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Harman Kardon unleashes cutting edge kit

Harman Kardon has unveiled some surprises in its 2008 range of AV products which include an updated iPod dock and a media streamer.

Ty Pendlebury Editor
Ty Pendlebury is a journalism graduate of RMIT Melbourne, and has worked at CNET since 2006. He lives in New York City where he writes about streaming and home audio.
Expertise Ty has worked for radio, print, and online publications, and has been writing about home entertainment since 2004. He majored in Cinema Studies when studying at RMIT. He is an avid record collector and streaming music enthusiast. Credentials
  • Ty was nominated for Best New Journalist at the Australian IT Journalism awards, but he has only ever won one thing. As a youth, he was awarded a free session for the photography studio at a local supermarket.
Ty Pendlebury
2 min read

Harman Kardon has unveiled some surprises in its 2008 range of AV products which include an updated iPod dock and a media streamer.

With companies such as Onkyo leading the way in terms of features, it's taken Harman Kardon a while to catch up. But with this new range featuring up-to-the-minute functionality, the company appears to have redressed the balance.

Despite its specifications, the Harman Kardon DMC 250 is not a PC, but a DVD player which can handle audio and video stored on DVD, CDs, memory cards or USB drives. It can also record from CDs or its line-level audio inputs to solid-state media or USB drives.

The Harman Kardon AVR 255 replaces one of our favourites, the AVR 247.

The company has three receivers due for release this month: the AVR 155 (AU$799), AVR 255 (AU$999) and AVR 355 (AU$1,399). The 7.1 AV receivers offer Dolby TrueHD and DTS Master Audio decoding, a full-colour on-screen menu, and Faroudja DCDi video processing and 1080p upscaling. All three AV receivers, including the entry level 5.1 offer a minimum of three HDMI inputs and one output, plus fully redesigned remote controls.

Unfortunately, the higher-end AVR 655 and AVR 755, which were due to be released in October, have slipped back till next year.

The new DVD 39 features progressive-scan DVD playback and can also play back compressed audio files (MP3, WMA) burnt on CDs or DVDs. It's equipped with an HDMI 1.2a output which can upscale to 1080p. The DVD player also features an integrated test screen which helps users calibrate their television.

The HK3015 system features the company's new iPod dock, the Bridge II.

HK's newest dock, the Bridge II (AU$129) features compatibility with all iPods including the iPhone 3G and allows users to playback their audio and video files.

Coming in August will be HK's new home theatre in a box, the HK3015 (AU$1,999), which features the HS350BQ 5.1 system to the Bridge II iPod dock. It will upscale DVDs to 1080i and comes with the company's easy to use EzSet/EQ and a 200W subwoofer.