Bass Management - Dolby Digital and DTS f ormats c ontain up to 5 full range channels plus LFE. O nly a system
with five full-range (large) speakers plus a subwoofer can directly reproduce these formats. However, almost all
commercially available center channel speakers are small and incapable of reproducing the lowest bass
frequenc ies without distortion or even dam age to the s peak er. Many people also use sm all speak ers in the rear of
their system, while other s us e s mall speak er s all around. Us e of a s ubwoofer is almost mandatory when using five
small speakers, but people with at least two large speakers may or may not choose to use a subwoofer. Some
people may not use a center channel or surround speak ers at all. In order to handle any possible combination of
large, sm all, or m issing speak ers, a hom e theater system m ust contain good bass m anagement, a c oncept often
missing from two-piece systems where the Dolby Digital or DTS decoder is separate from the preamp. Your
receiver contains a complete bass management system. You can use as few as two large front left and right
speakers or two small left and right speakers plus a subwoofer or as many as seven full range speakers plus a
subwoofer or any com bination in between without mis sing any information. Wher ever s mall speakers are us ed the
bass management system prevents low bass information from going to that speaker (“high pass”). This bass
inform ation is rerouted to a speak er that can handle it, usually a subwoofer, but it can also send center, sur round,
or LFE bass to large front s peakers if no s ubwoof er is available. When center or surround speak ers are not used
at all, the missing channel is sent (“down mixed”) to the front speakers.
Preamp - A pream p typically includes the capability to select from a num ber of source s, adjust volume levels and
route the data to an amplifier. Your receiver includes a high quality preamp.
Processor - A processor typically includes the capability to decode one or more surround formats, and convert
between digital and analog as required. Your A/V system controller includes a high quality processor capable of
decoding the surround formats described above.
Zone - A zone is usually a room that has speakers installed in it. Your receiver includes a full preamp/processor
for Zone 1 (A) plus an additional analog stereo pr eam p for Zone 2 (B). This allows, for exam ple, watching a Dolby
Digital movie in zone one while simultaneously using the built-in AM/FM tuner in another room.
Amplifier - An amplifier takes the output of a preamp/processor and increases its level to that necessary to drive a
speaker.
Speakers - A surround sound system use to typically use 5 speakers located left front, center front, right front,
right surround, and left surround plus a subwoofer located anywhere in the room. W ith the new developments in
surround technology from companies such as Dolby Laboratories, DTS, and Lucasfilm, it is now possible to
impr ove spatial express ions with an additional channel of infor mation f or use with a 6th and/or 7th s urround back
speaker. Although best results are achieved using seven large speakers plus a subwoofer, this is not always
practical. Ex cellent res ults can be ac hieved using sm all and/or f ewer speak ers, as long as you go through the set
up procedures described later in the manual. Your receiver includes the capability of reproducing up to 6.1
channels of surround information.
Component video vs. S-video vs. Composite video - Composite video is the oldest standard for color video. It
combines the luminance (brightness or black-and-white) and chrominance (color) information onto a single
conductor. These signals m ust be separated again for display resulting in some degradation of the video quality.
S-video is a newer standard that uses separate conductor s f or the lum inanc e (Y) and chrominance (C) inf ormation
resulting in better video quality. Component video is the newest form of video introduced with DVD. This video
form at uses separate conductors for lum inance (Y), red - lum inance (R - Y), and blue - luminance (B - Y). Using
these signals a com ponent video capable monitor allows for even better and higher resolution video quality. Your
receiver is capable of switching composite, S-video and component signals, but it cannot convert between video
types. In addition, your receiver is capable of switching between two pairs of component video inputs.
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