THX On/Off
This menu allows you to turn off all of the THX functions on the Stage One. This would prevent any THX post-processing from taking place on any sig- nals. The default setting for the THX circuit is ON. If THX is turned to OFF, the next time the unit is powered on, it will return to the default ON setting. Press OK on the remote control or the front-panel Stage Manager knob to enter the
THX Menu.
Press the Left or Right button on the remote or turn the front-panel Stage Manager knob to adjust to the appropriate setting. Press the OK button on the remote control or the front-panel Enter button or Stage Manager knob to exit the menu.
Crossover Setup
You can choose from twenty different crossover frequencies, in 5Hz incre- ments from 25Hz to 120Hz. This selects the frequency below which the high- pass crossover filter will redirect bass from channels with speakers designat- ed as Small and above which the low-pass filter will remove higher frequen- cies from the subwoofer output. The default crossover setting is 80Hz (THX). Press OK on the remote control or the front-panel Stage Manager knob to enter the Crossover Setup Menu.
Press the Left or Right button on the remote or turn the front-panel Stage Manager knob to adjust to the desired setting. Press the OK button on the remote control or the front-panel Enter button or Stage Manager knob to exit the menu.
SETUP CONCLUSION
This completes the basic set-up of the Stage One. The display should now again read “SETUP / Speaker Configuration”. Press the Setup button on the remote control or the front-panel Enter button to exit the setup menu, or just wait five seconds for the menu to time out and exit on its own. If you press the front-panel Enter button, you will see a second menu appear called “Advanced Menus.” It is not necessary to enter this section at this time. You can press the front-panel Enter button again to exit the Advanced Menus and return to nor- mal operation. If you want to enter the Advanced Menus, please see the “Advanced Menus” section of this manual. The Advanced Menus contain fea- tures not required for daily operation, but items that can be adjusted to further tailor the Stage One to your particular system and taste.
GENERAL OPERATION
INPUT SELECTION
You can choose the input from the remote control or the front panel. Analog audio, digital audio, and video are normally selected together for the same source. (Video can be switched separately: see "Advanced Features.") The inputs are labeled for convenience only. Any line-level analog output or S/PDIF digital output can be connected to any matching input. (Dolby Digital playback from a laserdisc player requires the use of an external RF demodu- lator. Playback from a turntable requires the use of an external phono pream- plifier.)
AUTOMATIC FORMAT DETECTION
When you select an input, the processor will search for a digital signal, and if it finds one, it will determine the format and switch to the proper mode. If it does not find a digital signal from the source, the processor will default to the analog input. The Stage One will automatically switch to the digital input for the selected source when a digital signal appears, unless you have specifical- ly chosen the analog input. (Pressing the Analog button on the remote con- trol’s Modes page will force the Stage One to use the analog input. Pressing the Digital button on the Modes page will lock the Stage One onto the digital input, even if no digital signal is present.) The Stage One will also automati- cally select discrete surround formats such as DTS and Dolby Digital when it detects these bitstreams. If the Stage One detects a PCM digital bitstream or only an analog signal, it will use the decoding method last selected for that particular input.
VOLUME ADJUSTMENT BY SOURCE
Individual volume settings are saved for each source input. When you select an input, the Stage One will adjust itself to the corresponding stored volume level. If the previous volume level of the input was set to above the –20dB level, the volume will default to –20dB.
ON-THE-FLY ADJUSTMENTS
In multi-channel modes, you can adjust the center channel level, subwoofer level, and front/rear balance on-the-fly by pressing the appropriate button in the remote control’s On-the-Fly page. In stereo mode, you can adjust left/right balance and subwoofer level on-the-fly. (Use the Up and Down buttons on the remote to adjust front/rear balance and the Left and Right buttons to adjust left/right balance.) These adjustments take effect immediately, but are not saved into memory. The next time the mode is selected, the settings will revert to their stored defaults. Need for continual adjustments of these set- tings while in a particular mode may indicate that the saved channel balance settings are not optimal.
STEREO DIRECT
Pressing the Direct button on the remote control’s Modes page will put the Stage One into Stereo Direct mode. In Stereo Direct, analog input signals bypass the A/D converter and the DSP module, going instead directly to an audiophile-quality two-channel analog preamplifier section. Analog sources such as tape decks, the built-in tuner, phono preamplifiers, or the analog out- puts from an external DAC can be run in the Stereo Direct mode for maximum stereo performance. You can designate any analog input as a Direct analog input. When the Stage One is placed into the Stereo Direct mode, this becomes the default mode for the selected analog input until you choose a different mode. You can assign separate level settings for the Stereo Direct mode by entering Setup (See "Advanced Features.") The subwoofer, if one is
