Review: Harman Kardon avr2650 Multichamp

Category: Amplifiers

The big gift under the Christmas tree this year with my name on it turned out to be a Harman Kardon avr2650 7.1 95wx2. My sister informed me that it was my access to the internet--an intimidating thought. In my entrenched 2-channel universe, my idea of an avr was to use it for biamping, triamping--you could quad-amp with subs.

So I started by setting it up as 2-channel with the biggest vintage AR's I thought it could handle--the 93 3-way floorstanders with four drivers at 6 ohms, 87spl. I added the PDR10 V.3 subs, which are not good subs by the way but the only ones I have and used my HK HD990 cdp as source.

Dolby Volume, widely available on mid-fi avr's, was set on medium, and I left it on and left the room EQ off and was amazed by the sound quality which was preferable to Dolby Volume turned off. Highs were crisp and clean; overall sound was tight; tonal qualities became rich with break-in. And all easy on the ears. I had stopped listening to Dave Matthews "Crash" on RCA label because of the harsh edge. But Dolby Volume had the cure. Piano on Jacques Lousier Trio "The Best of Play Bach" was smooth as silk. All disks were given a more pleasant quality. I thought, I've been living in the woods in Minnesota in January too long. A mid-fi avr can't sound this good.

I went to the net in search of reality and found two reviews of the flagship avr3650. One is www.hometheatre.com/content/harman-kardon-avr-3650. The other one fell into the black hole of cyberspace. But both critics were impressed with 2-channel listening using Dolby Volume. I read, "Harman Kardon has taken the road less travelled" and "a music lover's dream". It seemed that these critics too were living in the woods in Minnesota.

I went to the Dolby Labs website for an explanation of Dolby Volume. I quote, "Dolby Volume goes well beyond providing, consistent volume level. It also maintains the sonic balance of the mix.." and provides "..what we call reference quality sound". While this description is wrapped in enigma, it implies an engineering of the signal which would then depend on the ability of the amplifier to faithfully amplify the Dolby Volume. Put another way, it gave me enough to hang on to so that I could believe what I was hearing.

It should be noted that the flagship avr3650, avr2650,and the 5.1 editions 365 and 265 all have the same owner's manual with all the same specs except for the power ratings. Even HCC is the same for all of this series at 35 amps. The newest avr1700 is a slightly different animal with THD at .1% compared to the avr3650 series at .09% and weighing a few pounds less. The buyer needs to know as well that the avr3650 series is not equipped with every available feature or every bell and whistle, for example S video. And the owner needs to know that the owner's manual supplied is abbreviated and that the complete manual needs to be downloaded from the HK website--unless the owner knows that the avr button must be pressed in order to access the menu. If the owner already knows that and is agile with these avr creatures, then maybe not.

I still haven't set up the surround. I ordered a pair of Paul Speltz' autoformers. I'm going to configure them to the maximum impedence with a larger, more revealing, more reference quality speaker--a better test. Such is the madness that belongs to my 2-channel universe.

Associated gear
HK HD990
vintage AR93Q speakers
Paradigm PDR10 v.3+

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