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AVR

23

English

Advanced Functions, continued

much of the adjusting and configuration your AVr requires is handled automatically, with 

little intervention required on your part. You can also customize your AVR to suit your 

system and your tastes. In this section, we will describe some of the more advanced 

adjustments available to you.

Audio signals can be encoded in a variety of formats that can affect not only the quality 

of the sound but also the number of speaker channels and the surround mode. you may 

also manually select a different surround mode, when available.
Analog Audio Signals
Analog audio signals usually consist of two channels – left and right. your AVr offers 

several options for analog playback:
•

   Stereo: when you want conventional 2-channel playback, select “2-ch Stereo” as 

the surround mode. Sound will be output from the front left and right speakers (and 

subwoofer, if your system has one).

•  

5-Ch Stereo: when you want to hear stereo sound through all of the system’s speakers 

(such as during a party), select “5ch Stereo” as the surround mode. this plays the 

left-channel signal through the front left and surround left speakers, the right-channel 

signal through the front right and surround right speakers, and a summed mono signal 

through the center speaker (in addition to the subwoofer, if your system has one).

•  Multi-Channel Surround Modes: your AVr is able to process 2-channel audio signals 

to produce multichannel surround sound, even when no surround sound has been 

encoded in the recording. Among the available modes are the dolby pro logic II, Virtual 

Surround, dtS neo:6, and logic 7 modes. to select one of these modes, see Selecting 

a Surround Mode, on page 22.

Digital Audio Signals
digital audio signals offer greater flexibility and capacity than analog signals and allow 

the encoding of discrete channel information directly into the signal. the result is 

improved sound quality and startling directionality, since each channel’s information is 

transmitted discretely. high-resolution recordings sound extraordinarily distortion-free, 

especially in the high frequencies.
Surround Modes
Surround-mode selection depends upon the format of the incoming audio signal as well 

as your personal taste. Although there is never a time when all of the AVr’s surround 

modes are available, there is usually a wide variety of modes available for a given 

input. table A8 in the Appendix, on page 32, offers a brief description of each mode and 

indicates the types of incoming signals or digital bitstreams the mode may be used with. 

Additional information about the dolby and dtS modes is available on the companies’ 

web sites: www.dolby.com and www.dtsonline.com.
when in doubt, check the jacket of your disc for more information on which surround 

modes are available. usually, nonessential sections of the disc, such as trailers, extra 

materials or the disc menu, are available only in dolby digital 2.0 (2-channel) or pcm 

2-channel mode. If the main title is playing and the display shows one of these surround 

modes, look for an audio or language setup section in the disc’s menu. Also, make sure 

your disc player’s audio output is set to the original bitstream rather than 2-channel pcm. 

Stop play and check the player’s output setting.
the channels included in a typical 5.1-channel recording are front left, front right, center, 

surround left, surround right and lfe (low-frequency effects). the lfe channel is denoted 

as “.1” to represent the fact that it is limited to the low frequencies. 
digital formats include dolby digital 2.0 (two channels only), dolby digital 5.1, dolby 

digital plus (7.1), dolby truehd (7.1), dtS-hd high-resolution Audio (7.1), dtS-hd 

Master Audio (7.1), DTS 5.1, DTS 96/24 (5.1), 2-channel PCM modes in 32kHz, 44.1kHz, 

48kHz or 96kHz, and 5.1 or 7.1 multichannel PCM. (Your AVR will downmix the discrete 

surround back-channel information in 6.1-channel and 7.1-channel recordings into your 

system’s surround left and surround right channels.)  
when the AVr receives a digital bitstream, it detects the encoding method and the 

number of channels, which is displayed briefly as three numbers, separated by slashes 

(e.g., “3/2/.1”).

the first number indicates the number of front channels in the signal: “1” represents 

a monophonic recording (usually an older program that has been digitally remastered 

or, more rarely, a modern program for which the director has chosen mono as a special 

effect). “2” indicates the presence of the left and right channels but no center channel. 

“3” indicates that all three front channels (left, right and center) are present.
the second number indicates whether any surround channels are present: “0” indicates 

that no surround information is present. “1” indicates that a matrixed surround signal is 

present. “2” indicates discrete surround left and right channels. (bitstreams with discrete 

surround back left and right channel signals will be indicated by a “4,” although the 

AVr downmixes the surround back-channel information into the surround left and right 

channels.) 
the third number is used for the lfe channel: “0” indicates no lfe channel. “.1” indicates 

that an lfe channel is present.
dolby digital 2.0 signals may include a dolby Surround flag indicating dS-on or dS-off, 

depending on whether the 2-channel bitstream contains only stereo information or a 

downmix of a multichannel program that can be decoded by the AVr’s dolby pro logic 

decoder. by default, these signals are played in dolby pro logic II movie mode. 
When  a  PCM  signal  is  received,  the  PCM  message  and  the  sampling  rate  (32kHz, 

44.1kHz, 48kHz or 96kHz) will appear. 
when only two channels – left and right – are present, the analog surround modes may be 

used to decode the signal into multiple channels. If you would prefer a different surround 

format than the native signal’s digital encoding, press the Surround modes button to 

display the Surround modes menu (see Selecting a Surround Mode, on page 22).
the Auto Select option sets the surround mode to the native signal’s digital encoding, 

e.g., dolby digital, dtS, dolby truehd or dtS-hd master Audio. for analog 2-channel 

materials, the AVr defaults to the logic 7 movie mode. for dolby digital 2.0 programs, 

the AVr defaults to the dolby pro logic II movie mode, which creates a 5.1-channel 

surround-sound presentation from the 2-channel program. If you prefer a different 

surround mode, select the surround-mode category: Virtual Surround, Stereo, movie, 

music or Video game. press the ok button to change the mode.
each surround-mode category is set to a default surround mode:
• Virtual: Virtual Surround.
• Stereo: 5-CH Stereo.
• Movie: Logic 7 Movie.
• Music: Logic 7 Music.
• Video Game: Logic 7 Game.
you may select a different mode for each category. below is a complete list of available 

surround modes. (the actual surround modes available will depend on the number of 

speakers in your system.) 
• Virtual: Virtual Surround.
• Stereo: 2-CH Stereo or 5-CH Stereo.
• Movie: Logic 7 Movie, Dolby Pro Logic II Movie, DTS NEO:6 Cinema.
• Music: Logic 7 Music, Dolby Pro Logic II Music, DTS NEO:6 Music.
• Video Game: Logic 7 Game, Dolby Pro Logic II Game.
once you have programmed the surround mode for each type of audio, select the 

line from the Surround modes menu to override the AVr’s automatic surround-mode 

selection. the AVr will use the same surround mode the next time you select that source.
please refer to table A8 in the Appendix for more information on which surround modes 

are available with different bitstreams.

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AVR 170 / 230V Service Manual

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AVR

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Advanced Functions, continued

Dolby Pro Logic II Music Mode Adjustments
when you select dolby pro logic II as the music surround mode, additional adjust

ments 

become available:

 

Center Width: this setting affects how vocals sound through the three front speakers. 

A lower number focuses the vocal information tightly on the center channel. higher 

numbers (up to 7) broaden the vocal soundstage. use the left/right buttons to adjust 

this setting.
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 toward the front of the room, while setting “r-3” 

moves the sound toward the rear. use the left/right buttons to adjust it.
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” 

effect. each press of the ok button toggles the setting on or off.

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 Setup on-screen menus.
before beginning, place your loudspeakers as explained in the Place Your Speakers 

section, on page 10, 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 and A5 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.
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 A6 in the 

Appendix. 

NOTE: This frequency is not the same as the “Crossover Frequency” that may 

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 A3 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 this page 25.
Step Three – Manual Setup Menu
now you are ready to program the AVr. Sit in your usual listening position, and make the 

room as quiet as possible.
with the AVr and video display turned on, press the oSd button to display the menu 

system and select manual Setup. the manual Setup menu will appear:

 

for best results, adjust the submenus in this order: number of Speakers, crossover, 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.

 

when you have finished, press the remote’s back button.

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AVR 170 / 230V Service Manual

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English

Advanced Functions, continued

Crossover
After you return to the manual Setup menu, navigate to the crossover line and press the 

ok button to display the crossover menu.

 

refer to table A5 for each speaker’s crossover frequency. 

For each speaker group, select one of these eight crossover frequencies: LARGE, 40Hz, 

60Hz,  80Hz,  100Hz,  120Hz,  150Hz  or  200Hz.  If  the  speaker’s  crossover  frequency  is 

below 40Hz, select the first option, LARGE. This setting doesn’t refer to the speaker’s 

physical size but to its frequency response, which is also called “full range.” 
Specify the size of the subwoofer’s transducer as 8, 10, 12 or 15 inches. The AVR always 

sets the subwoofer crossover to 100Hz but uses the transducer size for equalization. 
write down the settings in table A5 in the Appendix.
when you have finished entering the settings, press the remote’s back button.
Sub Mode
After you return to the manual Setup menu, navigate to the Sub mode line and press 

the ok button to display the Sub mode menu. this setting depends upon the crossover 

setting you selected for the left and right speakers.
•  If you set the Left/Right speakers to a numeric crossover frequency, the subwoofer 

setting will always be Sub. All low-frequency information will always be sent to the 

subwoofer. If you don’t have a subwoofer, either upgrade to full-range front left and 

right speakers or add a subwoofer at the earliest opportunity.

•  If you set the front speakers to LARGE, select one of the three following settings for 

the subwoofer:

l/r+lfe: this setting sends all low-frequency information to the subwoofer, including 

a) low-frequency information that is also played through the front left and right 

speakers and b) the special low-frequency effects (lfe) channel information.
off: Select this setting when no subwoofer is in use. All low-frequency information will 

be sent to the front left and right speakers.
lfe: this setting plays low-frequency information contained in the full-range program 

channels through the front left and right speakers, and directs only the lfe-channel 

information to the subwoofer.

when you have finished entering the settings, press the remote’s back button.

Set the Speaker Distances
As described above in Step two, when you measured the distances from each of your 

speakers to the listening position, your AVr provides an adjustment that compensates 

for the different distances so that the sound from each speaker will reach the listening 

position at the proper time. this process will improve the clarity and detail of the sound.
After you return to the manual Setup menu, navigate to the distance line and press the 

ok button to display the distance menu.

 

enter the distance from each speaker to the listening position that you measured in Step 

two and recorded in table A3 in the Appendix (see page 30). Select a speaker, then use 

the left/right buttons to change the measurement. you can enter distances between 0 

and 30 feet (9m). the default distance for all speakers is 10 feet (3m).
the default unit of measurement is meters. to change the unit to feet, scroll down to the 

unit line and press the left/right buttons.
when you have finished entering the settings, press the remote’s back button.
Step Four – Setting Channel Output Levels Manually
for a conventional stereo AVr, a simple balance control adjusts the stereo imaging by 

varying the relative loudness of the left and right channels. In a home theater system 

with up to five main channels plus a subwoofer, achieving proper imaging becomes 

both more critical and more complex. the goal is to ensure that each channel is heard 

at the listening position with equal loudness (when signals of equal loudness are played 

through them).
Your  AVR’s  EzSet/EQ  calibration  can  handle  this  critical  task  for  you  simply  and 

automatically. however, the AVr’s level Adjust menu allows you to calibrate the levels 

manually, either using the system’s built-in test tone or while playing source material. 
After you return to the manual Setup menu, navigate to the level Adjust line and press 

the ok button to display the level Adjust menu.

 

All of the system’s speakers will appear with their current level settings. you can adjust 

each speaker’s level between –10db and +10db in 1db increments. 
while making adjustments, you can measure the channel levels in one of these ways:
•  Preferably,  use  a  handheld  SPL  meter  set  to  C-weighting,  slow  scale.  Adjust  each 

speaker so that the meter reads 75db when the AVr’s built-in test noise is playing.

•  By ear. Adjust the levels so that the test tone sounds equally loud to you when it plays 

through each speaker.

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Advanced Functions, continued

to set your levels using the AVr’s internal test tone, select the menu’s test tone Seq line 

and use the left/right buttons to select between Auto and manual. After selecting Auto or 

manual, move the cursor to the test tone line and use the left/right buttons to change 

the setting to on.
Auto:  the test tone will automatically circulate to all speakers, as indicated by the 

highlight bar. use the left/right buttons to adjust the level for any speaker when the 

test tone is paused there. use the up/down buttons to move the cursor to another line, 

and the test tone will follow the cursor. to stop the test tone, use the up/down buttons to 

move the cursor out of the screen’s speaker-listings area.
Manual:  the test tone will stay on the current speaker until you use the up/down 

buttons to move it to another speaker. use the left/right buttons to adjust the level for 

the speaker through which the test tone is playing.
If you are listening to an external source while you set your output levels, set test tone to 

off, use the up/down buttons to navigate to each speaker, and use the left/right buttons 

to adjust the speaker’s level while the source plays. 

Channel Reset: to reset all channel levels to their factory defaults of 0db, select this line 

and press the left/right buttons.
when you have finished adjusting the speaker levels, record the settings in table A5 

in the Appendix. then press the remote’s back button to return to the previous menu 

screen, or press the remote’s oSd button to exit the menu system.
Notes on Setting Speaker Volumes in Home Theater Systems:
while setting your system’s individual speaker volume levels is ultimately up to your 

personal taste, here are some ideas you may find helpful:
•  For  films  and  video-music  programs,  your  overall  goal  should  be  to  create  an 

enveloping, realistic sound field that draws you into the film or music program without 

drawing your attention away from the action on the screen.

•  For multichannel music recordings, some music producers will create a sound field that 

places the musicians all around you; others will create a sound field that places the 

musicians in front of you, with more subtle ambience in the surround speakers (as you 

would experience in a concert hall).

•  In most 5.1-channel film soundtracks, the surround speakers are not intended to be 

as loud or as active as the front speakers. Adjusting the surround speakers so they are 

always as loud as the front speakers could make dialogue difficult to understand and 

will make some sound effects sound unrealistically loud.

Notes on Setting Subwoofer Volume:
•  Sometimes the ideal subwoofer volume setting for music is too loud for films, while the 

ideal setting for films is too quiet for music. when setting the subwoofer volume, listen 

to both music and films with strong bass content and find a “middle ground” volume 

level that works for both.

•  If your subwoofer always seems too loud or too quiet, you may want to place it in a 

different location. placing the subwoofer in a corner will always tend to increase its 

bass output, while placing it away from any walls or corners will always tend to lessen 

its bass output.

The AVR’s System Setup menu lets you customize the way many of the AVR’s features 

operate. press the oSd button and navigate to the System Setup line. press the ok button 

to display the System Setup menu.
VFD Fade Time Out: Some people find the brightness of the AVr’s front-panel display 

distracting during movies or listening sessions. It’s possible to dim the front-panel display 

completely using the remote’s display dimmer button (see System Remote Control 

Functions, on pages 8 and 9). the Vfd fade time out sets the display to remain dark 

most of the time, lighting up only when a button is pressed or a remote command is 

received, and going dark again five seconds after the last command. the feature also 

causes the display to light up only when a button is pressed but the display immediately 

begins to fade to dark. this setting allows you to program the length of the fade time. 

Select a time-out period of between three and ten seconds, or select off if you prefer to 

leave the displays on at all times or to use the display dimmer button.

Volume Default and Default Volume Set: these two settings are used together to 

program the volume level the AVr defaults to when you turn it on. Set Volume default 

to on, and then set the default Volume Set to the desired turn-on volume. when Volume 

default is set to off, the AVr will turn on at the last-used volume setting from the previous 

listening session.
HDMI Audio To TV: this setting determines whether hdmI audio signals are passed 

through the hdmI monitor out connector to the video display. In normal operation, leave 

this setting at off, as audio will be played through the AVr. to use the tV by itself, without 

the home theater system, turn this setting to on. In this case, you will need to mute the 

tV’s speakers (or switch the setting to off) when using the AVr for audio.
Semi OSD Time Out: program the amount of time (2 to 5 seconds) the two-line semi-

oSd status messages remain on screen, or deactivate the semi-oSd display altogether if 

you find it distracting. these messages will continue to appear on the AVr’s front-panel 

display.
Full OSD Time Out: program the amount of time (20, 30, 40 or 50 seconds) the full oSd 

menus remain visible on screen. the full oSd system may not be deactivated.
HDMI Link: this setting allows the communication of control information among the 

hdmI devices in your system. turn this setting to on to allow control communication 

among the hdmI devices; turn the setting to off to forbid control communication.
Adjust Lip Sync: This setting lets you resynchronize the audio and video signals from 

a source to eliminate a “lip sync” problem. lip sync issues can occur when the video 

portion of a signal undergoes additional processing in either the source device or the 

video display. use the left/right buttons to delay the audio by up to 180ms.
Upgrade Software: If a software upgrade is released for your AVr, installation instructions 

will be available in the product Support section of the web site or from harman kardon 

customer service. At that time, access this submenu to install the software upgrade.
IMPORTANT: During a system upgrade, do not power off the AVR or use any of its 

Programming an Unused Source Selector Button to Control a Different Device
you can program unused Source Selector buttons to control devices that are different 

than they are set up for at the factory. for example, you can program the Server button 

to control a second tV set.
1.  locate the code numbers for the device you want to control from the tables in 

Appendices 10 – 18, on pages 37 – 46.

2.  turn on the device you want to control.
3.  press the unused Source Selector button that you want to program for three seconds. 

the button’s led will turn on and program Indicator led will flash.

4.  press the Source Selector button that corresponds to the type of device you want to 

control. (for example, if you want to control a tV, press the tV Source Selector button.) 

the unused Source Selector button’s led will flash once.

5.  Aim the remote toward the device you want to control and use the number buttons to 

enter first code number. the program Indicator led will flash. If you have selected the 

correct code number the device will turn off. If it does not turn off, enter the next code 

number from the table. when the device turns off, proceed to step 6.

6.  press the unused Source Selector button from Step 3. that Source Selector button’s 

led will turn off and the program Indicator led will flash green three times. 

the remote will now control the device when the formerly unused Source Selector button 

is pressed.
Remote Channel-Control Punch-Through
the punch-through feature allows you to operate one component while setting certain 

groups of controls to operate another component. for example, while using the AVr 

controls for surround modes and other audio functions, you may also use the remote to 

operate the transport controls of your blu-ray disc player. or while using the remote to 

control video functions on your tV, you may also use the remote to change channels on 

your cable box.

Harman Kardon

AVR 170 / 230V Service Manual

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