Today we are taking a look at Harman/Kardon’s AVR 3700 7.2 receiver, an impressive product that just barely falls under $1000. Featuring a very sleek and stylish design, it offers 125 watts per channel, 8 HDMI inputs as well as 2 HDMI outputs (monitor outs), 4K video pass-through and upscaling built in Wifi and integrated “Green Edge” technology which is supposed to decrease power consumption.
It offers streaming support from DLNA-supported devices, Bluetooth devices, Apple’s Airplay, Roku and internet radio (unfortunately Pandora and SiriusXM isn’t in the list).
You will find that the on-screen controls and setup menus are high definition and user friendly, as well as easy on the eyes. WiFi strength is admirable and we had no issues connecting it to two separate routers (average tested distance, 25-50ft, passing through walls). It also comes with a mic for easy calibration of your speakers. This is a feature we like about the Pioneer Elite and Yamaha Avantage (our favorite, but that’s another review) series as well. We did find that the EQ features were a little limited in comparison to Yamaha’s Avantage series. Calibration was simple though and ran without any errors.
This receiver is best for general living room and theater atmospheres where you are looking for good/clean theatrical sound. If you are an audiophile however, this may not be the best option since it lacks in certain decoders (ie, DSD) where needed by certain HiFi sound formats (ie, SACD). If you are looking for good theater sound and DTS/Dolby decoding, this receiver nails it.
Streaming music isn’t so friendly. If you have a lot of music to choose from, browsing through your collection can be tedious and sometimes painful. Controls are limited and we couldn’t find out how to pause the track we were listening to.
For movies, surround-mode selection is well balanced in options and the sound is great. The receiver put out a very fine range of sound for both movies and music, making it an acceptable option for it’s price range (for movie lovers).
We tested it out by watching both Transformers and Black Hawk Down. Both movies sounded amazing and there wasn’t any form of distortion or strain in the speakers both at low and high volumes.
There are two remotes (a normal remote as well as a miniature remote) as well as digital remote in the form of an app that is available for both Android and iOS devices. The main remote is simple easy to understand. Nothing overly impressive outside of a basic remote with the buttons you need. The small remote is for a second zone (Zone 2) you may be running from the receiver. Both remotes are self-explanatory and get the job done. We did not test the functionality of the app remote since we sadly allowed it to slip our minds during testing.
Product Specs:
- Integrated Green Edge technology
- 7.2-channel sound at 125 watts per channel
- Multizone functionality with Zone II remote
- Built-in Wi-Fi networking capability
- DLNA 1.5 certified connectivity
- HARMAN Music Manager (available as a free download)
- 4K video pass-through and scaling
- AirPlay
- EzSet/EQ calibration
- HDMI inputs with 3D, CEC and Deep Color; two HDMI outputs
- 4K video pass-through and scaling
Our Conclusion
The Harman/Kardon AVR 3700 is a competitive receiver that delivers crisp sound and a great movie experience. 4K passthrough is a major plus, although we are seeing more models that offer this hit the market finally. It compares well to Yamaha’s 7.2 comparable model (although Yamaha’s offers a much better selection for music streaming as well as a larger format support for decoding…and it’s cheaper). We decided to give this one a score of 7.0/10. The sound is great, really great. If you are a Harman/Kardon fan, you will love this receiver for sure. Although it needs a few more features for the price. Fix the browsing for streamed music, add DSD support and additional streaming app solutions (ie Pandora) and it would get a better score.
Additional Images
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