Harman Kardon AVR 3550HD Owner's Manual

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Harman Kardon AVR 3550HD Owner's Manual Manual pdf 18 page image

18 18CONNECTIONSThere are different types of audio and video connections used toconnect the receiver, the speakers, the video display, and the sourcedevices. The Consumer Electronics Association has established theCEA® color-coding standard. See Table 1.Table 1 – Connection Color GuideSpeaker ConnectionsSpeaker cables carry an amplified signal from the receiver’s speakerterminals to each loudspeaker. They contain two wire conductors,or leads, inside plastic insulation, that are differentiated in some way,such as with colors or stripes.The differentiation preserves polarity, without which low-frequencyperformance can suffer. Each speaker is connected to the receiver’sspeaker-output terminals using two wires, one positive (+) and onenegative (–). Always connect the positive terminal on the loudspeaker,which is usually colored red, to the positive terminal on the receiver,which is colored as shown in the Connection Color Guide (Table 1).The negative terminals are both black.The AVR 3550HD uses binding-postspeaker terminals that can accept bananaplugs or bare-wire cables. Banana plugsare inserted into the hole in the middle ofthe terminal cap. See Figure 1.Figure 1 – Binding-Post Speaker Terminals With Banana PlugsBare wire cables are installed as follows (see Figure 2):1. Unscrew the terminal cap until the pass-through hole in the collar isrevealed.2. Insert the bare end of the wire into the hole.3. Hand-tighten the cap until the wire is held snugly.Figure 2 – Binding-Post Speaker Terminals With Bare WiresSubwooferThe subwoofer is dedicated to the low frequencies (bass), which requiremore power. To obtain the best results, most speaker manufacturersoffer powered subwoofers that contain their own amplifier. Usually,a line-level (nonamplified) connection is made from the receiver’sSubwoofer Output to a corresponding jack on the subwoofer, as shownin Figure 3.Although the purple subwoofer output looks similar to full-range analogaudio jacks, it is filtered to allow only the low frequencies to pass. Don’tconnect this output to any other devices.Figure 3 – SubwooferConnecting Source Devices to the AVRAudio and video signals originate in “source devices,” including yourDVD player, CD player, DVR (digital video recorder) or other recorder,tape deck, game console, cable or satellite television box or MP3 player.The AVR’s tuner also counts as a source, even though no externalconnections are needed, other than the FM and AM antennas andthe XM antenna module.Separate connections are required for the audio and video portions ofthe signal, except for digital HDMI connections. The types of connectionsused depend upon the capabilities of the source device and video display.Audio ConnectionsThere are two types of audio connections: digital and analog. Digitalaudio signals are required for listening to sources encoded with digitalsurround modes, such as Dolby Digital and DTS, or for non-compressedPCM digital audio. There are three types of digital audio connections:HDMI, coaxial and optical. Never use more than one type of digitalaudio connection for each source device. However, it’s okay to makeboth analog and digital audio connections to the same source.NOTE: HDMI signals may carry both audio and video. If yourvideo display device has an HDMI input, make a single HDMIconnection from each source device to the AVR. Usually, aseparate digital audio connection is not required. Turn thevolume on your television all the way down.Digital AudioThe AVR 3550HD is equipped with three HDMI (High-DefinitionMultimedia Interface) inputs, and one output. HDMI technology enablesdigital audio and video information to be carried using a single cable,delivering the highest quality picture and sound.The AVR 3550HD uses HDMI (V.1.3a with Deep Color) technology andis capable of processing both the audio and video components of theHDMI data, minimizing the number of cable connections in your system.The AVR 3550HD implements Deep Color, which increases by an orderSubwooferPreout1 2 3+Audio ConnectionsLeft RightFront (FL/FR)Center (C)Surround (SL/SR)Surround Back (SBL/SBR)Subwoofer (SUB)Digital Audio ConnectionsCoaxialOpticalVideo ConnectionsComponent Y Pb PrCompositeS-VideoHDMI™Connections (digital audio/video)HDMIInput