News

Harman Kardon Introduces its Flagship AVR 745 Receiver (29/6/2006)

CEDIA UK Expo 2006

7.2-Channel AVR 745 Includes Leading-Edge Video Processing and Upscaling; Offers iPod(r) Connectivity, HDMI(tm) Switching and XM(r)-Ready Compatibility

Harman Kardon(r) once again redefines the state of the art in audio/video receiver design with the availability of its flagship 7.2-channel AVR 745 - incorporating a host of the industry's most advanced features and technologies, including Bridge-ready iPod(r) connectivity, to set new standards in audio and video performance, multiroom flexibility and ease of use.

Winner of a Consumer Electronics Show (CES(r)) Innovations 2006 Design and Engineering Award, the AVR 745 features HDMI(tm) 1.1 switching, and provides up-converted and enhanced high-definition 780p and 1080i video output from 576i and 576p video sources. In addition to extraordinary video quality, the AVR 745 delivers remarkable sonic realism, thanks to Harman Kardon's EzSet/EQ II, which provides automated system calibration and full-range room equalization, including stereo subwoofer adjustment capability. The AVR 745 features a high- current, ultrawide-bandwidth, discrete-output amplifier section that delivers 7 x 85 watts of power output (into 8 ohms, 20Hz - 20kHz, <0.07% THD, all channels driven; 2 x 100 watts in stereo; and ±60 amps of high-current capability), along with 24-bit/192kHz audio D/A converters and a Texas Instruments(tm) DA610 32-bit, 250MHz DSP processor for unsurpassed surround sound performance. The receiver also includes full-process Logic 7(r) surround-enhancement technology to deliver heightened sonic realism.

The AVR 745 offers an extremely comprehensive complement of additional video and audio connections and convenience features, including a USB port that allows users to listen to compatible streaming audio through their computers and operate key music playback functions from the receiver's remote control, as well as multiroom/multisource audio and video operation, and many additional refinements. The AVR 745 is supplied with Harman Kardon's TC 30 activity-based remote control, an advanced yet easy-to-use remote that provides complete control of every component in a home entertainment system, from a single device.

Harman Kardon Receivers Deliver Enhanced Apple(r) iPod Home Entertainment

The new AVR 745 and all of Harman Kardon's AVR 40 Series receivers include an exclusive iPod interface* that provides users with exciting new iPod playback and control capabilities. When a compatible iPod model is connected to one of the receivers using The Bridge**, the iPod can be operated by the receiver's remote control, with menus to operate the iPod shown on both a TV or video display and the receiver's front-panel display. The Bridge provides a direct audio and control link between the iPod and the receiver via a single proprietary cable, and also functions as a charging station.

The Bridge, a docked iPod and the remote control operate in conjunction with Harman Kardon-developed software built into the receivers, providing complete control of iPod music-playback functions. The software interprets the data from the iPod, and formats it so that the messages on the iPod screen are converted for viewing as two-line text displays on the receiver's front panel, and on a connected TV or video display. The analogue stereo audio output of the iPod is sent directly to the receiver, enabling iPod users to experience the superior sound quality provided by Harman Kardon receivers, including multichannel music reproduction using the receiver's proprietary Logic 7 surround-enhancement technology, or other popular surround formats.

Leading-Edge Video Technologies and Advanced HDMI Connectivity

The AVR 745 incorporates state-of-the-art digital video processing and scaling, utilizing patented DCDi(r) by Faroudja technology to provide up-converted and enhanced high-definition 780p and 1080i video output from 576i and 576p video sources through its HDMI connection. The receiver's FL2310 processor's DCDi (Directional Correlational Deinterlacing) technology, along with exclusive video decoding and enhancement circuitry, yields a picture of extraordinary quality -sharp, clear and virtually free from colour and motion artifacts - from all analogue- and digital-video sources,.

The AVR 745 features dual-input HDMI 1.1 switching and audio processing to provide high-definition HDMI video connectivity between multiple HDMI-equipped source components and video display devices, and to accept and process uncompressed multichannel digital audio from HDMI 1.1 program sources.

EzSet/EQ II and Make System Setup Easier and More Accurate Than Ever

The AVR 745 is the first receiver to incorporate Harman Kardon's EzSet/EQ II. This feature builds upon the company's EzSet/EQ automatic room equalization and system calibration utility, which automatically measures the frequency response peaks and dips inherent in every listening room, and applies a compensating full-range equalization curve for all the loudspeakers in the system. EzSet/EQ II extends the system's functionality by enabling the user to connect two subwoofers to the receiver in a stereo configuration, and then automatically applying equalization and time-delay compensation to both subwoofers individually to achieve unprecedented in-room frequency response accuracy.

Enhanced Audio Capabilities Include Streaming Audio Playback

Adding to its versatility, the AVR 745 contains a USB port that allows users to listen to compatible streaming audio directly from a computer through the receiver, and enables their remotes to control selected music playback functions when using programs such as Windows Media(r) Player, RealPlayer(r), Winamp and MusicMatch(r). The USB port also provides a pathway to accommodate software and firmware upgrades, such as new surround sound formats or other capabilities.

The AVR 745 receiver is engineered to deliver extraordinary sound quality, incorporating Harman Kardon's high-current, ultrawide-bandwidth amplifier sections with discrete output devices, which contribute to the brand's renowned sonic superiority. Also on board are premium AKM 192kHz/24-bit audio D/A converters and advanced 32-bit DSP processors to reproduce music and movies with exceptional resolution and dynamic authority. The receiver is compatible with all popular surround sound formats, and incorporates proprietary Logic 7 audio technologies developed by Harman International(r) to deliver superior multichannel reproduction from both matrix-encoded movie soundtracks and two-channel stereo recordings. The AVR 745 includes the latest full-process implementation of Logic 7, which enables it to be used in conjunction with digital multichannel surround sound formats, such as Dolby(r) Digital and DTS(r), to further improve their sonic realism.

The new receiver features the company's extremely precise Quadruple-Crossover Bass-Management System, enabling maximum sonic performance of the source components and loudspeakers in a multichannel home entertainment system. The system allows selection from among six different crossover frequencies for the front L/R, center, surround L/R and surround back L/R speakers; different speaker-size configurations may be set for different input sources. The AVR 745's Bass-Management System may also be used in conjunction with the receiver's 8-channel analog direct inputs for connection to a universal, DVD-Audio or SACD(tm) player.

Comprehensive Multizone/Multiroom Functionality

The AVR 745 offers outstanding multiroom versatility. It features amplifier sections with assignable back channels, which can be used in full 7.1-channel mode, or switched to 5.1-plus-stereo dual-zone configuration. The AVR 745 provides separate multiroom audio and video outputs for the second zone.

Harman Kardon's multiroom receivers, including the AVR 745, incorporate the A-BUS/READY(r) system for easy multizone connectivity without the need for external amplifiers. A-BUS(r) utilizes Cat. 5 cable to connect a receiver in one room to a Harman Kardon AB 1 A-BUS-compatible amplified in-wall module in a second room. The AB 1 provides stereo audio amplification, along with local volume control, and has a built-in IR sensor that is used with a supplied Zone II remote to control the receiver as well as other compatible Harman Kardon source components. The receiver also features an RS-232 port that provides two-way communication between components in installations with integrated system control, and enables software and firmware upgradeability.

The AVR 745 offers a wealth of additional performance and convenience features by including multiple, assignable wide-bandwidth, HDTV-compatible component video inputs, along with a comprehensive array of additional video and digital connections. The AVR 745 also incorporates video cross-conversion, which converts all S-video and composite video sources to component video output using video-processing circuitry that maintains maximum picture quality with no conversion artifacts. Further enhancing its versatility, AVR 745 includes an A/V Sync Delay function, which compensates for the delay between the video and audio signals that can occur when digital video sources, external processors or digital video displays are in use.

Other enhancements include an input titling function, which enables users to customize their receiver's on-screen and front-panel displays to show the names of their particular audio/video components (for example, satellite TV, DVD recorder, iPod); digital input polling, which automatically detects whether the audio-signal program source (such as a cable set-top box) is digital or analog, and automatically configures the receiver to provide the required audio output; and a Listener Preference System, which allows users to set different surround mode and speaker-channel levels for each program source and DSP format.

Striking, Distinctively Elegant Design

Harman Kardon's AVR 745 receiver features the striking industrial design that sets the company's audio/video receivers apart from all others. This award-winning styling is elegant and distinctive, and perfectly matches Harman Kardon's audio/video components and loudspeakers, as well as home entertainment systems based around today's ultrathin rear-projection televisions, plasma displays, or flat-panel LCDs. The receivers incorporate a gloss-black upper panel, a volume control surrounded by blue illumination, a contrasting silver panel and a dimmable two-line dot-matrix display.

www.harmankardon.com