Is Harmon Kardon Reliable? (1 Viewer)

[Josh Lowe]

I've had my AVR520 for all of 20 hours but so far I am loving it.

 

[GuyL]

I had the 310 for about 5 months and the processor went out.
H/K replaced it with a 320 which I've had now for about a month and so far it has shut down on me once when the AC kicked on. I would say the quality at least on their receivers is questionable. I wouldn't buy one without a full warranty.

 

[Scott Oliver]

H/K is mass produced and mass produced pieces will fail more times than not.

I have owned three pieces of H/K gear the only one that worked for an extended period of time was the Signature 2.1 amp but even it blew a fuse when I used it to drive a 4 ohm load speaker which the manual states it should be able to do.

Blowing a fuse however is excusable my other experiences are just ridiculous.
I owned a H/K 5350 HDCD 5 disc changer once. The damn product was released with a bug in every single player. Eventually each and every unit would half the time become unable to read any discs inside so the tray would just continually spin around. It was a defective part that caused this problem but H/K nearly didn't announce this problem to the public on how to fix this problem until about 10 months after the products release. I was barely able to get it taken care of under warranty, but this was after two previous visits to the repair shop at which they found nothing wrong of course.
At least that CD player only cost around $400.
My next H/K product was the Signature 2.0 which cost me $2300 originally. I owned this product for one year and in that time I was only able to actually use the product for about half the year. Within a year's time I went through three of these units, each time the exact same problem occurred, all digital functions within the machine ceased to operate. Only the tuner would actually work, since it was all analog. Three times this happened and one time it happened after only having the new unit plugged in for about 10 minutes. Thankfully I had purchased CC's extended warranty coverage and after having so many struggles with this piece of junk they gave me a full cash refund.

Personally, I would avoid H/K but for that matter I would avoid all mass produced products in general. Look at all the posts of people who are having break-downs and then look at the product they are struggling with it will almost always be mass produced. Save your pennies and buy a better brand.

 

[Tim Sly]

Which brands aren't "mass produced"? Are there any??
What about Pioneer, Sony, Nad, Denon? I imagine all of them have product failures in every model, it is just who might have the least problems. I bet if we posted a message asking if Pioneer was reliable we would get any number of people who have had failures and others who think the product was just great.

 

[Carl Johnson]

My first 5.1 receiver was an H/K avr 75 and after a couple of years it started having a problem with dropping channels with any source that was connected thru analog jacks. I've had a couple of cheaper receivers that were more reliable than the H/K so when it came time to upgrade I went with an Onkyo.

 

[Josh Lowe]

Which brands aren't "mass produced"? Are there any??

I would guess he's talking about brands like Rotel, B&K, etc that aren't produced on the massive scale of Matsushita/Sony/Harman/etc products.

 

[Steve K.H.]

If you are looking for fault, you will find it.
Ask anyone with a Sony, Denon, Marantz, Onkyo, Kenwood, H/K, Yamaha, Rotel, and yes even Outlaw, and someone will outline a personal problem with a unit.
There is no singular alarming trend with an H/K model or series that is offered right now.
The manufacturers realize there is too much at stake to have anything go sideways and not respond to it. That said, we STILL see people suggesting Marantz units are unreliable because of a hitch in some of their early releases of the x200 series.
To talk about something that one owned "years ago" is like talking about your history 7 to 10 years ago with your (at the time) new Ford Tempo or Chev Cavalier against the latest products. It really has no relevance.
Overall, are H/K's reliable...? The x20 series is in its second year. They certainly appear reliable.

 

[Scott Oliver]

By mass produced I mean products that are run off a production line, boxed, then shipped. Steve you are right in saying that H/K probably isn't any different than any of the others you mention.
I have seen a Toshiba DVD player that shipped without a tray bottom, my friend and I were quite surprised when we sat a DVD into the tray and had it fall straight to the ground on us.
Or my Sony VCR that lasted 13 months before its motor blew up, one month beyond its manufacturer's warranty.

You will hardly ever hear of a problem associated to companies that either build each unit by hand or at least test and burn the products in before shipping them, and there are hundreds of companies like this, Tim.

Companies like the above stake their names on quality products that will last and sound good. Mass produced companies are all about volume of sales and if a few happen to breakdown prematurely because of it, oh well. It is better than holding up the production line by actually testing them.

Of course being mass produced means they can bring the product to market at a cheaper cost, but I'll spend the money to have a product that will last me longer than the manufacturer's warranty period.

I am on this rant because you see way to many posts on this forum, where a lot of people are buying mass produced products and having operational problems with them. Go to a forum where the average owner does not own these brands and you will almost never see a post complaining of a product failing on them.

Since upgrading from H/K or any othe mass produced brand none of my higher end stuff has had any problems and thats the way it should be IMO.

 

[Keith AD]

I've owned my AVR-320 for 5 months now. Has been relatively problem free. I haven't had the shut down problem. However, the receiver stops responding reliably to the remote after the unit has been on for a couple hours. The problem must be with the reciever and not the remote since I have two HK Remotes (they sent me a replacement) and the MX-500 universal remote. The receiver stops responding to all of them at the same time. Usually if I push a button a dozen times it eventually wakes up and responds. Somewhat frustrating!

 

[Tim Sly]

Scott,
Would you name some of the hand-made brands that aren't mass produced? I don't know the difference.

 

[KurtisJ]

My HK520 is not perfect, but quite nice. If I had the cash of some of the HTF folk I would have purchased B&K type equipment. But that is just down right spendy...but if I had the coin I might have gone that route. Of course, some of you may have better savings plans and more patience to hold out for x-number of months before making a purchase. Not to mention better SO factors!
My HK is like my Power Mac at work or my Jeep. Sometimes it takes the owners special touch to get going, but runs fantastic the rest of the way. Plus the sound was light years ahead of my 100 watt Pioneer receiver. (Night and Day).
I've heard problems with many (mass produced) brands at one time or another. Weigh the pros and cons and see what you come up with. For me it was the HK520...from an authorized dealer...of course!
...and I still love it.
Oh...is it reliable...Let me say I will not give up my Jeep, because it gets me to work everyday and brings me home to my HK520, another movie and my family! And those are a few things I will not give up because they work great for me.

 

[Scott Oliver]

I don't know, there is a whole bunch I could name off in varying price ranges.

Bryston, Art Audio, Cary, Theta, Jeff Rowland, Air Tight, Audio Research, Supratek and many many others. Some hand wired, some built off a production line but still tested and burnt-in. I am not sure about too many brands under one grand so thus I didn't list any but with a little research I am sure there is something that is tested before being shipped to consumer.

 

[RobP]

Thats it I've had it with this damn thing. If anyone wants it email me I'll sell you mine for cheap. If you read my message earlier in this thread youll see how I had countless problems with the reciever and the remote. Well the backlight on the remote quit working AGAIN last night. I dont know if this is the second or third remote but I have had it with this thing. Do your self a favor and look elsewhere if your shopping for a reciever.

 

[Eric-C]

I have just bought the AVR 520. I am very happy with the results. Your commits here helped me make up my mind. The units sounds great and I am very happy with the unit. I found it on line for $605.00 at Soundpros.com
Thanks All

 

[Jay True]

Im new to Home theater i bought a big screen and a Harmon Kardon 510 about a year ago its a great sounding and so far very reliable

 

[Benny G]

I've had my 310 for almost a year and have yet to run into a single problem. (bought from soundpros.com highly recommend them)

 

[Chris Tedesco]

I just recently replaced my H/K AVR 55 with the 1802 Denon. I have enjoyed the H/K for 3 years running and just recently have I had a problem with the center channel. The voices would drop off from time to time. It was sad taking my ol' H/K outta the entertainment center, but I had to make way for the Denon. Little more power, plus DTS. Overall I really liked my H/K.