Operation
Controls and Use of Headphones
•Adjust the volume to a comfortable level using the front panel Volume Control ı or remote
•To temporarily silence all speaker outputs press the Mute button ˚. This will interrupt the output to all speakers and the headphone jack, but it will not affect any recording or dubbing that may be in progress. When the system is muted, the word MUTE will blink in the Main Information Display ˜. Press the Mute button ˚ again to return to normal operation.
•During a listening session you may wish to adjust the Bass Control and Treble Control Ú to suit your listening tastes or room acoustics. Note that these controls (and Balance) will not function when the 6/8 channel direct input is in use.
•To set the output of the AVR 5550 so that the output is “flat,” with the tone and balance con- trols de-activated, press the Tone Mode button 8 once or twice so that the words Tone Out appear momentarily in the Main Information Display ˜. To return the tone controls to an active condition, press the Tone Mode 8 button once or twice so that the words Tone I n momentarily appear in the Main Information Display ˜.
•For private listening, plug the 6.3 mm stereo phone plug from a pair of stereo headphones into the front panel Headphone Jack 4. Note that when the headphone’s plug is connected, the word HEADPHONE will scroll once across the Main Information Display ˜ and all speakers will be silenced. When the head- phone plug is removed, the audio feed to the speakers will be restored.
Surround Mode Selection
One of the most important features of the
AVR 5550 is its ability to reproduce a full multi- channel surround sound field from digital sources, analog matrix surround encoded programs and standard stereo or even mono programs. In all, a total of 23 listening modes are available on the AVR 5550.
Selection of a surround mode is based on personal taste, as well as the type of program source mate- rial being used. For example, CDs, motion pictures or TV programs bearing the logo of one of the major surround-encoding processes, such as Dolby Surround should be played in either the Dolby Pro Logic II Movie (with movies) or Music (with music) surround mode, with any DTS NEO:6 mode or with Harman Kardon´s exclusive Logic 7 Movie Mode, to create a full range 5.1 channel or (with Logic 7 and DTS NEO:6) even 7.1 channel surround signal from surround encoded pro- grams, with a stereophonic left and right rear sig- nal, just as it was recorded (e.g. sound being recorded from left rear side will be heard from that side only, for more details see chart on page 29).
When no rear speakers are in use, the Dolby 3 Stereo mode should be selected with all surround recordings.
Note that when Dolby Digital 2.0 signals (e.g. "D.D. 2.0" tracks from DVD), that are encoded with Dolby Pro Logic information, are received via any digital input, the Dolby Pro Logic II Movie mode will be selected automatically (in addition to the Dolby Digital mode) and will decode a full range 5.1 channel surround sound even from those recordings (see also "Dolby Digital" on page 34).
To create wide, enveloping sound field environ- ments and defined pans and flyovers with all analog stereo recordings select the Dolby Pro Logic II Music or Emulation mode or Harman Kardon’s exclusive Logic 7 Music mode for a dramatic improvement in comparison to the Dolby Pro Logic (I) mode of former times.
NOTE: Once a program has been encoded with matrix surround information, it retains the sur- round information as long as the program is broadcast in stereo. Thus, movies with surround sound may be decoded via any of the analog sur- round modes such as Pro Logic II Cinema, Logic 7 Cinema or DTS Neo:6 Cinema, when they are broadcast via conventional TV stations, cable, pay-TV and satellite transmission. In addition, a growing number of made-for-television programs, sports broadcasts, radio dramas and music CDs are also recorded in surround sound. You may view a list of these programs at the Dolby Laboratories Web site at www.dolby.com.
Even when a program is not listed as carrying intentional surround information, you may find that the Dolby Pro Logic II Music, DTS NEO:6 Music or Logic 7 Music or Enhanced modes often deliver enveloping surround presentations through the use of the natural surround information present in all stereo recordings.
However, for stereo programs without any surround information the Theater, Hall and 5/7CH Stereo modes should be tried (effective particularly with old ”extreme” stereo recordings) and for mono programs, we suggest that you try the Theater or Hall modes. And when you use only two front channel speakers you should select Harman’s patented VMAx mode, delivering a virtually three dimensional sound space with two speakers only.
Surround modes are selected using either the front panel controls or the remote. To select a new surround mode from the front panel, first press the Surround Mode Group Selector Button 5 until the desired major surround mode group such as Dolby, DTS or Logic 7 is selected. Next, press the Surround Mode Selector Button 9 to choose the specific individual surround mode.
To select a surround mode using the remote con- trol, press the button for the major surround mode group that includes the mode you wish to choose from: Dolby M, DTS Surround N,
DTS Neo:6 , Logic 7 O, Stereo or DSP Surround A. The first press of the button will show the current mode from that group if it is already in use, or the first available mode if you are currently using another mode. To cycle through the available modes in that group press the button again until the desired mode appears in the Lower Display Line B and the on- screen display.
To select from the DSP modes (Hall 1, Hall 2, Theater, VMAx Near or VMAx Far) press the Surround Mode Selector Arepeatedly to scroll through the list of available modes.
As the surround modes change, a green LED will light next to the current mode in the Surround Mode Indicators ˘ list on the front panel.
Note that the Dolby Digital or DTS modes may only be selected when a digital input is in use. In addition, when a digital source is present, the AVR 5550 will automatically select and switch to the correct mode (Dolby Digital or DTS), regard- less of the mode that has been previously selected. For more information on selecting digital sources, see the following section of this manual.
