Harman Kardon’s BDS 570 is a relic from a golden era of home theater—a time when an all-in-one “home theater in a box” (HTIB) could still offer legitimate audiophile-grade sound. Released in the early 2010s, this 5.1-channel system (featuring a sleek receiver/amplifier unit and a 5-disc DVD changer) was praised for its powerful amplification and elegant design.
However, technology does not stand still. As Blu-ray formats evolved, HDMI standards shifted, and streaming services became the norm, many BDS 570 owners began experiencing glitches: disc read errors, HDMI handshake failures, audio dropouts, and menu freezes. The solution to many of these headaches lies in a single, often overlooked process: the Harman Kardon BDS 570 firmware update.
In this article, we will explore everything you need to know about updating your BDS 570, including the benefits, the step-by-step procedure, common pitfalls, and what to do if the official update is no longer available.
Early firmware versions on the BDS 570 were notoriously slow—up to 45 seconds to load a DVD. Later updates optimized the disc caching and Java-based menu processing, cutting load times by nearly half.
If your BDS 570 has a hardware region-free mod chip for Blu-ray, this firmware update will not remove it, but it may reset the DVD region code to 1 (USA) or 2 (Europe). You will need to re-enter the region-free activation code (usually a sequence on the remote like 1,2,3,4,5, 1). harman kardon bds 570 firmware update
A firmware update is not without risk. Interrupting the process can brick your BDS 570, turning it into an expensive paperweight. Before you begin, ensure you have the following:
Absolutely. A single Harman Kardon BDS 570 firmware update can extend the life of your system by another five to seven years. Without it, you essentially own a heavy paperweight that refuses to play modern discs.
The process is not as seamless as a smartphone update, but the reward is a stable, bug-free home theater amplifier with excellent audio performance. By using a correctly formatted USB drive, following the front-panel button sequence, and performing a factory reset afterward, you will transform your frustrating, glitchy BDS 570 into the reliable powerhouse Harman originally designed.
Final Pro Tip: After a successful update, make a backup copy of the firmware .bin file to Google Drive. Label it “BDS570_Final_Firmware.” And then—unplug the Ethernet cable. The BDS 570 has no cloud service anymore; leaving it connected only exposes the old UPnP stack to network attacks. Let it live as a disc player and optical amplifier. That is its perfected purpose. Harman Kardon’s BDS 570 is a relic from
Have a unique issue with your update? Drop a comment on the AVS Forum BDS 570 Owner’s Thread – the community is active and maintains a shared FTP server with archived firmware.
Here is a hard truth: If your Harman Kardon BDS 570 is working perfectly today, do not update the firmware. “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” applies emphatically here. Firmware updates for legacy products are intended to solve specific problems. Do not perform the update out of boredom or a desire for “new features”—there are none, only bug fixes.
However, if you are experiencing frequent crashes, HDMI dropouts, or disc recognition failures, performing a careful firmware update using the instructions above is your best shot at resurrecting a beautiful piece of audio history.
Step 1: Prepare the USB Drive
Step 2: Power Down Correctly
Step 3: Insert & Boot
Step 4: The Wait
Step 5: Factory Reset (Mandatory) After a firmware update, residual settings from the old version cause conflicts. A confirmation dialog will appear: “Are you sure