Harman Kardon HS 300 Owner's Manual

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Harman Kardon HS 300 Owner's Manual Manual pdf 30 page image

30INITIAL SETUPUse the ‹/› Buttons to move the cursor to the submenu icons on theleft side of the screen, and then use the ⁄/¤ buttons to highlight theAudio Adjustments icon, which has a picture of a set of slide switcheson it. See Figure 43. Press the Enter Button, and then use theNavigation Buttons to move the cursor to the settings on the AudioAdjustments submenu.Figure 43 – Audio AdjustmentsSubmenuDELAY SETTINGS: The delay settings indicate the distance from eachspeaker to the listening position. Although ideally you placed all of yourspeakers in a circle equidistant from the listening position, we recognizethat it isn’t always practical to do so. This setting enables the HS 300 todelay the signal from some speakers by up to 16 mS to compensate.You will notice that the delay settings are set in tandem for the front leftand right speaker pair, and for the surround left and right speaker pair.Changing the settings for either speaker in these pairs also affects thatsetting for the other speaker in that pair. For this reason, it is importantto place both speakers in each pair at about the same distance from thelistening position.Use the Navigation buttons to highlight the distance for each speaker,and press the Enter button to change it. Use the ‹/› Buttons to scrollthrough the available settings.NOTE: There is no delay setting for the subwoofer. Low-frequency sound waves by their nature are not noticeablyaffected by the distances in a typical listening room.OUTPUT LEVEL SETTINGS: Output level adjustment is a key part ofthe configuration process for any surround sound system. The goal is toset the output levels so that all channels sound equally loud at the listeningposition. This is important because movie directors adjust the loudnessof each channel in the recording to produce a desired sound presentation.Usually the director reduces the loudness, or even the presence, ofinformation in the surround channels so as not to distract the viewerfrom the main action taking place on screen. If the test tones on yourtest disc sound as loud in the rear speakers as they do coming fromthe other speakers, the HS 300 is performing correctly.In many cases the factory default setting of 0dB should accomplish that.However, in some cases the specifics of your listening room may requiresome adjustments.To adjust the output levels, first insert a disc with test tones or contentyou are familiar with, and that has a reasonably even level without manydynamic changes.If you are using an SPL meter with a disc containing test tones, adjustthe level of each channel so that the meter reads 75dB. If you don’thave a meter or a test disc, adjust the levels until all channels soundequally loud. Make sure not to use a surround sound-encoded disc forthis process, or the surround channels will be set too high.Use the Navigation Buttons to highlight the level setting for the front leftchannel. Press the Enter Button to display the available settings, whichrange from –6 dB to +6dB, and use the ‹/› Buttons to scroll throughthem until you are satisfied with the level setting for that channel. Pressthe Enter button to select the setting, and use the Navigation Buttons toselect the next channel. Repeat the procedure to enter the output leveloffset, if needed, that brings all of the channels to the same outputvolume. You may need to repeat this procedure more than once toaccurately set the levels.Step Four – Video SetupIn this step you will make a few adjustments to insure that the videosignal is output in a way that is compatible with your video display.Use the ‹/› Buttons to move the cursor to the submenu icons on theleft side of the screen, and then use the ⁄/¤ buttons to highlight theVideo Setup icon that has a picture of a gear on it. See Figure 44.Press the Enter Button, and then use the Navigation Buttons to movethe cursor to the settings on the Video Setup submenu.Figure 44 – Video Setup SubmenuASPECT RATIO: This setting selects the aspect ratio of video program-ming. Your choice should be made according to the shape of your videodisplay and your personal preferences. Three choices are available:• 16:9: If you have a widescreen (16:9) display, or a display that hasa widescreen mode, choose this setting. The HS 300 will adjust theoutput for widescreen movies so that they fill the entire screen in theproper aspect ratio. However, a disc recorded in the 4:3 aspect ratiowill appear as a boxed image in the center, with black or gray bars onthe left and right side of the screen. If the widescreen option is chosenand a widescreen movie is played on a conventional 4:3 aspect ratioset, the image will be distorted due to vertical compression.• 4:3 Letterbox: If you have a standard, 4:3 aspect ratio video display,choose this setting to see the entire frame of the movie as it isrecorded on the disc without any image cutoff at the left and rightsides. While this allows widescreen movies to be shown in their entirety,they will occupy a smaller portion of the screen and black “letterbox”bars may appear at the top and bottom of the screen.