Harman Kardon AVR 260 Owner's Manual

Also see for AVR 260: Service manual Specifications

Harman Kardon AVR 260 Owner's Manual Manual pdf 22 page image

22SYSTEM CONFIgURATIONmanual SetupThe AVR 260 is flexibly designed to be used with almost any loudspeakersavailable. The flexibility arises from the AVR 260’s capability to be configuredto match the characteristics of your particular speakers, and to compensatefor the acoustic characteristics of your room.EzSet/EQ automatically detects the capabilities of each speaker, andoptimizes the AVR 260’s performance in your system. However, if forsomereason you are unable to run EzSet/EQ, e.g., you have misplaced themicrophone, or if you wish to make further adjustments to the settings madeby EzSet/EQ, you may use the Manual Setup on-screen menus as described inthis section.Before beginning manual setup place your loudspeakers in their correctlocations within the room (see Speaker Placement section), and connectthem to the AVR. You will need the specifications for each of your speakers,which may usually be found in the owner’s guide for the speakers or on themanufacturer’s Web site. If necessary, contact the manufacturer to obtain thefrequency range specification. Although the output-level setting portion ofmanual setup may be performed “by ear,” we recommend that you purchasean SPL (sound-pressure level) meter at a local electronics store.We suggest that you record your configuration settings in the appropriateplaces in Tables A3 through A7 in the appendix in case you need to reenterthem after a system reset, or if the AVR’s Master Power Switch is turned off orthe unit is unplugged for more than four weeks.Step one – Determine Speaker crossoverWithout using EzSet/EQ, the AVR 260 can’t detect how many speakers you’veconnected to it; nor can it determine their capabilities. For this part of thesystem setup consult the speaker’s technical specifications.Locate the frequency response, which is usually given as a range, e.g.,100Hz– 20kHz (±3dB). This specification tells you whether the speaker is able toplay sounds that are very high- or low-pitched, represented by the high andlow frequencies. We are concerned with the lowest frequency that each ofyour main speakers is capable of playing, which is 100Hz in this example. Usethe Table A5 worksheet in the appendix to note this number as the crossoverfor that speaker (not the same as the crossover frequency listed in thespeaker’s specifications).The subwoofer’s frequency response will include only the very lowestfrequencies, since the subwoofer is designed to play only bass materials.A typical frequency response for a subwoofer is 25Hz – 150Hz. In this case,the higher number should be noted in the worksheet.This information is required to program the receiver’s bass management,which determines which speakers the receiver will use to playback the low-frequency (bass) portion of the source program.If you send the lowest notes to small satellite speakers, you won’t hear thesenotes very well, and you may even damage the speaker by exceeding itscapabilities. If you send the highest notes to the special purpose subwoofer,you may not hear them at all.With proper bass management, the AVR 260 divides the source signal at acrossover point. All information above the crossover point is played throughthe satellite speaker (front left/right, center, surround left/right, or surroundback left/right), and all information below the crossover point is playedthrough the subwoofer. This enables each loudspeaker in your system toperform at its best, delivering an enjoyable sound experience.Step two – measure Speaker DistancesIdeally, all of your speakers were placed in a circle, each at the same distancefrom the listening position. However, your room may not be ideal, and youmay have had to place some speakers a little further away than others. Thiscould affect the overall sound of the receiver, as sounds that are supposedto arrive simultaneously from different speakers blur due to different arrivaltimes.The AVR 260 has a delay adjustment that enables the receiver to compensatefor real-world speaker placements.Before you begin making adjustments, measure the distance from eachspeaker to the listening position, and note it in the Table A3 worksheet in theappendix. Even if all of your speakers are the same distance from the listeningposition, you should enter your speaker distances as described in Step Three.Step three – manual Setup menuNow you are ready to program these adjustments into the receiver. It’s best tosit in the usual listening position and make the room as quiet as possible.With the receiver and video display turned on, press the AVR Button on theremote to display the menu system. Use the L Button to move the cursor tothe Speaker Setup line, and press the OK Button to display the Speaker Setupmenu. See Figure 4.If you have run EzSet/EQ, those results were saved. To tweak the EzSet/EQresults, or to configure the AVR from scratch, select Manual Setup. The screenshown in Figure 9 will appear.Figure 9 – Manual Speaker Setup MenuNOTE: All of the speaker setup submenus include the Exit and Back optionsas shown at the bottom of Figure 9. To return to a previous menu withoutmaking any changes, press Exit. To save the current settings, select the Backoption.