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
