G E A R G U I D E
50 watts. 7.1 channels. $899.
Just a few of the numbers to watch
when you check out the AVR 325.
by Mark Fleischmann
Inside Gear Guide:
• Harman/Kardon AVR 325 A/V Receiver
• Samsung SIR-TS160, Zenith HD-SAT520,
and Sony SAT-HD200 HD DirecTV Tuners
Like an honest
sage wandering in a wilder-
ness of liars, Harman/ Kardon stead-
fastly refuses to hype their power specs.
Sure, like many other manufacturers, the com-
pany offers a 100-watt-times-seven receiver, but that
model lists for $1,999 and isn’t the one that concerns us
here. The AVR 325 is rated at a mere 50 watts times seven. Hey,
you! Stop. Who said you could turn the page? Before you dismiss this
$899 receiver as a decadent wimp, stop to consider that Harman/ Kardon
arrived at this power rating by driving all seven channels at once. Scan similarly
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Home Theater / June 2003
53
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G E A R G U I D E
Harman/Kardon AVR 325 A/V Receiver
range to the front and surround
provides direct one-key access
to the Dolby, DTS, LOGIC7,
speakers to deliver a less-localized
soundstage that sounds broader
and wider than when the subwoofer
is the sole source of bass energy.
Presumably, you’d only get the
full benefit if you ran
DTS test disc, which includes
musical selections by Sheila
Nicholls (“Faith”) and Insane
Clown Posse (“Juggalo Homies”)
in DTS ES Discrete. In
and stereo modes.
Harman/ Kardon allows
advanced users to set the sub’s
crossover numerically, with sepa-
rate settings for the front, center,
side, and rear channels. The avail-
able settings are 40, 60, 80, 100,
120, and 200 Hz. You also have a
choice of small (which defaults to
100 Hz), large (full-range), or none.
For even more-advanced users,
Harman/ Kardon allows each input
to receive a different crossover and
each surround mode to receive
separate level and delay settings.
Available surround modes include
Dolby Digital 5.1, Dolby EX, DTS,
DTS ES Matrix and Discrete,
DTS Neo:6 (with movie and music
modes), Dolby Pro Logic II (with
movie, music, and Pro Logic emu-
lation modes), 7.1-channel LOGIC7,
two-channel VMAx, and five- and
seven-channel stereo modes.
Harman/ Kardon’s LOGIC7
your front and surround
speakers full-range;
the former track, man-
dolins and chorus
otherwise, your sub’s
vocals came out of the
crossover would limit
the effect.
rear channels; in the
latter, guitar. This was
The temptation to
my first experience with
C. The remote is
blast all seven channels
in LOGIC7 with a fat
music in seven discrete
both a learning and
preprogrammed
channels, but I remained
rhythm section was
unconvinced. I loved the
model with lots of
tiny buttons, several
of which provide
direct access to the
Dolby, DTS, LOGIC7,
and stereo modes.
almost overwhelming;
so, after some desultory
break-in listening, I fed
an Integra DPS-8.3 combi
player with Neil Young’s
Harvest DVD-Audio, ran
the speakers full-range,
rappers’ clown makeup,
though. I think Eminem
should try that.
At this point, my cat
came into the room
meowing, so I took a
break and brushed him.
C
and cranked up “Heart of
Unfortunately, he only
Gold.” Oops, the rear sur-
purrs in mono. I briefly
rounds were silent: I’d
considered getting another
half-dozen cats, plus a couple
of mountain lions for the bass
channels, but then I thought
about the litter box and dis-
missed the idea. Even with clump-
ing cat litter, I’d have to say no.
I spent an evening watching
the director’s cut of The Lord of
the Rings: The Fellowship of the
Ring in DTS ES Discrete, which
revealed a more-mature approach
to rear effects. At first, most of
the effects were subtle exten-
sions of the side channels. Not
until 20 minutes into the movie did
the first distinct rear effect crop
up, when the dragon’s head part
of the Hobbiton-fireworks scene
whooshed toward the back. As
the tension level rose, succeeding
scenes made more and more use
of the rear channels, particularly
during the panning effects at the
forgotten that DVD-Audio
is a 5.1-channel format. I
mode is noteworthy. Like DPLII, it
sounds relatively neutral, preserv-
ing some of a stereo mix’s origi-
nal feel. Its three modes include
a movie mode that
switched to the two-channel
Dolby Surround soundtrack
and used LOGIC7 to expand it
to cover all seven speakers. The
receiver achieved a cruising alti-
tude of 75 decibels at the –20 point
of its volume range, which runs
from –80 to +4, and the sound was
nice and meaty, with some com-
pression but no nastiness.
HIGHLIGHTS
derives 7.1 channels
of output from a
• EzSet remote automatically
calibrates volume levels
• Better dynamics than you’d
expect from a 50-watts-
times-seven receiver
two-channel Dolby
Surround signal; a
music mode that
expands CDs and
other stereo sources
to 7.1 channels;
When I switched the subs and
their crossovers back on, the same
volume setting got 85 dB out of
5.2 channels on Yes’ “Heart of the
Sunrise,” from the DVD-Audio ver-
sion of Fragile. As I expected, the
tonal balance turned bright: The
disc itself sounds that way, and the
receiver presented it truthfully.
Knowing that my faithful read-
ers will bay and howl for 7-point-
anything, I turned to the latest
• A fairly neutral version of the
Harman/Kardon sound
and a second music
mode, labeled enhance, that oper-
ates only when you set up the
receiver to power 5.1 channels.
According to Harman/ Kardon,
the enhance mode adds additional
bass enhancement that circulates
low frequencies in the 40-to-120-Hz
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Home Theater / June 2003
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G E A R G U I D E
Harman/Kardon AVR 325 A/V Receiver
orchestra and main surround
61- and 73-minute marks when var-
ious demons attack Frodo. Peter
Jackson’s epic is a textbook exam-
ple of how to use rear effects; I
never felt that they were anything
less than appropriate.
effects. Only when the extrater-
restrial spaceship lifted off did
the Dolby EX track provide a dis-
cernible pan from front to side to
rear. For added hilarity, I played
the soundtrack in French.
human voice. We know what it’s
supposed to sound like, and we
instinctively react to the slightest
unintentional coloration. Seven
voices—two female and five
male—form the folk-singing
chorus of Blue Murder’s No One
Stands Alone, and the AVR 325
nailed them with just the right
balance between vocal separa-
tion and blending. Each voice’s
timbre, the earthy harmonies, and
the modest chiaroscuro of reverb
were in perfect proportion. This
album makes my heart run riot: I
can never listen to it without get-
ting sucker-punched into a blissful
emotional state. Thank God it’s a
stereo CD, not some weird multi-
channel mix that places each voice
in a different speaker. By the time
I got through it, I needed no more
convincing that the AVR 325 could
do no wrong with a well-recorded
piece of breathtaking music.
In the opening scene of E.T.
The highlight of the Dolby
Digital 5.1 Diana Krall: Live in
Paris DVD was “Cry Me a River,”
with the velvet smoothness of the
jazz band and string orchestra
emerging against an inky back-
ground of absolute silence. No
trace of noise haloed Krall’s piano,
her voice, or the strings. Having
learned to respect the AVR 325’s
neutrality, I played through the per-
formances of Tchaikovsky’s first
and Rachmaninoff’s third piano
concertos in The Cliburn: Playing
on the Edge, also in Dolby Digital
5.1. The AVR 325 didn’t push the
dynamic envelope quite as far as my
reference piece, the Rotel RSX-106,
does; but then, the Rotel costs
more than twice as much (and
weighs an additional 5 pounds).
Of course, the majority of
(the 2002 version), for the most
part, the rear channels just pro-
vided a little more fullness to the
Harman/Kardon AVR 325 A/V Receiver
10
5
2
1
0.5
0.2
0.1
0.05
%
0.02
0.01
0.005
0.002
0.001
0.0005
0.0002
0.0001
25
50
75
100
125
150
175
200
W
HT Labs Measures: Harman/Kardon AVR 325 A/V Receiver
This graph shows that the AVR 325’s left channel, from CD input to
speaker output with two channels driving 8-ohm loads, reaches 0.1% dis-
tortion at 90.4 watts and 1% distortion at 107.2 watts. Into 4 ohms, the
amplifier reaches 0.1% distortion at 135.2 watts and 1% distortion at
156.9 watts. With five channels driving 8-ohm loads, the amplifier reaches
0.1% distortion at 73.8 watts and 1% distortion at 84.5 watts.
With the AVR 325, Harman/
Kardon has come up with a mod-
erately priced receiver for the
The analog frequency response measures –0.15 decibels at 20 hertz
and –0.09 dB at 20 kilohertz. Looking at a broader bandwidth, the
response measures –0.51 dB at 10 Hz and –0.49 dB at 50 kHz. In
modes that involve signal processing, the response is –0.45 dB at 10 Hz,
+0.16 dB at 20 Hz, –0.48 dB at 20 kHz, and –22.56 dB at 50 kHz.
Response from the multichannel input to the speaker output measures
–0.37 dB at 10 Hz, –0.11 dB at 20 Hz, –0.10 dB at 20 kHz, and –0.51 dB
at 50 kHz. THD+N from the amplifier was less than 0.012% at 1 kHz when
driving 2.83 volts into an 8-ohm load. Crosstalk at 1 kHz driving 2.83 volts
into an 8-ohm load was –84.89 dB left to right and –87.56 dB right to left.
The signal-to-noise ratio with 2.83 volts driving an 8-ohm load from 10 Hz
to 24 kHz with “A” weighting was –98.39 dBrA.
From the Dolby Digital input to the loudspeaker output, the left channel
measures –0.28 dB at 20 Hz and –0.30 dB at 20 kHz. The center channel
measures –0.24 dB at 20 Hz and –0.27 dB at 20 kHz, and the left sur-
round channel measures –0.23 dB at 20 Hz and –0.28 dB at 20 kHz. From
the Dolby Digital input to the line-level output, the LFE channel is +0.09 dB
at 20 Hz when referenced to the level at 40 Hz and reaches the upper 3-dB
down point at 82 Hz and the upper 6-dB down point at 102 Hz.—AJ
music isn’t recorded in surround
but in stereo, and I logged quite a
few hours of two-channel listening
with this receiver simply because
it sounded so natural and allur-
ing. Richard Thompson’s new CD
The Old Kit Bag turned the old
master’s impassioned voice, elo-
quent guitar, and ace rhythm
section into a kaleidoscope of
textures that shifted with each
track. The recording was so good
that I hated to play it in any of the
surround-enhancement modes,
which made some of
AVR 325 A/V Receiver
$899
Harman/Kardon
(800) 422-8027
Dealer Locator Code HAR
surround sophisticate. I wouldn’t
recommend it for a very large
room; and, for the home theater
buff who’s just getting started, the
learning curve may prove to be a
bit steep. If you take the trouble to
set it up right, though, it will pay
healthy dividends on an invest-
ment of well under $1,000.
Harman/Kardon AVR 325 A/V Receiver
the subtle, phasey
* Mark Fleischmann is the author
of Practical Home Theater, now in
its second edition, available through
(or 800/ 839-8640).
guitar notes sound
too prominent.
The toughest
test for any piece of
audio gear is the
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Home Theater / June 2003
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