54
JUNE 2001
SOUND & VISION
audio inputs to analog stereo audio. I was
unable to test this because I couldn’t find
any component that could feed MP3 data
in standard (SPDIF) digital audio format to
the receiver. Neither of the two MP3-capa-
ble CD-R/RW recorders I tried would do it
— and one of them was a brand-new Har-
man Kardon model! Not to worry. The
company says that its forthcoming DAL
150 USB-to-SPDIF audio converter ($119)
will do the trick, but until then we’ll just
have to take its word for it.
The AVR 510’s main remote control is
densely filled, but the keys are thoughtfully
arrayed and have a variety of shapes and
sizes. Overall, I liked this handset a good
deal — especially its Light key, which illu-
minates every button, almost all of which
have function labels printed on top where
you can see them. Another subtle but use-
ful touch indicates that somebody actually
gave ergonomic issues more than a passing
thought in the remote’s design. Dolby Dig-
ital night-mode dynamic-range compres-
sion is always available directly, in two lev-
els, via a dedicated key. (Some manufactur-
ers bury this useful feature beneath layers
of onscreen menus.)
The remote’s preprogrammed library
worked fine on a Toshiba TV and an RCA
DirecTV receiver, but none of its Sony-
brand codes succeeded in operating my 3-
year-old DVD player. Fortunately, its learn-
ing capability covers that sort of omission.
To pick a few nits: The important OSD
key, for calling up the onscreen display, is
buried below the ten numeric keys, and the
mute key is up in the corner, four rows
away from the volume arrows. If you switch
the remote to control another component,
none of the receiver commands remain ac-
tive — not even volume and mute — un-
less you program a “punch-through” com-
mand for them. (You can also program
punch-through commands in the opposite
direction for channel up/down and DVD/
CD transport controls.)
Harman Kardon’s midprice AVR 510 is
clearly targeted to people who are serious
about home theater. It has fewer bells and
whistles than many other receivers in its
price range, but all the important stuff is
there: Dolby Digital, DTS, an excellent all-
purpose surround mode for music, another
for stereo or surround-encoded TV or mov-
ie sound, a well-thought-out remote con-
trol, and outstanding input/output and ex-
pansion options. One omission is 6.1-
channel decoding, but we’re just beginning
to encounter this in midprice receivers, and
it’s certainly not something most people
are concerned with given the relatively
small number of DVDs that have Dolby
Digital Surround EX or DTS-ES sound-
tracks. In nearly all respects, the AVR 510
is thoughtfully designed, and its 5.1-chan-
nel excellence is beyond dispute.
S&V
test report
DOLBY DIGITAL PERFORMANCE
All data were obtained from Dolby Labs’ Dolby
Digital test DVD using dithered test signals,
which set limits on measured distortion and
noise performance. Reference input level is –20
dBFS, and reference output is 1 watt into 8 ohms,
obtained with the volume control set to –7 dB.
All are worst-case figures where applicable.
Output at clipping (1 kHz, 8 ohms)
one channel driven..............123 watts (21 dBW)
one channel driven (4 ohms)...............185 watts
five channels driven .........74 watts (18.75 dBW)
Distortion at 1 watt (THD+N, 1 kHz)
8/4 ohms...........................................0.05/0.06%
Noise level (A-wtd, 16-bit data)...........–69.8 dB
Excess noise (with sine-wave signal)
16-bit (EN16)............................................6.6 dB
Frequency response
all channels.......20 Hz to 20 kHz +0.1, –0.15 dB
Subwoofer-output frequency response
18 dB/octave above –3-dB point of 82 Hz
High-pass-filter frequency response
12 dB/octave below –3-dB point of 80 Hz
Maximum subwoofer output (from 5.1-
channel, 31-Hz signal at reference volume
setting) ..................................................9.2 volts
Subwoofer distortion (from 5.1-channel, 31-
Hz, 0-dBFS signal; master-volume at reference
level; subwoofer trim set to 0) ..................0.95%
STEREO PERFORMANCE,
DIGITAL INPUTS
Volume setting for reference output level was –7
dB. Speakers were set to “large,” subwoofer off.
Output at clipping (1 kHz, both channels driven)
8 ohms ...........................118 watts (20.75 dBW)
4 ohms ................................................158 watts
Distortion at 1 watt (THD+N, 1 kHz,
8/4 ohms) .............................................0.03/0.03%
Linearity error (at –90 dBFS)................1.25 dB
Noise level (A-wtd)..............................–74.5 dB
Excess noise (with/without sine-wave signal)
16-bit (EN16)..............................+1.25/+1.25 dB
quasi-20-bit (EN20).......................+14.9/+15 dB
Noise modulation ..................................0.6 dB
Tone-control range
100 Hz..............................................+9.9, –9 dB
10 kHz .......................................... +9.7, –9.4 dB
Frequency response (tone controls off)
20 Hz to 20 kHz +0.3, –0.2 dB
TUNER PERFORMANCE
All figures FM only except frequency response.
Sensitivity
(50-dB quieting, mono/stereo).......21.2/41.9 dBf
Capture ratio (at 65 dBf) .........................1.5 dB
Selectivity
(alternate/adjacent channel).............58.6/6.4 dB
Noise level
(at 65 dBf, mono/stereo) ............–71.9/–66.6 dB
Frequency response
FM ......................20 Hz to 15 kHz +1.2, –1.6 dB
AM ...................58 Hz to 3.18 kHz +1.0, –6.0 dB
The AVR 510 easily exceeded its specified
power with one or two channels driven and more
modestly with five channels driven. Other results
were about what we expect in this price range
(very fine), with one curious exception: in Dolby
Digital mode, the front left/right channels were a
few decibels noisier than the other three chan-
nels. FM weak-signal reception was only medi-
ocre, and AM reception was poor.
— D.K.
H I G H P O I N T S
Very good amplifier performance.
Flexible full-system remote control.
Excellent Logic 7 surround mode
for stereo music.
Automatic channel balancing.
Front-panel A/V and digital audio
inputs can double as record outputs.
L O W P O I N T S
No 6.1/7.1-channel operation.
No video for remote-zone output.
Worse AM performance than usual.
The AVR 510’s performance was first-
class with the energetically mixed
Dolby Digital and DTS soundtracks of
the Rocky and Bullwinkle DVD.
in the lab
