# Harman/Kardon AVR 1600 Review



## Toby Jack

*Appearance*
Visual appeal has always been one of Harman/Kardon's greatest strengths throughout its entire product line. The metallic silver & glossy black are iconic in the world of audiophiles in that they denote a heritage of aural excellence 50 years in the making. The AVR 1600 A/V receiver is certainly no exception when it comes to design elegance and build quality. 
Harman’s newest line of stereo and A/V receivers benefits from quite an extensive face lift, rendering them even more beautiful than their predecessors. The refinements were many, beginning with a slightly new front panel design. The first thing you notice is that the brushed metallic silver adorning the lower half of the face has been replaced by a darker almost chrome-looking brushed metal. Also the front panel controls have been reduced to miniscule, (almost invisible) black buttons that camouflage right along the border where the glossy black and brushed metallic surfaces meet. In fact, the only thing that sticks out is the inner-luminous volume knob that has also been a defining feature of Harman’s audio equipment for years. The result is a chic, minimalistic appearance that catches your eye every time you walk into the room.
The front panel also features covered ports for A/V, optical & coax connections. This feature has proven to be very convenient for when friends bring their Wii over to the house. Rather than climbing all the way behind the entertainment center to plug things in, I simply remove the camouflaged chrome coverings and hook everything up right there.
White text glows mysteriously through shiny black upper half of the panel offering the illusion that the entire section is a display. I have setup all of my inputs, naming them after the components that are attached to them. The name of the component and the type of audio signal (Dolby TrueHD, DTS, Dolby Pro Logic II) is presented on the receiver at all times. Ultimately, Harman/Kardon’s design looks as if it’s from the future. It’s the thing I am most proud of in my living room. Period.

*Hardware*
The AVR 1600 is not just about good looks. It boasts a multitude of features including some of the more recent ones like support of high definition audio codecs: Dolby TrueHD & DTS Master Audio. This is impressive considering the AVR 1600 is the lowest in the line up of Harman’s latest A/V receivers. One of my favorite features is Logic 7 which is Harman/Kardon’s proprietary version of Dolby Pro Logic II or DTS Neo. It mixes stereo tracks wonderfully and distributes them to all five speakers in a very natural way. Considering that there is still a lot of material with only channels of audio, this feature has been quite useful. 
The rear of the AVR 1600 (as you can see below) offers the usual connections necessitated by today’s equipment. There are three HDMI inputs and one output for the television. There are also three optical ports and four coaxial ports. This means there are TEN total inputs available for sources delivering surround sound. The receiver also offers two component & five composite inputs for legacy sources. It is also worth mentioning that there are multi-channel analog inputs (8 total) for delivering high definition surround in another way. This works if you have a Blu-ray/HD-DVD player that decodes the HD audio codecs internally and sends the audio signals out over analog in LPCM form. I have not yet tried this but I assume it sounds just as good as over HDMI. And this way I get to see “Dolby TrueHD” on the display!
The speaker terminals are color coded for a convenient install experience. They are the familiar binding posts rather than the spring loaded ones offered on other lower-end receivers. This allows for a guaranteed, secure connection between speaker wire and terminal. I think that overall, even a home theater “nube” will find setup a breeze with the AVR 1600.

*Performance*
Now to the part that really matters: performance. As I stated earlier, the AVR 1600 is technically an entry-level receiver and the lowest on the totem pole in Harman/Kardon’s line up. This will automatically cause some conclusions to be drawn. I must encourage you, however, to keep your insinuations at bay. The amplifier puts out a modest 50 watts per channel for seven speakers. This may seem questionable until you look at the rest of the H/K line. All of their receivers are rated lower than comparable A/V receivers from other manufacturers. My AVR 1600 drives 5 full range speakers that are, admittedly, power hogs. I will speak about these in another review. Needless to say that the AVR 1600 takes my speakers to impressive levels. The sound created by the receiver is not only loud but incredibly clear and natural. I have experienced warmth (not the kind of warm your thinking) and clarity in dialog and music that I have never experienced with previous receivers.
Music usually does a good job of exposing the quality of a system. It is one thing to watch movies on a system but listening to music can tell you everything about a receiver and set of speakers from dynamic range to the recreation of the most minute details. The AVR 1600 excels at all of the above. It isn’t the loudest receiver out there but it doesn’t need to be for smaller living rooms like mine. What’s most important to me is the quality of sound and that is what I get the this receiver.

*Complications*
Now it wouldn’t be fair if I didn’t share some of the problems I have run into while operating this unit. One of the most common issues with this line of A/V receivers from Harman/Kardon is HDMI handshake and was kind enough to plague my unit as well. The first two HDMI ports performed like a dream but the third was completely useless. This was quite frustrating considering the bulk of my source equipment uses HDMI to transmit it’s signal. This was taken care of after shipping the unit to Harman HQ and receiving a later version of the AVR 1600. 
Another issue I struggled with on my first unit was the occasional video drop out during movies or shows. It would only last for a couple of seconds but was incredibly frustrating. One particular time I had to restart the entire receiver to get the video to work.
In conclusion, these were the only problems I had and were taken care of when I received my new unit. I believe the first round of AVR 1600, 2600 & 3600 all suffered from similar ailments but have been corrected since then in the latest models. Despite the initial set backs, I truly love the AVR 1600. Not only is it the most beautiful electronic device I own, it performs better than I had hoped. I plan on keeping this one for quite some time.


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## recruit

Excellent review Toby :T I have always liked HK kit after owning an AVR5500 many years ago now and it did impress me for it was a very capable receiver, I believe there new line use class D amplification which is why they are so compact but they have always been very conservative about there power ratings but usually have a high current rating to power most speakers quite easily, it certainly wins on the looks department and are well made electronics.

Logic 7 was one of my favourites and preferred over the other codecs available and this is a very strong feature IMO as I used it quite favourably over the dolby and DTS solutions, just like the Lexicon MC4 that I owned it got its fair share of usage and is still a strong selling point/feature.


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## KASR

Great Review - I have much love for H/K's, having owned the AVR154. I'll have to come by and listen to the new setup!


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## bonehead848

Great review! It wouldnt surprise me if a guy this detailed kept all his many blu rays meticulously maintained in alphabetical order :neener:


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## Toby Jack

bonehead848 said:


> Great review! It wouldnt surprise me if a guy this detailed kept all his many blu rays meticulously maintained in alphabetical order :neener:


Haha! Is it that obvious?!


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## Jungle Jack

Hello,
Very nice write up. I too am a huge fan of Logic 7 and appreciate H/K's Industrial Design. The only major omission I see is a lack of preamplifier outputs for all channels. That aside, very compelling package.
Cheers,
JJ


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## recruit

Logic 7 has always been the prefered over the other formats when using HK or Lexicon products as it does such a good job, it reminds me of Merdians own Trifield when used for music which gave stunning results.


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## Toby Jack

Jungle Jack said:


> Hello,
> Very nice write up. I too am a huge fan of Logic 7 and appreciate H/K's Industrial Design. The only major omission I see is a lack of preamplifier outputs for all channels. That aside, very compelling package.
> Cheers,
> JJ


Agreed! Not even the AVR 2600 (the step up) has pre-amp outputs. That really was unusual. Thanks for the response!


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## selden

A minor quibble:


> sends the audio signals out over analog in LPCM form.


 is a contradiction in terms. LPCM (Linear Pulse Code Modulation) is a decompressed multichannel digital format sent over HDMI. Analog is analog.


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## Toby Jack

selden said:


> A minor quibble:
> is a contradiction in terms. LPCM (Linear Pulse Code Modulation) is a decompressed multichannel digital format sent over HDMI. Analog is analog.


Haha! You know when I first wrote that I second guessed myself but I went ahead with it anyway. I wondered if something wasn't quite right. Thanks.


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## arclight

Have you had a chance to use the EZ SET/EQ function yet ? If so. How accurate is it ? How does it sound after being EQ'd ? Can the EQ portion be turned off if one does not like the results and just stick with the level, delay, and crossover settings. 

Great review though. It's nice to see some reviews of the budget products. 

Cheers :T


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## Toby Jack

arclight said:


> Have you had a chance to use the EZ SET/EQ function yet ? If so. How accurate is it ? How does it sound after being EQ'd ? Can the EQ portion be turned off if one does not like the results and just stick with the level, delay, and crossover settings.
> 
> Great review though. It's nice to see some reviews of the budget products.
> 
> Cheers :T


Yes actually. I got a tripod and set up the included microphone in my listening position and proceeded with the EZ Set/EQ. I left the room to ensure complete silence while the test commenced. The first thing I noticed is that the sound was more well-rounded (expecially in the LFE portion of the sound spectrum) than it was straight out of the box. However, certain things were still off-balance. For instance the dialog was too quiet and the surrounds were to loud. To answer your question, all I had to do was adjust the levels from there and things started sounding a lot better.

Overall, I would say that the EZ Set/EQ is a good starting point in calibrating your AVR. It will give you rough sonic guidelines and then you can add the refinements later. Other Calibration software such as Audyssey or MCACC (found on more expensive Marantz models)

Thanks for reading. After all, you all are the reason I wrote it in the first place!


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## lsiberian

Toby Jack said:


> Yes actually. I got a tripod and set up the included microphone in my listening position and proceeded with the EZ Set/EQ. I left the room to ensure complete silence while the test commenced. The first thing I noticed is that the sound was more well-rounded (expecially in the LFE portion of the sound spectrum) than it was straight out of the box. However, certain things were still off-balance. For instance the dialog was too quiet and the surrounds were to loud. To answer your question, all I had to do was adjust the levels from there and things started sounding a lot better.
> 
> Overall, I would say that the EZ Set/EQ is a good starting point in calibrating your AVR. It will give you rough sonic guidelines and then you can add the refinements later. Other Calibration software such as Audyssey or MCACC (found on more expensive Marantz models)
> 
> Thanks for reading. After all, you all are the reason I wrote it in the first place!


It's as good as Audyssey and less of a pain to run. You don't need a tripod for it. Just stick the mic on the back of the couch. The crossovers are dead wrong though and should be set by your ears not our minds. Every room is different and they need different settings. So use your ears.

As far as a sound signature I've never heard any difference between my external amp and the receiver. I will say the HK receivers are very reliable though and that's what matters most. Given their cost direct from harman on ebay. That's the best way to buy one.


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## cv3back

Will this receiver be sufficient to power a Klipsch HD 300 theater system? Or the Energy Take Classic 5.1 speakers? Thanks for the help!


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## kennypc

Glad to see someone give a long on tooth Company a good review. In order to know where you're going you have to know where you've been. Audio is the most important in any av equipment. Remember silent movies?:blink:


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