Harman Kardon AVR 330 Product Information

www.soundandvisionmag.com

SOUND & VISION

FEBRUARY/MARCH 2004

57

T

he model numbers for Harman

Kardon’s latest line of A/V re-

ceivers recall those the compa-

ny used for receivers it intro-

duced some 20 years ago,

and I’m betting that’s no

accident. Back then, HK scored a sol-

id hit with a compact, simple, afford-

able stereo receiver called the 330C

that was modestly powered but pro-

vided consistently good sound. Be-

yond being compact, simple, and af-

fordable, the new 7.1-channel AVR

330 even echoes the ancestral Mod-

el 330C’s two-toned black-glass

styling, which makes it look very

cool indeed.

The AVR 330 is relatively free of

gimmicks or gizmos, but it does

feature HK’s EzSet automatic

channel-balancing routine. Like

most channel-balancing proce-

dures, EzSet sends noise signals se-

quentially to each main channel,

but it calibrates the relative levels

automatically using a sound-level sensor

that’s built into the receiver’s remote con-

trol. I’ve had mixed luck with this luxury

feature on previous Harman Kardon re-

ceivers, but either my technique has im-

proved or the system has been refined, be-

cause the AVR 330’s routine worked flaw-

lessly. I couldn’t have done

much better manually.

Harman Kardon also en-

dowed the AVR 330 with an un-

usual degree of setup flexibility.

As with most A/V receivers, you

can set each input’s default for a

digital or analog signal and your

preferred surround mode. But

with the AVR 330, you can also

independently assign to each input

relative channel levels as well as

preferred speaker setup (“small,”

“large,” or “none” and subwoofer on

or off). And you can even select dif-

ferent combinations of speakers for

each surround mode! Unfortunately,

the AVR 330 doesn’t copy your initial

calibration settings to each input or

mode as a starting point, so you have to

manually enter channel-trim values into

each new combination the first time you

select it, or else you’ll get the unbalanced,

all-channels-zero default.

The AVR 330 also has prize-winning

bass-management flexibility. You can ei-

ther choose a crossover frequency for all

the main channels together — the options

are 40, 60, 80, 100, 120, and 200 Hz — or

else select among these options individual-

ly for the front left/right, center, and sur-

round channels. And since your crossover

choices are part of the Speaker Settings

menu, you can even save different arrange-

ments as part of the presets for individual

inputs or surround modes.

It’s worth noting that the AVR 330’s

front-panel convenience inputs include

both optical and coaxial flavors of digital

audio, and its multiroom facilities include

PHOTOS BY TONY CORDOZA

Harman Kardon

AVR 330 Digital Surround Receiver

TEST REPORT

DANIEL KUMIN

RATED POWER

55 watts x 7 or 65 watts

x 2 into 8 ohms with maximum 0.07% THD

DIMENSIONS

17

3

/

8

inches wide, 6

5

/

8

inches high, 15 inches deep

WEIGHT

30

5

/

8

pounds

PRICE

$799

MANUFACTURER

Harman Kardon,

Dept. S&V, 250 Crossways Park Dr.,

Woodbury, NY 11797; www.harmankardon

.com; 800-422-8027

fast facts

Harman Kardon AVR 330 Product Information

Harman Kardon AVR 330 Manual

Harman Kardon AVR 330 manual content summary: