Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Home Theater HK 745 up and running

Seeing how HK gets recommended here on a daily basis, I figured I’d post a summery of this AVR. If anyone wants more info, just let me know and I’ll experiment and answer your questions.

For a quick recap of my AVR journey, I started out with a HK 7200 about three years ago. One morning it refused to wake up and I had to replace it. It ended up being a blown internal fuse if anyone cares. I replaced it with a HK 7300. The 7300 decided it didn’t appreciate a firmware upgrade and promptly died on me during the download about a week ago. HK tech support was good enough to offer me an exchange. They don’t make the 7300 anymore, so they sent me a new 745. I received the AVR a couple days ago and decided I’d keep it and give it a whirl verses selling it and going with a different set up. Third time’s a charm, right?

I had previously went with the 7200 and 7300 to drive my M80’s and my M22’s that are running in parallel for the center channel. I figured I needed some “oomph”, so I looked for an AVR that had plenty of high current power. I was a bit worried that the 745 wouldn’t drive the 4 ohms loads, but it seams to be doing just fine. More on that later…….

Right out of the box the access door was broke. It won’t stay up and I decided to not tear it apart and try and fix it. I’d probably just make matters worse if I did. This didn’t build much confidence in my decision to stick with HK, but I figure it’s just a door after all.

It’s a little feller. Much smaller than the 7300 was. It’s also about twenty pounds lighter. The good news is that it fits in my rack whereas the 7300 didn’t. It’s much easier to lug around too….

The remote is super cool (HK TC-30). It’s a web based user programmable remote similar to the Harmony remotes. I think this one is better than the Harmony’s though. It fits in the hand very well and the buttons are all laid out nicely. It has a cradle for recharging which is also cool. When you pick it up, it illuminates and stays lit, unlike some other motion sensing remotes I’ve had. This motion light control works very well. I can’t say much more about the remote because I use a RF set up (MX-850) as all my equipment is behind me. If this HK remote was RF, I’d pitch the MX; it’s that good of a remote.

The 745 has a multitude of inputs and outputs and I’m not about to list them all. The most important aspect I’ll mention is it has two HDMI inputs and one HDMI output. Seeing how the world is going HDMI, I’d like to see more inputs and two outputs. The speaker binding posts are three way. They take bannana’s, spades or bare wire. They’re close together like the rest of the HK’s so I feel sorry for folks who don’t or can’t use bannanna plugs.

The in / out set up is just like all other HK’s. The menu is pretty much the same format with the exception of having a whole lot more choices to confuse new HK users. The video set up is pretty intense and there are plenty of options to confuse just about anyone. I use an external scalar / video processor, so I have the video processor on this unit bypassed. If you are looking for specific information, just ask and I’ll check. One interesting note though, is that this thing will vertically zoom an image for those who may want to go with a projector and constant image height set up. It will do this over HDMI or component which is a boon for CIH set up owners.

The audio set up is different. HK is trying to really push folks to use their EZ EQ set up. The AVR comes with a microphone that has about 20’ of cord that plugs into the AVR, and a 12” threaded rod that the mic threads onto that will thread onto a camera tripod. I haven’t had much luck with these automatic set ups before, but I figured I’d try this one anyway. It’s pretty weird. You perform the far field measurements first, then the near field measurements. The far field is done by simply placing the mic at the prime seating location at ear level then following the on screen instructions. The AVR then sends a test tone to each speaker which is nothing more than a quick “whoop” that sounds really weird. After it goes through each speaker, it does the sub (or two if you have two). For the sub LFE test, you place the mic three feet to the left and then three feet to the right of the prime listening spot. The AVR sends a LFE tone to the sub each time. After the AVR does its thing with all the speakers and the sub(s), it asks you to do the near field set up. This is done be placing the mic between each speaker and the prime spot, two feet away from the speaker. Again, it sends the weird “whoop” sound to each speaker and sub. The AVR then thinks for a while and asks you to take it for a “test drive” to see how you like it. You just pop in a disk and listen. If you like it, you select yes, and then save the setting. There are three different EQ settings that you can save. You can save it as is or change some of the speaker settings and then save it. Or save it as is and then save two other set ups with some tweaking of the first one.

So how’d it sound? Not bad. Not bad at all. I went on ahead and set everything up the old fashion way and compared the sound. The HK settings had way too much LFE from the sub, but other than that, I liked it. I like mine better, but for someone not experienced with setting up a surround system; I think HK has done a very good job with this new system. It takes all the guess work out and can be done by someone who has never done this in under 30 minutes.

One thing this 745 does that I think all HK owners would appreciate is that it remembers your surround selection and stays put! It no longer defaults to Logic 7 or any other surround mode all on its own when the source changes. When you select your preferred surround mode, you have the option of making that setting the default. I now have DD PLIIx for all my inputs. And if you pop in a DVD that has DTS, the AVR is so smart that it flips over to DTS, but it still applies the IIx to the DTS stream so you maintain 7 channel surround. If the disk has DTS 6.1, the AVR locks onto DTS 6.1. But if it’s DTS 5.1, it gives you a DTS-PLIIx 7.1. Pretty cool I think.

So how’s it sound??? Sounds just like all the other HK’s I’ve had. It faithfully reproduces whatever it is fed from the audio source. It also plays loud. I have no desire to add any mono blocks or anther amp. I don’t know how loud it will crank the system. I had it a little over 100 db’s listening to a DVD concert and the volume was at a + 5. It goes to – 15.

Is it worth the list price of $3000? Nope, no way….. You can get a lot more for a lot less. These things can be bought for about $1500 and I suppose it’s worth that much if you want or need video processing in your AVR, but definitely not three grand.

Mike, as part-owner of Harman International, it was gratifying to read of your general satisfaction, although it was somewhat disappointing to note that you didn't appreciate our new EZOpen door feature.

Clear wrapping tape has resolved the door issue.

... as long as you keep your EZOpen knife handy...

As much as I want to, I just can't seam to come up with a cute reply to that. EZ bake oven was about it and that just isn't cute.

....You win.