Harman Kardon AVR-154 5.1-Channel A/V Receiver

Comments about Harman Kardon AVR-154 5.1-Channel A/V Receiver:

I'm currently using this to run my 5.1 system with a yamaha 8 watt sub, two large Kenwood rears, two small polk fronts and a polk center. Installation was a breeze with the abundance of documentation shipped with the unit. The sound is incredible - crystal clear, loud and sharp without getting boomey basses or tinny treble. Hands down the best receiver I've ever owned. The only drag I can really see is that the HDMI is for throughput only. Best bang for your buck that I've found.

Comments about Harman Kardon AVR-154 5.1-Channel A/V Receiver:

I purchased the AVR 154 after purchasing a new HDTV. And to replace my old Hafler pre and main amp. As other reviews have stated on various forums, this receiver has plenty of power. The sound is very clean.Setting up the receiver was not that difficult. just follow the directions and move carefully from one step to the next. As a side note, I had the original Bose Acoustimas system and one of the tweeter cubes had distortion more apparant after hooking up the new receiver. I contacted Bose to see if i could send it in for repair. They told me the system was too old but then offered the new Acoustimas 5 system for 50% off. A deal too good to pass up.Now with the new speakers the sound is awesome. My living environment is an open floor plan with a loft. I have the speakers set up with a diamond shape to the stereo image with two cubes facing towards the front and two to the rear with the seating position on the sofa in the middle of the diamond and the sub at the left side of the sofa. The sound in the room is very spatial. the receiver powers the speakers so that the room is filled with sound and the bass is very good.The only disadvantage to this receiver is that it does not pass through the audio via HDMI. It senses the type of audio and the display on the front shows Dolby etc. Receivers passing the audio via HDMI cost much more.I am very pleased with the purchase. Hooking up my Ipod via the aux input was the icing on the cake.[...]Thanx again.

Comments about Harman Kardon AVR-154 5.1-Channel A/V Receiver:

I am very pleased with the clarity and power the unit produces. This is the second Harman Kardon unit I have owned (the first served me very well for nearly a decade) and I plan to continue using their receivers.

Comments about Harman Kardon AVR-154 5.1-Channel A/V Receiver:

only drawback is HDMI not supported for on-screen menu system

Comments about Harman Kardon AVR-154 5.1-Channel A/V Receiver:

easy hook ups and great looks .
the sound is so clear. love the volume control that you can adjust in small steps. My older sony 5.1 was either to loud or not loud enough.

Comments about Harman Kardon AVR-154 5.1-Channel A/V Receiver:

Mostly used to listen to music secondary home theater
Great dynamic range , faithful reproduction, good honest power, easy setup.
Not so great,hard to read front panel controls.
No direct balance control on remote.
HDMI switched only, no access to audio for digital processing

Comments about Harman Kardon AVR-154 5.1-Channel A/V Receiver:

easy to setup the only thing i needed to change was to turn the back two speakers up i did mess around with other setting but ended up setting them back to the default setting for the best soundlove the looks and sound had an older sony 5.1 system this system blows the doors off it for sound quality[...]

Comments about Harman Kardon AVR-154 5.1-Channel A/V Receiver:

I use it for TV and Movie watching. I loved the price. I sounds good and can surprise you with it's dynamic range. I was unfamiliar with the AVR process so it took me awhile to figure it all out, not hard but something new. The directions were easy to follow.

Comments about Harman Kardon AVR-154 5.1-Channel A/V Receiver:

Very nice looking & sounding receiver. I replaced an Onkyo receiver with this one and my Bose Acoustimass 10 sounds alot better now. Music sounds amazing. Movies and TV Shows sound very good. It seems to be slightly less powerful than the Onkyo, but still has enough for average living room.

Comments about Harman Kardon AVR-154 5.1-Channel A/V Receiver:

I would recomend the AVR154 to anyone with a small to medium listening area looking for a good basic receiver with good clean sound. Don't be put off by the modest power specs as Harmon Kardon seems to rate their products conservatively. My listening area is 17' X 24' and the AVR154 has no problem filling the space with sound.
The setup was fairly straight forward, just take your time with it. My set up is relatively simple (CD and DVD players) so by the time I had it where I wanted it I had about 90 minutes tied up in it.
At this price point there are compromises to be made and about the only con to this receiver are the selection of sound fields for listening to music (Hall 1, Hall 2, Theater, "logic 7" and stereo). My previous receiver by Technics had a more flexible set of sound options but did not have the sound quality of the Harmon Kardon. A couple of other things to be aware of is while there is an input for your I-Pod there is is no phono input for a turntable and no multizone capability.
All in all I would definately recomend the AVR-154 to someone on a budget but still wants great sound.