Harman Kardon AVR-354 7x75W 7.1 Channel Home Theater Receiver

Flexible Connectivity and Ultrawide Bandwidth at a Great Value

Driven by a passion for music and cinema, Harman Kardon engineers are fanatical about maintaining a balance between pure technology and a quest for artistic truth. Their devotion to detail and love for all types of music and cinema have produced some of the finest audio/video and stereo receivers available. The AVR-354 reflects Harmon Kardon's commitment to bringing you high-quality components that are packed with features, all at an affordable price.

The Harman Kardon AVR-354 provides a host of connections and features
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On-screen graphical menus make setup easy

AVR-354 - 7 x 75W 7.1-Channel A/V Receiver with HDMI 1.3a Repeater, Audio/Video Processing and Upscaling to 1080p

The AVR-354 includes a full complement of Dolby and DTS decoding technologies, HDMI repeater capability, Faroudja DCDi Cinema processing, EzSet/EQ equalization and multi-room capability. It connects to a universe of digital and analog sources, as well as to external amps, and with the included Bridge II docking station it will play, control and charge your iPod. To ensure that everything works together seamlessly, the AVR-354 features a full-color graphical user interface and an eight-device programmable remote. Harman Kardon founder Dr. Sidney Harman has always believed technology should serve users, not intimidate them. The AVR-354 is a perfect case in point.

Make Your Movie Library Look And Sound Its Best
You know the latest Blu-ray movie or high definition broadcast is going to look great on your high-definition display. But what about everything else? The Harman Kardon AVR-354 improves the look of standard-definition video with advanced Faroudja processing, automatically upscaling lower resolution sources to the 1080p HD standard. Display settings may also be configured manually, allowing you to specify the optimal picture quality and aspect ratio for various sources such as game consoles or your current DVD collection.

And what the AVR-354 does for video, it also does for audio. In addition to decoding the latest Blu-ray surround formats such as Dolby True HD and DTS-HD Master Audio, the AVR-354 includes proprietary Logic 7 processing, which is capable of generating discrete 5.1 or 7.1-channel sound from traditional 2-channel sources.

The included microphone and EzSet/EQ system
automatically calibrate the AVR-254

Fine Tune Your System Like A Pro
There’s an important difference between your home audio system and the ones you hear in movie theaters and concert halls. Professional systems are precisely calibrated by audio technicians to deliver the best possible surround sound experience. Harman Kardon’s powerful EzSet/EQ system gives you all the tools you need to achieve professional sound calibration at home. Just connect the advanced omni-directional microphone to your Harman Kardon AVR-354 receiver and follow the on-screen instructions. With a few simple steps, it will automatically adjust speaker channel levels, distances and crossover points to suit your exact room parameters. Room equalization is key to great audio reproduction, and Harman Kardon’s EzSet/EQ system makes it easy.

Listen To What You Want, Where You Want
As any family will tell you, a two-zone entertainment system can be a real crowd pleaser. While the kids watch their favorite movie on the theater system in the den, for example, you can be out listening to your favorite CD on the deck. The AVR-354 makes setting up a basic multi-room system easy. First, build a high-performance 5.1 channel home theater around your video display. Then assign the two remaining channels to a second zone, wire in an extra pair of speakers to a nearby room or outdoors and you’re done. With the AVR-354, each zone can choose to listen to what they want to and with included second zone remote, each zone can be set up with full local control.

The included Bridge II docking station plays and charges iPod devices

Spend More Quality Time With Your iPod
The iPod isn’t just a great way to take your favorite music and videos anywhere, its also a great way to simplify the entertainment experience at home. The Harman Kardon AVR-354 makes it easy with the Bridge II docking station for iPod. A universal dock that connects with a single cable, the Bridge II lets you navigate your music and video libraries with high-resolution on-screen menus using the AVR-354 remote. Browse your iPod the way you usually do, whether by artist, album or genre. Audio is played back in rich, room-filling detail that only a Harman Kardon audio system can deliver. Videos are automatically upscaled to the HD standard, even including 1080p, and the Bridge II keeps your iPod fully changed even when the receiver is powered off.

A Quick and Easy Setup
There’s no denying that a typical home theater system can be challenging to set up and use, but Harman Kardon receivers are far from typical. The AVR-354 comes with a Quick-Start Guide that walks you through the color-coded connections that you’ll need for even the most elaborate multi-channel systems. Once connected, you’ll discover your Harman Kardon AVR-354 makes navigation easier with intuitive high-resolution, graphical on-screen menus. To access the menus at any time from any source, simply press the AVR button on the remote.

Technical Specifications and Features

Surround Sound Channels: 7.1
Power: 75 Watts per channel, 525 Watts total
HDMI Inputs: 3 with 1 output (v1.3a with 10-bit Deep Color)
Component Video Inputs: 3 with 1 output
S-Video Inputs: 4 with 1 output
Composite Video Inputs: 4 with 1 output
Digital Audio Inputs: 4 optical, 3 coaxial
HDMI Repeater Capability
Faroudja DCDi Cinema Video Processing
EzSet/EQ Automatic Room Equalization
Dual-Zone Audio
Bridge II iPod Dock
XM Tuner Ready
Dolby Digital
Dolby Pro Logic II
Dolby TrueHD
DTS 5.1
DTS-HD Master Audio
DTS 96/24
Logic 7
Auxiliary Input Port
RS-232 Port
Full-Color Graphical On-Screen Interface
Seven-Device Programmable Learning Remote Control
Dimensions: 17-5/16" W x 6-1/2" H x 15" D
Weight: 31.5 pounds

Owner Reviews, Ratings, Comments and Criticism
It's unfortunate about the previous poster but I have the same unit and it is incredible! The unit has all the bells and whistles that you would expect on a much higher priced receiver. Do some research on the the chips used in this thing, they are incredible and are found only in a $5000 high end competitors line. The weakness of this receiver is that it can sometimes be too rich of a sound and lacks the crisp high that some look for because, honestly the degraded sound that we have received from companies like Sony and what we listen to in our cars have ruined our idea of what even sounds are. Just a side note, one of my buddies was the one who brought this "weakness" to my attention because he said it didn't have enough high range. I told him well watch the whole movie and lets see how fatigued your ears feel. Afterward, he was amazed how nice and easy it is to listen to this HK. The strength is it's punch and ability in the home theater to make gun fire sound like gun fire and not rocks being thrown against a tin roof. HK doesn't disappoint in my opinion with this receiver and it's too bad one customer, and the only review had a experience that is honestly out of this world. HK customer support is probably one of the best in the world, and are often recognized for that fact. Besides one month old and breaks, why not take it back to Best Buy?