Harman Kardon HS 300 Owner's Manual

Also see for HS 300: Brochure & specs Owner's manual Owner's manual Service manual

Harman Kardon HS 300 Owner's Manual Manual pdf 19 page image

SYSTEM SETUP 19ENGLISHSystem Setup(from 17 years old, level 7). The DVD willaccommodate a total of eight rating steps, as setby the DVD creators. These additional steps allowfor more critical control of program playback forall audiences. Level 8: All DVDs can be played.Levels 7 to 2: DVDs for general audiences/children can be played. Level 1: DVDs for childrencan be played; DVDs for adults/general audiencesare prohibited. Follow the explanations on thescreen to set a new password.Disc Recognition: When set to on, the nexttime a disc is inserted, the HS will show a “DiscRecognized” message, with the question if youwould like to play the disc from the beginning orwould like to resume from where you laststopped the disc. The memory can contain infor-mation of the last 100 discs played.PBC Support: Activates PBC (Play Back Control)Support for VCD discs.Screen Saver: Activates a Screen Saver to pre-vent image “burn” in a video display device. Ifyou connect the HS Controller to a plasma screenor video projector, we recommend you activatethe screen saver at all times.Show Angle Icon: Determines whether theAngle Icon will appear on the screen when thereare different angles available on a DVD disc.Audio SettingsThe Audio Setting Submenu contains the follow-ing settings. Follow the explanations in the UpperMenu Line on the bottom of your screen tochange the settings.Preferred Audio Language: Defines yourpreferred audio language. Every time a disc isplayed that contains this audio language, it willbe activated automatically. If you do not findyour preferred language in the list of options, youcan select your preferred language by selectingOTHER, and than typing a 4-digit code found inthe code list on page 27.Dynamic Range: This setting allows you to takeadvantage of the programming present on someDolby Digital recordings to reduce the volume oflouder passages while maintaining intelligibilityof quieter passages. This means that you maylisten to programs at a level that allows the fullimpact of a soundtrack to be heard at a volumethat is lower than you might otherwise use toavoid disturbing others. The HS 300 accomplishesthis by compressing the audio to a greater orlesser degree, depending on which setting youchoose. Three options are available:• MINIMUM does not make any changes tothe original playback, and should be usedwhen the volume setting in the listening roommay be as loud as you desire.• MEDIUM applies a moderate amount ofcompression so that louder passages are alittle bit quieter.• MAXIMUM applies more compression so thatlouder passages are much softer.Feel free to experiment with the settings at anytime.Delay Unit: This setting sets the measuring unitfor Delay in either Feet or Meter.Tone Control: Activates or De-activates theBass and Treble settings. Once either the Bass orTreble Settings are changed, the Tone Controlautomatically switches to ON.Bass Level: Sets the level of low frequencies.Treble Level: Sets the level of high frequencies.DVD Sound Mode: Sets the audio format ofthe DVD-disc playing (for other sources, seeSurround Mode in each respective chapter). Onceset to stereo, every surround format on a DVDwill be converted to a pure stereo signal. Onceset to DPLII, all stereo signals on a DVD areforced into 5.1., leaving all multichannel signalsin their original format. This setting is recom-mended. Original will follow the surround formaton the disc.Audio AdjustmentThe Audio Adjustment Submenu contains theaccess to the speaker delay and the output leveladjustment settings of the HS 300. Follow theexplanations in the Upper Menu Line on thebottom of your screen to make adjustments.DelayDue to the different distances between thelistening position for the front channel speakersand the surround speakers, the amount of time ittakes for sound to reach your ears from the frontor surround speakers is different. You maycompensate for this difference through the use ofthe delay settings to adjust the timing for thespecific speaker placement and acoustic con-ditions in your listening room or home theater.Measure the distance from the listening positionto each of the individual loudspeakers. Oncedone, select per loudspeaker the distance that isclosest to the one measured.Output level adjustmentOutput level adjustment is a key part of theconfiguration process for any surround soundproduct.NOTE: Listeners are often confused about theoperation of the surround channels. While someassume that sound should always be comingfrom each speaker, most of the time there will belittle or no sound in the surround channels. This isbecause they are only used when a moviedirector or sound mixer specifically places soundthere to create ambiance, a special effect or tocontinue action from the front of the room to therear. When the output levels are properly set it isnormal for surround speakers to operate onlyoccasionally. Artificially increasing the volume tothe rear speakers may destroy the illusion of anenveloping sound field that duplicates the wayyou hear sound in a movie theater or concerthall.The default settings of the DVD player is 0 dB forall channels. In case you feel adjustments arenecessary in your setup, we advise you to makethe adjustments using the internal test tonegenerator.Once the cursor is moved to any of the speakerlevel icons, the test noise will be heard from thecorresponding speaker. If this is not the caseplease check whether the loudspeaker is con-nected to the correct loudspeaker output on therear panel. The speaker level can be adjusted bypressing ENTER and selecting an appropriatelevel indicated in the Lower Menu Line. The testnoise will stop as soon as the cursor is movedaway from any speaker level icon.