Harman-Kardon Optimize Your Harman Kardon Speaker Setup with AVR 3700 for Superior Sound Quality

AVR

Manual Speaker Setup

Manual Speaker Setup

Your AVR is flexible and may be configured to work with most speakers and to compensate for the acoustic characteristics of your room.

The EzSet/EQ process automatically detects the capabilities of each connected speaker and optimizes the AVR’s performance with your speakers. If you are unable to run EzSet/ EQ calibration, or if you wish to set up your AVR for your speakers manually, use the Manual Speaker Setup on-screen menus.

Before beginning, place your loudspeakers as explained in the Place Your Speakers section, on page 13, and connect them to the AVR. Consult the owner’s guide for the speakers or the manufacturer’s Web site for their frequency-range specification. Although you may set the AVR’s individual channel levels “by ear,” an SPL (sound-pressure level) meter purchased at a local electronics store will provide greater accuracy.

Record your configuration settings in Tables A3 through A12 in the Appendix for easy re- entry after a system reset or after the AVR’s Master Power switch has been turned off or the unit has been unplugged for more than four weeks.

NOTE: When using the AVR’s Manual Speaker Setup menus, select a video output resolution of 720p or higher to view graphics that simplify configuration.

Step One – Determine Your Speakers’ Crossover Frequencies

Without using the EzSet/EQ process, the AVR can’t detect how many speakers you’ve connected to it; nor can it determine their capabilities. Consult the technical specifications for all of your speakers and locate the frequency response, usually given as a range, e.g., 100Hz – 20kHz (±3dB). Write down the lowest frequency that each of your speakers is capable of playing (100Hz in the above example) as the crossover in Table A3 in the Appendix. NOTE: This is not the same as the crossover frequency listed in the speaker’s specifications.

For the subwoofer, write down the transducer size. The AVR’s bass management determines which speakers will be used to play back the low-frequency (bass) portion of the source program. Sending the lowest notes to small satellite speakers will result in bad sound and may even damage the speakers. The highest notes may not be heard at all through the subwoofer.

With proper bass management, the AVR divides the source signal at a crossover point. All information above that crossover point is played through your system’s speakers, and all information below the crossover point is played through the subwoofer. This way, each loudspeaker in your system will perform at its best, delivering a more powerful and enjoyable sound experience.

Step Two – Measure the Speaker Distances

Ideally, all of your speakers would be placed in a circle, with the listening position at the center. However, you may have had to place some speakers a little farther away from the listening position than others. Sounds that are supposed to arrive simultaneously from different speakers may blur, due to different arrival times.

Your AVR provides a Distance adjustment that compensates for these real-world speaker placement differences.

Measure the distance from each speaker to the listening position, and write it down in Table A4 in the Appendix. Even if all of your speakers are the same distance from the listening position, enter your speaker distances as described in Set the Speaker Distances, on page 38.

Step Three – Manual Speaker Setup Menu

Now you are ready to program the receiver. Sit in your usual listening position, and make the room as quiet as possible.

With the receiver and video display turned on, press the AVR button to display the menu system. Select the Speaker Setup menu, and then select Manual Setup.

Speaker Setup

Automatic Setup – EzSet/EQ

Automated Speaker Setup and EQ

Manual Setup

Manually Adjust Speaker Settings

If you have already run the EzSet/EQ process as explained in Configure the AVR for Your Speakers, on page 25, the AVR saved the results. To fine-tune the EzSet/EQ results, or to configure the AVR from scratch, select Manual Setup. A screen similar to the one shown below will appear.

Speaker Setup

Number of Speakers

Level Adjust

Crossover (Size)

Distance

Reset

NOTE: All of the speaker setup submenus include the Back option. To save the current settings, select the Back option.

To reconfigure the speakers from scratch, select the Reset option.

For best results, adjust the submenus in this order: Number of Speakers, Crossover (Size), Sub Mode, Distance and Level Adjust.

Number of Speakers

This selection lets you program the correct setting for each speaker group. The settings in this menu affect the remainder of the speaker setup process and the availability of various surround modes at any time.

Select ON when the speakers are present in the system; select OFF for positions where no speakers are installed. The Front Left & Right setting is always ON and may not be disabled.

Speaker Setup