Harman Kardon in 2004

[nightflier]

I have been a fan of Harman Kardon for years so I wanted to start a new thread about where the company is headed this year, particularly regarding their new AVR x30 and DPR receiver lines. On that note I had some questions:

1. I've noticed that the Harman Kardon brand is being sold at CompUSA and other mainstream outlets, but has been dropped from sites like crutchfield.com, where I've bough much of my equipment. They have also expanded their product line quite a bit. I used to consider them a little on the higher end, particularly with respect to their receivers. Is this something that is changing?

2. I am also curious about the DPR 'all-digital' line of receivers. The salespeople rave about how cool they run, the superiority of the digital path, and the compact size. Now I'm all for innovation but I'm of the school that believes that bigger is better when it comes to sound (e.g. especially with speakers, subwoofers, amps, and power) . Also, since the digital path has to be converted at some point to analog, what's the advantage? For example, if I connect an SACD player to the 5.1 inputs, I would be using analog inputs, and (hopefully) bypassing the digital altogether. Can someone shed some light on this?

3. Some of the specs on the DPR line are a little thin: THD, Watts (even considering their conservative ratings), video bandwidth, etc. Since they all have pre-amp outs, would adding a substantial (but still affordable) amp from Aragon or Adcom help?

[nightflier]

I noticed that there are several people who have questions about the HK DPR all-digital receivers. Is there really no one out there who's auditioned one of these?

[poneal]

I opted for the a later model 320 and am happy. I was thinking of the digital one at the time, but at $1000 bucks it was too much for me.

[nightflier]

I opted for the a later model 320 and am happy. I was thinking of the digital one at the time, but at $1000 bucks it was too much for me.

It is now selling for $477 at onecall.com. Would you consider it if you didn't have the 320 already? What did you like about it?

[poneal]

To be honest, I liked it because it had a small footprint and it ran cool. If it didn't cost so much at that time, I would have bought it. Now that I have the 320 it will probably be 10-20 years before I buy another one. Who knows what will be available then.

[nightflier]

Wow, 10-20 years. Well it sounds like you've settled on something you like. Thanks for the feedback.

Has anyone else out there auditioned the HK DPR line?

[Tarheel_]

I listened to it at circuit city and wasn't impressed. I seem to remember the THD being much higher than their A/V receivers. Price was also too high at the time and therefore went with the HK 525. Great receiver w/ a ton of tweaks and customability. Heck, its been months since i bought it and i'm still playing with the setup for all the inputs, fun fun.