Harman Kardon AVR154 Service Manual

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Harman Kardon AVR154 Service Manual Manual pdf 13 page image

16 16CONNECTIONSThere are different types of audio and video connections used toconnect the receiver to the speakers and video display, and to connectthe source devices to the receiver. To make it easier to keep them allstraight, the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) has establisheda color-coding standard. See Table 1.Table 1 – Connection Color GuideTypes of ConnectionsThis section will briefly review different types of cables and connections.Speaker ConnectionsSpeaker cables carry an amplified signal from the receiver’s speakerterminals to each loudspeaker. Speaker cables generally contain twowire conductors, or leads, inside plastic insulation. The two conductorsare usually differentiated in some way, by using different colors, orstripes, or by adding a ridge to the insulation. Sometimes the wiresare different colors, e.g., copper-colored and silver.The differentiation is important because each speaker must be connectedto the receiver’s speaker-output terminals using two wires, one positive(+) and one negative (–). This is called speaker polarity. It’s importantto maintain the proper polarity for all speakers in the system, or perform-ance can suffer, especially for the low frequencies.Always connect the positive terminal on the loudspeaker, which is usuallycolored red, to the positive terminal on the receiver, which is colored asshown in the Connection Color Guide (Table 1). Similarly, always connectthe black negative terminal on the speaker to the black negative terminalon the receiver.The AVR 154 uses binding-post speakerterminals that can accept banana plugsor bare-wire cables.Banana plugs are simply plugged into thehole in the middle of the terminal cap.Figure 1 – Binding-Post Speaker See Figure 1.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 collaris revealed.2. Insert the bare end of the wire into the hole.3. Screw the cap back into place until the wire is held snugly.Figure 2 – Binding-Post Speaker Terminals With Bare WiresSubwooferThe subwoofer is a specialized type of loudspeaker used to play onlythe low frequencies (bass), which require much more power than theother speaker channels. In order to obtain the best results, most speakermanufacturers offer powered subwoofers, in which the speaker containsits own amplifier on board. Usually, a line-level (nonamplified) connectionis made from the receiver’s Subwoofer Output to a corresponding jackon the subwoofer, as shown in Figure 3, but sometimes the subwooferis connected to the receiver using the front left and right speaker outputs,and then the front left and right speakers are connected to terminals onthe subwoofer.Although the subwoofer output looks similar to the analog audio jacksused for the various components, it is filtered and only allows the lowfrequencies to pass. Don’t connect this output to your other devices.Although doing so won’t cause any harm, performance will suffer.Figure 3 – SubwooferConnecting Source Devices to the AVRThe AVR 154 is designed to process audio and video input signals,playing back the audio and displaying the video on a television or monitorconnected to the AVR. These signals originate in what are known as“source devices,” including your DVD player, CD player, DVR (digitalvideo recorder) or other recorder, tape deck, game console, cable orsatellite television box or MP3 player. Although the tuner is built into theAVR, it also counts as a source, even though no external connectionsare needed, other than the FM and AM antennas.Separate connections are required for the audio and video portions ofthe signal. The types of connections used depend upon what’s availableon the source device, and for video signals, the capabilities of yourvideo display.SubwooferPre-out1 2 3+Audio ConnectionsLeft RightFront (FL/FR)Center (C)Surround (SL/SR)Subwoofer (SUB)Digital Audio ConnectionsCoaxialOptical InputVideo ConnectionsComponent Y Pb PrCompositeS-VideoHDMI™Connections (switching only)HDMIAVR154 harman/kardon13