie surround modes. Subwoofer management is fine. No on-screen displays and other frills such as individual-speaker equalization. But with a basically well matched speaker array anyway, given ears to volume-match the channels I found those unneceesary.

This little receiver is eminently satisfying when, as I like to do, I run the Klipschorns (and Belle) on stereo material sans subwoofer. And its not so "little," either. Hefty, it exudes a substantial build-quality compared to the other 5.1s I saw and researched. So, for the moment, with my dream Klipschorns and Belle speaker array , the RS-35 surrounds and the new HK 130, Im happy. - Tom in Ocean Pines, MD

[Bill H.]

Tom,

Thanks for the excellent review. I have also been looking at HT receivers......and it boggles the mind..............your review hit the spot! Easy, powerful, and with a RS remote- easy to use. Thanks.

[tkot]

sounds like you need an nad dealer in you neighborhood

any of the high end recievers (5.1 or 7.1) should be auditioned before you make your buying decision

NAD freak

jay

[psg]

I like my h/k avr-325 on my La Scala's, and I got it at a reduced price since it's a 2003 model. It's heavier (at 40 lbs) than the newer units, which can't be bad. Has an OSD. It has 7.1 and I also only use 5.1, but I can always say that the extra 2 are really my unused zone II rather than my unused 7.1.