Harman Kardon AVR 1700 5.1-Channel Network-Connected Audio/Video Receiver with AirPlay

I've had numerous receivers over the years, mainly sticking with Onkyo as they offered the best bang for your buck. I outgrew my Onkyo SR605, as it only had 2 HDMI inputs. I have never owned any Harman Kardon (HK) products before, but decided to take a chance on this receiver when it was on sale for $199. Boy, am I glad I did!First off, you will notice this receiver is less than half the weight of a "normal" receiver. That's because it uses a new power supply, that switches to the active input instead of having a separate supply for each input. This drastically reduces the weight and energy consumption. Another benefit is that this unit stays very cool. My Onkyo literally used to heat up the room it was in while watching a movie. At times we would have to open the windows, even in the winter because that thing cooked our room. Not with this HK - this is as cool as it comes for a receiver.I like the simplicity of this unit. It's got 6 HDMI inputs, all on the back, with 2 optical, 1 coax, and 5 speaker inputs. That's it. There are L/R aux analog inputs on the front, but no other analog inputs. The speaker terminals are extremely close together, so banana plugs are recommended. You can buy sets of them here or from Monoprice (mine are from the latter and work perfectly). The front has a USB input (for Iphones and USB music files), and and headphone out jack (that also serves as the calibration mic input).Once set up, you use the on screen menu (OSD on the remote) to calibrate your inputs. You can assign any HDMI/optical/coax input for any source. For instance, I have the "Game" source using coax in for the Belkin Bluetooth HD Music Receiver for my phone (this BT receiver is unbelievable!). And Aux is set to HDMI 5 for audio and video in. It's very customizable. And you can rename any source to what you want (e.g. PS3, Roku, etc.).The included remote is OK, but I use a Logitech Harmony for everything. The Logitech is not foolproof - it can be challenging to set up correctly with this receiver. I still have to have the HK remote lying around for the off times I need it.The receiver comes with a mic to EQ all your speakers. I use this with the Bic Acoustech H100 and BIC America FH-56 Surround Sound Bar, and the sound is unbelievable. I had also tested this with my full BIC Acoustech 5.1 surround sound setup, and it was stunning. The sound quality of this unit compared to my Onkyo SR605 is night and day.I have this set to auto-select the best audio setting for the source. You can manually select as well using the remote (stereo, virtual surround, full surround, etc.). I LOVE the HK Logic 7 EQ setting for most things (it auto selects this). It takes the signal and produces a very nice soundstage. This is fantastic for music!When you run the EQ, it's best to leave the room and let it do its thing. The sounds get VERY loud, so definitely don't do this while anyone is sleeping!One very nice feature of this unit is that it's dead silent. My Onkyo made a loud click every time I turned it on/off. This one makes no sound whatsoever, which is SO nice.This HK has pretty good power for most setups. I maxed out the volume once just to test it out, and it was too loud to listen to. I can't imagine needing more power.This is a network enabled unit that works with Apple AirPlay. I don't own any Apple products (I'm an Android guy), so I can't comment on that. However, once hooked up to the network, you can download the HK app from the Google Play store and control the unit with your phone! You can also listen to radio stations online from around the country (and world). This is a really cool feature that I didn't think I'd use, but now use all the time. The sound quality is excellent and the variety is fantastic. You can set up your stations online or using the receiver itself.Keep in mind that this unit will not stream video from any networked source - ONLY AUDIO.The receiver itself is pretty to look at. Some complain about how bright the volume knob is (this can be adjusted with the remote), but I like it. It's far prettier than my old Onkyo.My only gripes: occasionally my phone disconnects from the receiver, and then it no longer works. I have to unplug the ethernet cable and plug it back in, which is annoying. My other complaint is that after fast-forwarding through commercials on our DVR, there are several seconds of silence before it starts picking up the sound. So the video is playing but there's no sound for a few seconds. I guess it takes a few seconds for it to detect the audio signal, which can be a bit annoying. Overall though, it's not a big deal.I considered MANY other receivers prior to purchasing this one. Namely, the Yamaha V373, V473, Onkyo 515, Denon 1612, Marantz 1402, and several others. Dollar for dollar, this was the best bang for my buck. And I hate paying for things I don't need (e.g. 6 different analog inputs when I don't own any analog products).If you can find this unit on sale for $199, it's the deal of the year. Even at its current price of $343, it's worth the price. The features and quality of this unit are unbelievable. Highly recommended!

Needed a receiver that would allow us to have a decent sub (not expensive), fill the room with sound efficiently and have enough HDMI hookups for DirecTV, 3D Blu Ray, gaming when needed, that had airplay and was easy to use remote.Plus was at a decent price.H/K AVR1700 met those expectations. It was between this, Yamaha 473 or 573 units or Pioneer 1122. I went w/ Harman Kardon based on reviews, price and expectations of use. I have a 7.2 system that can shake the house in the basement for sports, movies etc. Our LG 47LM8600 would be matched to the system and we realized we didn't need anything more than 5.1 for the Living Room based on setup downstairs and with our L/R being somewhat small and open to dining/kitchen this unit would be a good match.1. I missed getting this at the $200 sale price, but willingly paid the $270 price to get it via prime and have the Living Room up and running for wife and family. I would expect as the 2013 receivers come out the sales price will return.2. First set of speakers was the Polk Audio RM6750 HT speaker set. Unfortunately 2 were shot rather quickly. RMA returned to Newegg and got different speakers to match receiver from Amazon. Polk Audio PSW505 Sub (which works great with the 1700's LFE sub Hookup), BIC Center channel to match my Axiom M2 Bookshelves I brought down from the loft game system and the two additional Polk Audio RM6750 satellites for the rears. - H/K auto setup worked like a champ for surround sound, but for our setup I tweaked it a bit for the subwoofer. Easily done in manual mode.3. Setup the Panasonic 3D Blu Ray via HDMI - no issues, You can even match names to HDMI inputs on back so they match the buttons on remote.4. Setup DirecTV inputs (SAT/Cable) - no issues worked well and we can get 5.1 sound on channels that have it encoded.5. HDMI out to LG tv. didn't' realize doing this at first took away the TV's sound. Which is OK since receiver sounds better than plain tv. it just requires another remote to be used for the process. Later today I'll look at making either or both the DirecTV / Harman Kardon Remotes universal for the system and thus streamline the 4 remotes we have out.6. Remote is OK, buttons are somewhat readable for an older couple but reading glasses help til I have them memorized. switching things around and getting to H/K's setup required downloading and reading parts of the manual. Yes it doesn't come with the system. I had to download it. 8mb fileOverall - Very good purchase so far (3 weeks). Good sound - probably a bit more tweaking to do yet. Since it feels like the volume is about half way up for a presentable sound. was same w/ Polk Audio speakers too.Easy to use, remote is decent (not great), wife said it looks good and there aren't a bunch of buttons for the grandson to see and go and try to push. it seems streamlined in looks.cons - Manual had to be downloaded to figure out a couple of buttons and "How - to's". I missed the very low sales price.

Great device! A+!