Harman Kardon AVR 320 or 510 (1 Viewer)

[eskendir]

I recently bought the Wharfedale Diamond 8 cinema package for 100% HT use. The Diamonds are have a sensitivity rating of 86db and impedance of 6 ohm, so that means they are power demanding speakers. My question is should I get the HK AVR 320 which is rated 55x5 all channel driven or the AVR 510 rated 70x5? Would I be missing a lot of features if I buy the AVR 510 since it is an older model. Isn't logic 7 same as Pro logic II? I live in an apartment and my living area is 16x20. I like to listen loud but not loud enough to break my lease. Pls help me decide.

 

[Chris Purvis]

Pro Logic II and Logic 7 are not at all the same thing, although they have similar purposes in mind. Logic 7 creates 7 separate channels of material out of whatever you feed it, ProLogic II does 5 channel.
Also, some material can be specifically encoded for Logic 7 decoding - supposedly LOTR has it's PCM tracks specifically encoded with Logic 7 information.
Personally, I'd buy anything you are going to use with those speakers from someone local where you can easily return it. I think you might find neither of them powerful enough to drive those things in a HT. A friend here at work was trying to build a HT around his NHT 2.5i's which have the same 86dB / 6 ohm ratings as your speakers there, and we tried a couple of receivers with more rated power than either of those and really just could not get them to come alive. I warned him about using those speakers in his home theater with the amplifier budget he had available, but did he listen?
He ended up ditching them in his home theater and relegating them to a music-only 2 channel system powered by an Adcom GFA-555II 200 w.p.c. amp and is much happier with their performance there.
If you live in an apartment and won't want theatric-reference level playback, then you might be okay, but I'd still make sure you can try before you are committed.

 

[DonJ]

I love my AVR 320 Logic 7 rocks but you'll be happy ethier way.

 

[Paul Clarke]

Hello eskendir,
Back again, I see.
Are you running or plan to run more than a 5.1 system? If so you will want the 320 or 520 on closeout. You'll still need more amplification for the extra channels but at least you'll have the processing.
If not, then the 510 is a steal, especially at the price you can get them nowadays. Remember, for a little more $, with any 5 series you get an amp for future use with assignable channels. The 510 will drive the Diamond's moderate sensitivity with greater ease. The extra juice over the 320 is worth about 1.25dB's, not enough to make or break... but your space at 16x20 is larger than mine at 12x17 so you could make use of the extra power and headroom, especially when listening at lower volumes.
Lastly Logic-7, even the lesser version found in these level H/K receivers is superior to any other surround processing I've heard. It makes 2 channel come alive.
Good Luck.

 

[eskendir]

Hi Paul, I am planning only a 5.1 set up now. Since I live in an apartment I don't have a room for the extra speakers.
My main concern now is to drive the diamonds with ease and have some useful features. I've read in this forum and elsewhere the the earlier version of 10 series have had some problems. I am buying the 510 from Harman Audio, so I guess I'll be OK if I have some problem with it. I think I will go for the extra juice and go for the 510 over the 320. Thanks for your help.

 

[Paul Clarke]

Hi eskendir,

Let me know what you think of it after it arrives and you've had some run-in. Also, if you have any problems with the 510 remote just e-mail or call Harman and they will promptly ship you out a 520 remote.