Harman Kardon AVR 7300 Test Report page 2

key features
Dolby Digital EX and DTS-ES 6.1-channel
●
decoding
Dolby Pro Logic IIx, Logic7, and DTS
●
Neo:6 processing for 5.1/6.1/7.1-channel
playback from 2-channel or matrixed
4-channel sources
EZSet auto level setup
●
Many setup options can be saved for
●
each input
Faroudja DCDi video processing with
●
480p upconversion and enhancements
calibrated by input
2 Hall modes, Dolby Virtual Surround and
●
Headphone Surround, proprietary virtual
surround
3 assignable HDTV-compatible
●
component-video inputs, 1 output with
upconversion and onscreen display
6 A/V inputs, 4 outputs, all with S-video
●
(1 input and 1 output on front panel)
4 optical, 4 coaxial assignable digital
●
audio inputs (1 each on front panel);
2 optical, 2 coaxial digital outputs (1 each
on front panel)
2 stereo audio-only inputs, 1 record
●
output
8-channel analog audio input with bass
●
management; DPL IIx can create back
surround channel
96-kHz/24-bit digital-to-analog
●
converters on all channels
MP3 and HDCD decoding
●
Preamp outputs for all channels
●
8-component preprogrammed/learning
●
system remote; can store 2 macros (up to
10 steps)
AM/FM tuner with 56 presets
●
Zone 2 composite/S-video output with
●
line-level stereo (or back surround
channels can be redirected); independent
source selection, volume control via
simplified remote (supplied)
Dual A-BUS multiroom outputs
●
12-volt trigger output; IR-control input
●
and output; RS-232 serial port
In my case, standard-def images from the
Comcast Motorola digital-cable box looked
a bit sharper and more solid using the re-
ceiver's processing, while the TiVo box and
DVD player were tossups. However, anoth-
er, cheaper progressive-scan DVD player
clearly benefited from the processing.
This is not a simple feature, but it is a
powerful and potentially beneficial one,
particularly for systems with older sourc-
es like a VCR or laserdisc player. And one
big fringe benefit of the AVR 7300's video
processing is simple and universally useful:
it not only upscales both composite- and
S-video sources to component video, but it
also sends all onscreen menus and displays
to the component output (as well as the oth-
ers). That lets you make just one connec-
tion to your TV, vastly simplifying not only
soundandvisionmag.com
setup but everyday use. Unfortunately, the
onscreen displays don't show up when the
incoming material is 480p or higher.
MOVIE PERFORMANCE The AVR 7300 dis-
played really impressive power and dy-
namics in all playback modes. It met all
the challenges of HBO's technically superb
DVD set of the WWII series Band of Broth-
ers. For example, the extended firefight that
fills much of Part 5 (Crossroads) includes
just about every possible surround effect re-
lating to gunfire, explosives, rumbling ma-
chinery, distant, echoing detonations, and
running, shouting men — all of them me-
ticulously produced for realism and impact.
Surely the Harman Kardon can take some
credit for my finding this sequence as har-
rowing the tenth time through as the first.
Through all six episodes of the series, the
AVR 7300 gave no hint of dynamic sacri-
fice regardless of volume setting. In fact, it
had enough power to ace all of my movie-
soundtrack torture tests, including explo-
sions, crashes, and musical scores played
as loud as in a movie theater. In every
case, the sound was clean, dynamic, and
elegantly defined.
MUSIC PERFORMANCE Music playback
through the HK receiver met the same
high standard, with power to spare for
even the most demanding multichan-
nel Super Audio CD or DVD-Audio
disc. The AVR 7300 delivers fully
flexible bass management for its
multichannel analog input. It can
also superimpose DPL IIx process-
ing on signals received through
this input, creating a back sur-
round channel from the discrete
left and right surround channels in
your SACD and DVD-A recordings.
The effect on pristine recordings, like the
SACD of Norah Jones's Come Away with
Me, was to make the ambience more seam-
less and enveloping. On others, the added
back surround channel emphasized any cen-
tered soloist, pulling him or her slightly to-
The AVR 7300 met all the challenges of
HBO's technically superb DVD set of the
WWII series Band of Brothers.
ward the listener. Being able to fine-tune
bass management for SACDs and DVD-As,
and to apply DPL IIx processing to them,
are real luxuries, and we've rarely seen
them both on a receiver.
For the rest of your mu-
sic library, the AVR 7300
offers a pair of decent-
sounding Hall modes, Log-
ic7, Dolby DPL IIx, and the
similar DTS Neo:6. Logic7
— in three modes: Music,
Cinema, and Enhance — is
Harman's proprietary 6.1/7.1-
channel processing system,
and it offers an interesting alter-
native to the Dolby flavor. With
some music the difference was
subtle and difficult to pin down,
while with other things it was quite
distinct. For example, Logic7/Mu-
sic gave "Midnight Creeper" (from
Live at Antone's), the signature shuf-
fle of the great James Cotton, the wide
"feel" of the club space, with just the
right stage-to-crowd perspective for truly
engaging, foot-stomping fun. On the oth-
er hand, a favorite disc of the Debussy and
Ravel string quartets sounded more lifelike
with DPL IIx. The good news is that the
AVR 7300 lets you select one or the other
at the touch of a button.
The slim, silvery remote con-
OPERATION
SOUND & VISION NOVEMBER 2004 63