Another receiver in this near-uber category is the Harman Kardon AVR 8000. This is a 60 lb beast with only 5 channels of amplification but oh what glorious five channels they are. Superb detail, low noise floor, well defined and nuanced bass.. If you can find one that is.. I see them come up on ebay once every couple of months..
I had both Harman/Kardon AVR 8000 and AVR7300. Unfortunately I experienced lot of scary moments with them that just left bad taste in me. This was the very reason why I never bothered mentioning them in my review post. Both of them had the worst built quality among avrs I had ever come across.
AVR8000: This was their flagship 5.1 channel receiver, very plasticky to look at with plastic knobs, switches and everything. There was gaping gaps in the front panel window which later broke off not to mention the general adieu of the company name with time on the front panel. Speaks quality. Still it was bit better built than 7300 and came with high quality gold plated connectors and speaker terminals which you generally find in avrs twice its price. The most bizarre and weird problem was the sudden crank up to maximum volume right out of the blue, and even when you try to turn in down it goes on continuing to pump up the volume until are compelled to shut it down. Also there was strange buzzing sound from the center channel sometimes. When it worked SQ wise it was great, much warm, smooth and dynamic with enough dynamic headroom to feel full bodied no matter what volume you are listening at. Sound wise I put it above denon 5800 and in the same league of pioneer 59txi except for the grudging reliability problems I faced. The remote control was totally pathetic and once I thought to throw it out but the service guys from H/K after months of useless tries finally gave up and an offer was made to upgrade to 7300 for a little extra cash. I vouched for it.
AVR7300: This was better than 8000, which looked better, was less plasticky and offered more features like proper HDTV support with progressive scan video but strangely retaining the same scary phenomenon of automatically cranking up volume and then suddenly blasting at full. I cannot fathom what the H/K guys were doing other than grazing grass as two successive flagships had same identical problem. It was a proper 7.1 channel avr with equal power to avr8000 but was worth 500 bucks less. As some people was overwhelmed by how much the H/K offered as so less a price, truth about cost cutting got revealed and I found connectors and speaker terminals were just ordinary ones, thx ultra was gone. I admit the sound was just as good as avr8000 removing layers of sonic glaze that you find in todays avrs and delivering a vast improvement in resolution, transient speed and clarity. Its strengths was in rendering musical detail, it was in same league as a good entry level dedicated two-channel system harmonically and dynamically.
In the end I will say it was sonically as good at say a top end denon or pioneer on those times, but the all around product was just not at the same level from their Japanese counterparts retailing at twice their price. They may be available at ebay, but I believe there owners just want to shove those somewhat ill designed pieces. On the other hand a pioneer 59txi, Yamaha z9 or a denon 5800 was just better in every way and built like a tank. These are just my personal feelings, dont take otherwise.
Pure dominance of Japanese manufacturers in AV amplifier/receiver market blinds many of us from some revered brands arising from USA. One of them that first come to mind is Harman, and there motto, led by legendry founder Sidney Harman who use to say that technology is their to serve music and not the other way round.
Harman International since then has grown and given birth to many well known brands like Lexicon, Harman Kardon to name a few serving different category of customers. While Lexicon is targeted to uber expensive audiophile group through specific dealer chains ending up for a basic processor + multi-channel power amp package in north of US $10,000, Harman Kardon was mostly targeted for mere mortals and common people like me who wants best bang for their buck and enjoys music/ movies.
Apart from marketing there are obvious differences between the two; while both being designed in United States (US), Lexicons are also assembled there packing better built quality, exotic designs schemes using selected, expensive Grade-A quality electronic components for supreme performance & reliability wrapped in an elegant, sturdy chassis to sustain prolonged lifespan for next quarter of a century, the average minimum life of Ubers. Looking at the innards of 2004 released US $7,000 Lexicon RV-8 avr revels this. More of Lexicons in my next post.
Lexicon RV-8
AV receivers from Harmon Kardon on the other hand being designed in US, were manufactured in China. The main theme were to provide true VFM products with cost effective designs, to fit within a designated price bracket, use of mediocre quality electronic components mostly sourced from China (which when bought in huge quantities were dirt cheap) in a low cost bare bone chassis while keeping overall price amazingly low. Built quality was well Chinese at best, failure rate was alarming over 20 percent for their AV receivers. So every fifth customer had a good chance to receive fresh defective piece which was replaced after a call to the company, still people went on buying as they were killer VFM products and opted for a five year extended warranty at nominal US $95.
Here in this post I will once again be referring to the receiver war era between 2000~2009 which led to the creation of some of the most expensive & iconic AV amplifier/ receiver from Japan, leading audiophile marks like Lexicon to even consider building their first and only Uber AV receiver, the RV-8, as market was ready for it. Brands like Harman Kardon from the other end of the spectrum also upped their game to produce the best they ever made and to whom by above comments are targeted. In this post I have selected four Harman Kardon multi-channel AVRs from their two separate series, AVR 7xxx & AVR 8xxx which by general consensus are considered to be their best ever made while limiting my views to technical perspective only, I am yet hear these avrs. For those looking for a subjective view, I believe their owners in quotes above have already done that. Lets dig deep now.
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An AV amplifier/ receiver when looked upon from AV separates point-of-view happen to be an amalgamation of a separate AV processor with a multi-channel power amp on a single chassis. Hence from here on I have tried to put my views under similar headings.
Harman Kardon AVR 7000
AVR 7000 when released in 2000 was a bold move by Harman Kardon to up its performance game offering great sonic performance at an extremely competitive US $1,800 price tag. Even with only five channels of amplification this TOTL had superb sound out gunning its competitors on the same price range and nearly reaching the realms of US $4,000 Ubers like the mighty Denon AVC-A1SE and Pioneer VSA-AX10. They were also marketed as AVR 7500 in Europe & Asian countries.
AVR 7000 also known as AVR 7500 in Europe & Asian countries
Chassis: It was a basic, low cost affair here, the entire unit being built in China. The chassis/ cabinet being a single box affair have a single metal plate separating the internal pre-amp, video and dsp boards from power supply section while power amp remains completely exposed to the power supply and AV processor sections. If one is expecting Yamaha DSP-Z9 Uber type fully electromagnetically shielded triple chamber chassis hull only for AV processor part, let alone a separate dual chamber for power amps and one for power supply, its time to better wake up. The front face plate, knobs and switches were made of black plastic keeping cost low. It is clear Harman Kardon from very onset NEVER wanted to make an Uber with their AVR 7xxx series. Still for a mere street price which hovered around US $800~900 they were really great VFM stuff, selling in huge quantities.
AV Processor: The in-built AV processor was below mediocre at best. Supporting only 5.1 channel analog inputs, it had only two inputs for co-axial & optical while one outputs for each. The DSP processor was a low cost affair containing a single Cirrus Logic CS492604 capable of 24-Bit processing and taking care of Dolby Digital & DTS processing with a maximum sampling processing capacity of 48 kHz. For stereo to multi-channel expansion technologies Dolby Pro Logic and Dolby 3 Stereo were provided. The six digital audio channels from this processor were fed to three 24-Bit, 96 kHz stereo AKM AK4393 DACs having 116dB dynamic range, finally arriving to the power amp section.
Harmans own VMax and famous Logic 7 processing, exclusively developed and used by their Lexicon processors were also present, though a trickled down version. While selecting Logic 7 Music & Cinema DSP modes any digital or analog stereo signal was expanded in digital domain to 5.1 or 7.1 channels. Harman Kardon was lagging a lot behind their competitors with no bass management over multi-channel analog inputs even in TOTLs like AVR 7000 and the only supported DSP processing from analog sources was from stereo channels for Logic 7. Hence it required only one cheap 20-Bit, 48kHz stereo A/D converter AKM AK5392 with 99dB dynamic range to transfer the analog signal to digital domain.
The video section supported low bandwidth switching between composite, S-Video and component video. There were two component ins and one monitor out, limited to 10Hz-30MHz (-3dB) not being HDTV complaint. 480p is the maximum it could deliver via components. Pretty ancient and low cost stuff here which strictly speaking is of no use today, offering very limited processing speed even though its full 5.1 channel pre-amp outs may come handy sometimes.
Power-amp: The real reason I believe TOTLs like AVR 7000 sounding so good was due to its superb power amp & power supply sections. One balancing the other, they sucked every bit of information from their mediocre in-built AV processor and made up for this inherent deficiency. It is usually the other way round for similarly priced Japanese avrs. They power amp stages were absurdly good for a receiver of its price range. With a power supply consisting of huge 1,000 VA toroidal transformer mated with 44,000uF of capacitance, it provided ample wattage to power amp output stages to play its game and make its Japanese competitors in the same price range sound puny. The power amp rail voltage was quite high with 65 VDC X 2 with ample current to feed dual matched pairs of Toshiba 2SA1943/2SC5200 power transistors for each of its five powered channels. These are 150 watt devices in dual configuration, means 200 watts of clean full bandwidth power per channel with residual 100 watts of overhead. With Harmon Kardon modestly rating AVR 7000 with 110 watts X 2 @ 8 ohms @ 20Hz 20kHz, <0.07% THD, both channels driven, I expect 100 watts X 5 @ 8 ohms all channels driven simultaneously a childs play and will easily handle 4 ohm loads on all channels simultaneously. These are REAL powerhouses with 22.3 kilos of bulk, affirming to contain large power supply and power-amp sections.
Power-amp IN options highlighted in RED
Summary: With dedicated five channel power-amp in option, as of today its only use is of a dedicated five channel power-amp. Ebay prices ranges at around US $200 used, so great power-amp for its price.
AVR 7000 paired with Yamaha NS-1000
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Harman Kardon AVR 8000
The truth is apart from sound quality and output power, AVR 7000 was never able to meet the standards of TOTLs from Japan, let alone Ubers which resided above TOTLs. By standards one can call it the quality of precision engineering, component quality used, product quality, overall reliability, all around ease of use, flexibility, and higher life-span with seal of Japan. But then again they were never intended to do so with US $1,800 price tag when TOTL models from Japan hovered around US $2,800 like Yamaha DSP-AZ1 released in 2001. I believe Harman Kardon understood this performance gap thus making a bold move in 2001 to up the ante and in deciding to go head on with their new lineup AVR 8xxx in-order to reduced this gap. AVR 8000 was born, entering a completely uncharted territory with an equal US $2,800 price tag. In Europe & Asian countries they were better known as AVR 8500.
To me this is the best AV receiver Harman Kardon ever made.
The under-body of AVR 8000 chassis (Look at the M10 bolt holding the huge toroidal transformer)
Chassis: Unfortunately the same low cost chassis of AVR 7000 was retained with all plastic affairs. I believe it was better decided to spend the extra US $1,000 cash over AVR 7000 on better internal electronic components, connectors and certification like THX Ultra which people trusts. They were right on doing so as it is clear Harman Kardon from very onset wanted to reach one step higher over their ever popular AVR 7xxx series with their newer AVR 8xxx series. Still for a street price which hovered around US $1,600~1,800 the AVR 8000 was a gold deal and a real VFM stuff.
AV Processor: Harman Kardon made huge strides with their in-built AV processor, reducing the performance gap massively compared to TOTLs like DSP-AZ1 or Denon AVC-A11SE. AVR 8000 now supported full 7.1 channel analog inputs and increased the number of digital inputs from two to four each for co-axial & optical providing greater flexibility to connect multiple digital devices. Two digital outputs for co-axial and optical each were also provided. Newest VMax and Logic 7 Music & Cinema DSP processing where included though limiting to stereo inputs only as there was no processing from multi-channel analog sources. In order to process Logic 7 in digital domain from analog stereo sources a single upgraded 24-Bit, 48kHz stereo A/D converter AKM AK5392 with 116dB dynamic range was used.
AVR 8000 also known as AVR 8500 in Europe & Asian countries
On DSP front the new Cirrus Logic CS49326 was not only more powerful than previous but there were actually two used, having over twice the processing power over AVR 7000. As AVR 8000 contained much revered THX Ultra certification, requiring special meticulous attention from the very input to the speaker output terminals, one CS49326 was dedicated for THX Ultra and THX Surround EX post processing while the other did duty with the rest like Logic 7, Dolby Digital, DTS, Dolby Pro Logic II and Dolby 3 Stereo. Newly included was THX Ultra processing, THX Surround EX and support for two new DTS formats namely DTS ES and DTS Neo:6. AVR 8000 was also one of the few avrs which was HDCD complaint.
Harman's Logic 7 Processing
THX Ultra Post Processing
The eight digital audio channels from both the CS49326s capable of 24-Bit processing were then fed to four upgraded 24-Bit, 192kHz stereo Analog Devices AD1852 DACs delivering 114dB dynamic range, finally arriving to the power amp section.
The point to note is the entire dsp processing was able to handle a maximum sampling rate of 48 kHz, so forget about six times denser SACD and DVD-A quality processing at 24-bit resolution and up to 96kHz sampling rates found on Ubers like DSP-Z9. It requires humongous processing power. There was no bass management over multi-channel analog inputs.
The video section was same as AVR 7000 supporting low bandwidth switching between composite, S-Video and component video. Number of components inputs were increased to three and the monitor out was limited to 10Hz-30MHz (-3dB), not being HDTV complaint which requires 10Hz-60MHz (-3dB) or above. 480p is the maximum it could deliver via components.
Good quality in-built AV processor having gold plated connectors to reduce noise
The internal electronic components though Chinese were much better in quality than stock low quality Chinese stuff used in AVR 7000. All AV input/output terminals were full gold plated as was the two way speaker binding posts being all metal, very high quality. All la THX to reduce noise. Pretty decent stuff here with assured THX Ultra sound quality and processing with addition of THX Surround EX, DTS ES, and newest Logic 7 along with complete 7.1 channel pre-amp outs. Similar priced DSP-AZ1 came with only 5.1 channels inputs and no THX processing.
Power-amp: The real reason for AVR 8000 sounding exceptionally good for its price and much better than AVR 7000 was mainly due to much improved AV processor side mated with an even better power amp & power supply sections. It had an ultra smooth, detailed and warm sound of high end tube amps. People started comparing AVR 8000s sound signature and SQ to high end McIntosh and Naim amps. With high current power amp stages, power rating became irrelevant and suddenly the modestly rated 125 watts X 2 @ 8 ohms @ 20Hz 20kHz, <0.07% THD, both channels driven AVR 8000 sounded like 200 watts per channel Japanese Ubers.
Look at the size of the toroidal transformer and those heatsinks denoting massive power-amp output stages
Mind you, and this is the only chink in AVR 8000 armor, even though AV processor part had full 7.1 channel support the power amp had only five channels of amplification. Hence for the rest two surround back channels separate power amp like Harman Kardon PA 2000 (100 watts X 2) need to be used in tandem. This was the very reason why AVR 8000 was not able to pass THX Ultra 2 certification which requires seven identical powered channels. The reason Harman Kardon stated behind the lack of two power channels was that it became physically impossible to fit an extra two audiophile grade channels of amplification which produce a true minimum of 125 watts each with extremely high current output capability in the same chassis of previous AVR 7000 without making AVR 8000 size totally impractical or compromising the quality of the amplification. After going through the service manual I confirm this to be true, though one more channel could have been easily added.
If the picture above, the left bank for power-amp section contains three channels of amplification while the right bank with equal space just two. They could have easily relocated the tuner circuit at the end of the right heatsink (which they did with later models) empting the space to add one more channel having six channels of amplification. This would have greatly benefited the customer and improved sales as AVR 8000 contained two new 6.1 channel formats, namely THX Surround EX and DTS ES which were rave those times.
AVR 8000s real competitors like DSP-AZ1 typically use a common power supply for both output drivers and outputs power transistors, so when maxed the driver stages will eventually get starved as there is less voltage/current available for them reducing the bandwidth of the driver stages which in turn effects the drive to power transistors, sounding constricted at high volume. Retaining the huge 1,000 VA toroidal transformer of AVR 7000 in the power supply section mated with even larger pair of 27,000uF, 80V power capacitors (54,000uF in total), Harman Kardon cleverly opted for dual amplifier power supply topology where one voltage rail (60 VDC X 2) goes directly to feed the output power transistors while the other independent of the former to the output drivers. So when the amplifier is operated at full power the driver stages are not at all affected and starved of voltage/current as it is independent and are able to adequately drive the power transistors retaining the full bandwidth even at full power. This is US $4,500 DSP-Z9 Uber technology trickled down to an avr half its price!!! Kudos to Harman Kardon, but wait we are not finished.
AVR 8000 uses wait for it not one pair not dual pair but TRIPLE matched pairs of Toshiba 2SA1943/2SC5200 power transistors in output stages for each of its five identically powered channels. These are 150 watt devices in triple configuration, meaning 450 watts per channel yielding 300 watts of ultra-wide bandwidth, clean power per channel with residual 150 watts of overhead.
This is phenomenal power-amp output stage for any AV receiver and their modest claim of just 125 watts X 2 @ 8 ohms @ 20Hz 20kHz, <0.07% THD both channels driven, frankly speaking, I will not be surprised if it even eclipses many 170 watts X 2 rated Japanese Ubers in raw power!!! With the huge power reserve over its rated power at 8 ohms load means when 4 ohm loads are applied it will open the flood gates of hi current reserved power per channel, and operate much better than quintessential Yamaha DSP-Z9 or Denon AVC-A1SRA in stereo. For multi-channel performance the Ubers will have upper hand as they use even bigger power supplies and this time the power will be distributed to all channels retaining more power per channel. On the other hand AVR 8000 will obliterate its real opponents like DSP-AZ1 or AVC-A11SE where power output is concerned being more optimized to operate with full range 4 ohm floorstanders on all five powered channels simultaneously without breaking sweat at extremely high volume levels. It was no doubt the best high-current power amp stage ever built by Harman Kardon for an AV receiver. So, double kudos to them.
View of the AVR 8000 with the center sub-assemblies and the rear panel removed
Overall weight of AVR 8000 increased by nearly two kilos to 24.1 kg thanks to bigger power capacitors, bigger and more complex AV processor and yes the heat sinks where upgraded with larger solid aluminum types for superior heat dissipation an in holding thirty power transistors capable to achieve 1500 watts of clean power when supplemented with a proper power supply. Even though a six channel power amp section in that chassis was entirely viable, a seven channel power amp would have definitely required an even bigger heatsink with no space to accommodate another 12 output transistors.
Dedicated 5-channel Power-amp IN options
Summary: With ebay prices hovering around US $300, these are real gold mines. Stereo & multi-channel music lovers like me will rejoice in their SQ, offering Uber quality sound at so less a price. Movie lovers can by-pass the entire AV processor side and take advantage of the high-current power-amp using its dedicated five channel power-amp in option mated to newer 7.1 channel avrs with pre-outs. AVR 8000 was a landmark AV receiver and the best there is from Harman Kardon.
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Harman Kardon AVR 7200
AVR 8000s sold really well leading Harman Kardon to hibernation mode for next two years. Why fix something when its working? Finally in 2003 their next TOTL arrived, this time with full seven channels of amplification with near identical advertised power per channel to that of AVR 8000 while costing US $800 less. Amazing as it sounds AVR 7200 was never an upgrade over AVR 8000, it was the other way round. There is no doubt the aggressively priced US $2,000 AVR 7200 was a winner from marketing point of view with in-built support for full seven channels of amplification which was becoming a necessity.
Chassis: Again the same old, mediocre quality chassis saga continued. It is clear Harman Kardon from very onset NEVER wanted to create a real successor of AVR 8000 with their AVR 7200. On the other hand technically speaking it was the successor of aging AVR 7000. Still for a mere street price which hovered around US $1,000~1,200 they sold well, great VFM stuff.
AV Processor: The in-built AV processor was a ripped down low cost version of AVR 8000. Retaining the 7.1 channel layout, it had one less inputs for co-axial & optical each. With no THX Ultra processing, DSP processing power was halved. The Cirrus Logic CS49326 exclusively used before for THX Ultra and THX Surround EX was gone while the other CS49326 capable of 24-Bit processing was retained to support all the rest decoding/ processing with the same maximum sampling capacity of 48 kHz of AVR 8000. The eight digital audio channels from the processor were then fed to a single 24-Bit, 192 kHz 8-channel Cirrus Logic CS4382 DAC having same 116dB dynamic range, finally arriving to the power amp section. Sadly AVR 7200 completely ditched the high quality gold plated connectors and speaker terminals of AVR 8000 and went for cheaper versions on AVR 7000.
Cheaper connector & speaker terminals to that of AVR 8000
The only game change in the entire AV processor side was inclusion of digital bass management on 7.1 channel analog inputs. It was of ancient type not containing crossover setting for individual channels, rather divided into three sets of speaker groups: Fronts, Center & Surrounds. Though Logic 7 required only one ADC for front channels, due to 7.1 analog channel bass management four 24-Bit, 48 kHz stereo Cirrus Logic CS5360 ADCs with 105dB dynamic range was thrown in to transfer the analog signals to digital domain.
The video section was improved now supporting medium bandwidth switching between composite, S-Video and component video. There were one less component ins than AVR 8000, limited to 10Hz-50MHz (-3dB) and were not HDTV complaint which requires 10Hz-60MHz (-3dB) or above. 576p is the maximum it could deliver via components. Pretty downgraded stuff compared to AVR 8000, which strictly speaking is of little use today offering very limited processing speed even though its full 7.1 channel pre-amp outs may come handy sometimes.
Power-amp: Once more AVR 7200 sounded much better than its competitors having more reserved power in the same price range, it was so damn cheap being manufactured in China while the Japanese made their TOTLs in home. The same power amp & power supply sections of AVR 7000 were carry forwarded while adding two additional channels for rear surrounds in the same chassis.
Changes in power supply orientation and hollow type Left heatsink
Some changes in orientation of power supply section can be observed as the circuit board present vertically in front of the slight right aligned toroidal transformer of AVR 7000 was now horizontally mounted on top of transformer, freeing up space so the transformer can be moved forward and be kept on the center line of the avr, balancing the weight of the whole unit. The same 2 X 27,000uF, 80V power capacitors were plucked from AVR 8000 and had to do the duty with seven channels thus having less reserves per channel than AVR 8000. Harmon Kardon did a trick to separate power supply rails for the fronts (FL, FR, Cen) and the surrounds (SL, SR, SBL, SBR) channels, both being independent and un-effected from each other. Personally I find the AVR 8000s dual amplifier power supplies, one for driver stage and one for output stage superior than AVR 7200s dual, independent power supplies for front and rear channels where driver & output stage share the same supply.
The power amp output stages was downgraded from AVR 8000s triple to double matched pair of Toshiba 2SA1943/2SC5200 power transistors, for each of its seven powered channels fed with less voltage (55 VDC X 2). Seven powered channels were now possible in the same cabinet as it had less number of power transistors (28 of them) to accommodate the heatsinks surface area of identical length to that of AVR 8000 which had 30 of them for just five channels. The solid aluminum heat sink on the right bank containing four channels was bigger than the cheaper hollow left heatsink containing three channels.
With all this I was expecting less power than AVR 8000 or even AVR 7000 put still it pulled out 115W X 2 @ 20Hz ~ 20kHz @ < 0.07% THD @ 8 ohms both channels driven. With less current available, with stereo as well as five channel operation AVR 8000 will have advantage. Still AVR 7200 will easily be able to handle 4 ohm loads on all channels simultaneously.
Summary: Performance (5.1 channel AVR 8000) clash with necessity (7.1 channel AVR 7200). I think this sums it up perfectly as both weighing 24.1 kilos, AVR 7200 didnt gain anything on the power-amp section other than two additional channels, had a mediocre AV processor performance with no THX Ultra. Much cheaper quality connectors were used to save cost, which was reflected in their asking price. The lack of any power-amp in options severely limited any use as power-amp as of today and reminded us why during the release of AVR 8000 they said it was physically impossible to design and fit seven audiophile grade channels of amplification with extremely high current output capability in this chassis. They contradicted their view with AVR 7200 compromising the quality of the amplification an in having seven channels in the same chassis and in doing so lost faith in the power amp capability, thus retrieving to provide power-amp in options. Change of times I believe, still no one complained as it sold in great numbers. Neither do we with their highly competitive asking price.
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Harman Kardon AVR 7300
While AVR 7200 sold really well its successor AVR 7300 made a giant leap on AV processor technology alike AVR 8000 did three years back. Unfortunately, once more we were missing a real AVR 8000 successor which eventually never came up. There was no doubt the US $2,400 AVR 7300, released in 2004 was a real VFM and true winner right away supporting newer audio formats, video up-scaling for the first time and full HDTV support all wrapped in an extremely competitive price package.
Chassis: The same old chassis was used while front plastic face plate was changed to newer rather stylish glossy look in silver introducing a better upmarket feel than previous all black ones. The entire cabinet continued silver color theme but where nowhere near to TOTLs from Japan like DSP-AZ1 chassis, let alone Ubers. Still for a street price which hovered around US $1,300~1,400 they sold like hot buns and were killer VFM product.
AV Processor: Harman Kardon finally made some tinkering with their ageing in-built AV processor. 7.1 channel layouts now being mandatory was retained along with inclusion of one more inputs each for co-axial & optical relative to AVR 7200. A much more powerful Cirrus Logic CS49400 processor was chosen because it not only offered dual DSP engines plus a 32-Bit audio post processor, but it also allowed the Dolby Digital and DTS pull-up tables to be stored on-board rather than in external memory. This allowed AVR 7300 faster loading and, apparently, increased accuracy than single Cirrus Logic CS49326 of AVR 7200.
The AVR 7xxx models never had THX Ultra processing, but apart from that, those found on AVR 7200 was included. Newer and much awaited DTS 96/24 decoding finally arrived (DSP-AZ1 had it since 2001) as well as inclusion of many newer multi-channel expansion technologies like Dolby Pro Logic IIx, Dolby Virtual Speaker and Dolby Headphone. DSP processing still operated at 24-bit resolution and up to 48 kHz sampling rates. The eight digital audio channels from the processor were then fed to a single 24-Bit, 192 kHz 8-channel Cirrus Logic CS42528 DAC having 114dB dynamic range, finally arriving to the power amp section. It also contained the same cheaper connectors/ speaker terminals of AVR 7200.
Cheaper connector & speaker terminals to that of AVR 8000
AVR 7200 was first to introduce digital bass management in their TOTL line-up and AVR 7300 continued the theme for 7.1 channel analog inputs. It improved a bit, still not supporting crossover setting for individual channels but rather adding a little more flexibility by divided into four sets (previously three) of speaker groups: Fronts, Center, Surround & Surround Backs. Though Logic 7 required only one ADC for front channels, due to 7.1 analog channel bass management four newer and improved 24-Bit, 192 kHz stereo Cirrus Logic CS5361 ADCs with 114dB dynamic range was used to transfer the signals to digital domain. Full 7.1 channel pre-outs were also provided.
Full HDTV complaint 720p/1080i Component Video Monitor Out
The video section for the first time supported high bandwidth switching between composite, S-Video and component video. There were one more component ins than AVR 7200 with full 10Hz-100MHz (-3dB) HDTV support via component outs. Utilizing a Faroudja DCDi FLi2300 integrated video processor with patented DCDi technology, 480p progressive-scan video output was possible from interlaced 480i video sources not to mention full 720p/ 1080i pass through capability via components. The AVR 7300 simply put offered the best and most flexible inbuilt AV processor of the four TOTLs.
Power-amp: AVR 7300 retained the same power-amp output stages of AVR 7200, though some thoughtful touch ups were made to improve overall performance. The power supply section contained the same toroidal transformer brought forward by four generations but now supplemented with even bigger 2 X 39,000uF, 80V power capacitors increasing the dynamic headroom per channel over AVR 7200 even with identical 55 VDC X 2 voltage rails. Claimed power output was inflated at 125W X 2 @ 20Hz ~ 20kHz @ < 0.07% THD @ 8 ohms, but still AVR 8000 will provide more current per channel due to beefier output stages and have more control & drive over AVR 7300 over stereo as well as 5-channel operating modes.
The power supply and power amp topologies remained identical to that of AVR 7200 with independent power supplies for front and rear channels and in containing dual matched pair of Toshiba 2SA1943/2SC5200 power transistors for each of its seven powered channels. The left bank of heatsink containing three channels was upgraded to solid aluminum types for better heat dissipation. AVR 7300 will easily handle 4 ohm loads on all channels simultaneously. Weighing 24.9 kilos it was 800 grams heavier than AVR 7200 due to bigger caps, use of solid heatsinks and improved video section all adding weight.
Massive power-amp stages of AVR 7300 visible through the cabinet
Left bank heatsink upgraded to solid aluminum types for better heat dissipation
Summary: As of today AVR 7300 seems to have the best balance of performance and features of the all four TOTLs discussed above. It has ample power to drive any speaker on the market today, supports 7.1 channels inputs, has 7.1 channel pre-amp outs, and supports all DVD audio formats with full HDTV support via component outs. With prices staying at around US $ 300 in ebay they are real steal.
Which then brings us to the question as of why even spend this tiny sum on a decade old avr when the inbuilt AV processor of AVR 7300 did not support HDMI switching and are unable to decode latest blu-ray audio formats from Dolby & DTS? Who cares about 480p up-scaling when you get 1080p through modern avrs via HDMI? In case of Ubers using their in-built AV processor made sense, as no AVR as of today can vouch to match the sound quality emanated from those discrete, extremely high quality audiophile grade designs with super expensive electronic components embedded like jewels.
Harman Kardon AVR 7300
AVR 7300 only advantage over recent TOTL avrs is in use of in-built high-current power-amp stages which performance wise simply blows all
recent Japanese and American TOTLs out of the window. But then again with no power-amp in options one cannot use it as a dedicated power amp. So my preferred choice in the end will always be AVR 8000 which produce a
TRUE minimum of (125 watts X 2) and (100 watts X 5) under 8 ohms load with extremely high current output capability. AVR 8000 never compromised the quality of the amplification as per Harman Kardon standards which makes it the best Harman Kardon AV receiver ever made. It sure will sound great for serious music listening in stereo as well as multi-channel with DVD-A and SACDs in Pure Direct mode even by todays standards, with the in-built AV processor having high quality gold plated connectors.
For HT lovers, one can simply go for cheapest receiver in the market supporting full 7.1 channel pre-outs and use AVR 8000s in-built hi-current power amp for the fronts, center and surrounds and let the surround backs be handled by their new receiver. With a mere addition of US $ 300 (AVR 8000 on ebay) to the total expense, sound quality will dramatically improve ten folds with the THX Ultra certified amps of AVR 8000 in action, delivering loads of current through those high quality all metal gold plated speaker terminals and in having enough power and dynamic headroom to drive all speakers you can provide to beyond cinema levels and shake your house from basic foundations.
Harman Kardon AVR 8000 aka AVR 8500
Full gold plated high quality connector & speaker terminals of AVR 8000
AVR 8000's supreme ability to handle hulking 4-ohm towers all around
