Harman-Kardon AVR 147 owner manual Advanced Functions, Surround Modes

ADVANCED FUNCTIONS

Figure 79 – Dolby Surround Menu Screen

CENTER WIDTH: This setting affects how vocals sound through the three front speakers. A higher number (up to 7) focuses the vocal information tightly on the center channel. Lower numbers broaden the vocal soundstage across the three speakers.

DIMENSION: This setting affects the depth of the surround presentation, allowing you to “move” the sound toward the front or rear of the room. The setting of “0” is a neutral default. Setting “F-3” moves the sound mostly toward the front of the room, while setting “R-3” moves the sound mostly toward the rear.

PANORAMA: With the Panorama mode turned ON, some of the sound from the front speakers is moved to the surround speakers, creating an enveloping “wraparound” type of effect.

NIGHT MODE: Night mode is available with some Dolby Digital programs, if it has been encoded in the material. It compresses the peak sound levels, maintaining the intelligibility of the dialogue and quieter passages, while reducing the loudness of special effects and louder passages to avoid disturbing others. Three levels of compression are available:

OFF: At this setting, there is no compression, as the Night mode is deactivated.

MID: A mild compression is applied.

MAX: More compression is applied.

We suggest that you experiment with the modes to find a setting that meets your needs.

The Night mode may also be adjusted without using the full-OSD menu system. With a Dolby Digital program encoded with Night mode playing, press the Night Button on the remote. Each press of the button will cycle through the three settings, with the selected setting being displayed on the front panel and in the semi-OSD display.

UPSAMPLING: The last line of the Surround Select menu activates upsampling, only available with the Dolby Pro Logic II Movie, Dolby Pro Logic II Music and Dolby Pro Logic modes. Normally set to OFF, upsampling, when activated, processes digital sources at a higher resolution for improved sound quality. This feature can be useful to eliminate distortion in some low-resolution sources.

Default Modes

During initial use or after a processor reset, the AVR 147 will default to the Logic 7 Music mode for all analog and PCM audio inputs. Subsequently, when a source input is selected and an analog or PCM signal is received, the AVR will switch to the last surround mode used for that source input/incoming signal combination.

Whenever a multichannel Dolby Digital or DTS signal is detected, the AVR 147 will automatically switch to that mode, unless the DEFAULT SURR MODE setting in the System Setup menu has been changed to OFF. Table 6 reflects that other surround modes are available for use with the multichannel digital bitstreams. If you would prefer the AVR 147 to use one of those alternate modes any time the same digital signal is detected, then select that mode while the multichannel bitstream is present, and then change the DEFAULT SURR MODE setting in the System Setup menu to OFF.

Table 6 provides descriptions of all surround modes available on the AVR 147, along with the incoming bitstreams or signals that the particular mode may be used with. Feel free to experiment and simply cycle through all of the available modes at any time; you cannot cause any problems for the AVR 147 by doing so.

Table 6 – Surround Modes

Surround Mode	Description	Incoming Bitstream or Signal
Dolby Digital	Provides up to five separate main audio channels and a dedicated	• Dolby Digital 1/0/.0 or .1, 2/0/.0 or .1,
	low-frequency effects (LFE) channel. May be encoded for Night mode,	3/0/.0 or .1, 2/1/.0 or .1, 2/2/.0 or .1,
	which allows the user to apply a compression setting that maintains	3/2/.0 or .1
	intelligibility of softer passages while reducing the loudness of dynamic	• Dolby Digital EX (played as 5.1)
	passages to avoid disturbing others.
Dolby Digital Stereo	Delivers a 2-channel downmix of Dolby Digital materials.	• Dolby Digital 1/0/.0 or .1, 2/0/.0 or .1,
		3/0/.0 or .1, 2/1/.0 or .1, 2/2/.0 or .1,
		3/2/.0 or .1
		• Dolby Digital EX

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