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OPERATION  25

DOLBY DIGITAL

Available only with digital input sources encoded with Dolby Digital data. It provides 

Center: 0 - 30ft / 9m

up to five separate main audio channels and a special dedicated Low Frequency Effects 

Initial Setting: 12ft / 3.6m 

channel.

Surround: 0 - 30ft / 9m
Initial Setting: 10ft / 3m

DOLBY DIGITAL EX

Available when the receiver is configured for 6.1/7.1 channel operation, Dolby Digital EX is the 

Center: 0 - 30ft / 9m

latest version of Dolby Digital. When used with movies or other programs that have special 

Initial Setting: 12ft / 3.6m 

encoding, Dolby Digital EX reproduces specially encoded soundtracks so that a full 6.1/7.1 

Surround: 0 - 30ft / 9m

soundfield is available. When the receiver is set for 6.1/7.1 operation and a Dolby Digital signal is 

Initial Setting: 10ft / 3m

present, the EX mode is automatically selected. Even if specific EX encoding is not available to 

Surround Back: 0 - 30ft / 9m

provide the additional channel, the special algorithms will derive a 6.1/7.1 output.

Initial Setting: 10ft / 3m

DTS 5.1

When the speaker configuration is set for 5.1-channel operation, the DTS 5.1 mode is  

Delay time not adjustable

available when DVD, audio-only music or laserdiscs encoded with DTS data are played.
DTS 5.1 provides up to five separate main audio channels and a special dedicated 
low-frequency channel.

DTS-ES 6.1 Matrix

When the speaker configuration is set for 6.1/7.1 operation, playback of a DTS-encoded program

Delay time not adjustable

DTS-ES 6.1 Discrete

source will automatically trigger the selection of one of the two DTS-ES modes. Newer discs with
special DTS-ES discrete encoding will be decoded to provide six discrete, full-bandwidth channels
plus a separate low-frequency channel. All other DTS discs will be decoded using the DTS-ES Matrix 
mode, which creates a 6.1-channel sound field from the original 5.1-channel soundtrack.

DOLBY PRO LOGIC II

Dolby Pro Logic II is the latest version of Dolby Laboratory’s benchmark surround technology

Center: 0 - 30ft / 9m

MOVIE

that decodes full-range, discrete left, center right, right surround and left surround channels 

Initial Setting: 12ft / 3.6m

MUSIC

from matrix surround encoded programs and conventional stereo sources when  

Surround: 0 - 30ft / 9m

EMULATION

an analog input or a digital input with PCM or Dolby Digital 2.0 recordings is in use. The  

Initial Setting: 10ft / 3m

Dolby Pro Logic II Movie mode is optimized for movie soundtracks that are recorded with matrix 
surround, by creating separate center, rear left and rear right signals. while the Pro Logic II Music 
mode should be used with musical selections that are recorded with matrix surround or even with
normal stereo mode, creating separate rear left and rear right signals 
in any case. The Pro Logic II Emulation mode creates compelling five-channel surround sound from 
conventional stereo recordings.

Logic 7 Cinema

Exclusive to Harman Kardon for AV receivers, Logic 7 is an advanced mode that extracts the 

Delay time not adjustable

Logic 7 Music

maximum surround information from either surround-encoded programs or conventional stereo 

Logic 7 Enhance

material. Depending on the number of speakers in use and the selection made in the 

SURROUND

SELECT

menu, the “5.1” versions of Logic 7 modes are available when the 5.1 option is chosen,

while the “7.1” versions of Logic 7 produce a full sound field presentation, including back surround 
speakers when the “6.1/7.1” option is chosen. The Logic 7 C (or Cinema) mode should be used 
with any source that contains Dolby Surround or similar matrix encoding. Logic 7 C delivers 
increased center-channel intelligibility, and more accurate placement of sounds with fades and pans 
that are much smoother and more realistic than with former decoding techniques. The Logic 7 M or 
Music mode should be used with analog or PCM stereo sources. Logic 7 M enhances the listening 
experience by presenting a wider front soundstage and greater rear ambience. Both Logic 7 modes 
also direct low-frequency information to the subwoofer (if installed and configured) to deliver 
maximum bass impact. The Logic 7 E (or Enhance) mode is an extension of the Logic 7 modes that is 
primarily used with musical programs and is available with the 5.1 surround mode option selected 
only. Logic 7 E adds additional bass enhancement that circulates low frequencies in the 40Hz to 120Hz 
range to the front and surround speakers to deliver a less localized soundstage that appears broader 
and wider than when the subwoofer is the sole source of bass energy.

DTS Neo:6 Cinema

These two modes are available when any analog source is playing to create a six-channel 

Delay time not adjustable

DTS Neo:6 Music

surround presentation from conventional Matrix-encoded and traditional Stereo sources. Select 
the Cinema version of Neo:6 when a program with any type of analog Matrix surround encoding 
is present. Select the Music version of Neo:6 for optimal processing when a nonencoded,
two-channel stereo program is being played.

26 OPERATION

DOLBY 3 STEREO

Uses the information contained in a surround-encoded or two-channel stereo program to 

No surround channels

create center-channel information. In addition, the information that is normally sent to the 
rear-channel surround speakers is carefully mixed in with the front-left and front-right 
channels for increased realism. Use this mode when you have a center-channel speaker 
but no surround speakers.

THEATER

The THEATER mode creates a sound field that resembles the acoustic feeling of a 

Delay time not adjustable

standard live performance theater, with stereo and even pure mono sources.

HALL 1

The two Hall modes create sound fields that resemble a small (HALL1) or

Delay time not adjustable

HALL 2

medium sized (HALL 2) concert hall, with stereo and even pure mono sources.

VMAx Near

When only the two front-channel loudspeakers are used, Harman’s patented VMAx mode 

No surround channels

VMAx Far

delivers a three-dimensional sound space with the illusion of “phantom speakers” at the 
center and surround positions. The VMAx N, or “Near Field” mode should be selected when
your listening position is less than 1,5 m from the speakers. The VMAx F, or “Far Field” mode
may be selected when your listening position is greater than 1,5 m from the speakers.
The VMAx modes are also available using the Headphones Output

4. When headphones

are being used, the Far Field mode will push the sound field away from your ears,
reducing the “inside the head” sensation often experienced when using headphones.

5-Channel Stereo

This mode takes advantage of multiple speakers to place a stereo signal at both the front and

No delay available in

7-Channel Stereo

back of a room. Depending on whether the AVR has been configured for either 5.1 or 6.1/7.1 

these modes

operation, one of these modes, but not both, is available at any time. Ideal for playing music in 
situations such as a party, this mode places the same signal at the front-left and surround-left,
and at the front-right and surround-right speakers. The center channel is fed a summed mono 
mix of the in-phase material of the left and right channels.

Surround Off (Stereo)

These modes turn off all surround processing and present the pure left- and right-channel 

No surround channels 

Surround Off (Bypass)  presentation of two-channel stereo programs. The Surround Off (Bypass) mode may only be 
DSP Surround Off 

used with analog source inputs, as it preserves the analog format of the audio signal for its 
entire path of travel through the receiver to the speaker and subwoofer outputs, bypassing 
all digital processing. Digital bass management is not available in Surround Off mode. The 
DSP Surround Off mode can be used with either an analog or digital input, as the signal 
undergoes digital bass management to optimize the distribution of the low frequencies 
between the main speakers and a subwoofer.

OPERATION  27

Once you have completed the setup and configu-
ration of the AVR, it is simple to operate and
enjoy. The following instructions should be
followed for you to maximize your enjoyment of
your new receiver:

Turning the AVR On or Off
• When using the AVR for the first time, you must
press the Main Power Switch

1 on the front

panel to turn the unit on. This places the unit in a
Standby mode, as indicated by the amber color of
the Power Indicator

3. Once the unit is in

Standby, you may begin a listening session by
pressing the System Power Control

2 or the

Source button 

% on the front panel or the

5. Note that the Power

3 will turn blue. This will turn the unit

on and return it to the input source that was last
used. The unit may also be turned on from Standby
by pressing any of the Source Selector buttons
on the remote 

4567 or the Source

button 

% on the front panel.

NOTE: After pressing one of the Input Selector
buttons

4 (except VID4) to turn the unit on,

press the AVR Selector

5 to have the remote

control the AVR functions.

To turn the unit off at the end of a listening ses-
sion, simply press the System Power Control
2 on the front panel or the Power Off Button
3 on the remote. Power will be shut off to any
equipment plugged into the rear panel
Switched AC Outlets

 and the Power

3 will turn orange.

When the remote is used to turn the unit “off” it
is actually placing the system in a Standby mode,
as indicated by the orange color of the Power
Indicator

3.

When you will be away from home for an
extended period of time it is always a good idea
to completely turn the unit off with the front
panel Main Power Switch

1.

NOTE: All preset memories may be lost if the
unit is left turned off with the Main Power
Switch

1 for more than two weeks.

Using the Sleep Timer
• To program the AVR for automatic turn-off,
press the Sleep Button

9 on the remote. Each

press of the button will increase the time before
shut down in the following sequence:

The sleep time will be displayed in the Main
Information Display 

˜ and it will count

down until the time has elapsed.

When the programmed sleep time has elapsed,
the unit will automatically turn off (to Standby
mode). Note that the front panel display will dim
to one half brightness when the Sleep function is
programmed. To cancel the Sleep function, press
and hold the Sleep Button 

9 until the infor-

mation display returns to normal brightness and
the Sleep indicator numbers disappear and the
words S L E E P O F F appear in the Main
Information Display

˜.

• To select a source, press any of the Source
Selector buttons on the remote 

46.

NOTE: After pressing one of the Input Selector
buttons

4 to turn the unit on, press the 

5 to have the remote control the

AVR functions.

• The input source may also be changed by
pressing the front-panel Input Source Selector
button 

%. Each press of the button will move

the input selection through the list of available
inputs.

• As the input is changed, the AVR will auto-
matically switch to the digital input (if selected),
surround mode and speaker configuration that
were entered during the configuration process
for that source.

• The front-panel Video 4 Inputs

Ô, Optical

* or the Coaxial Digital 3

Ó may be used to connect a device such

as a video game or camcorder to your home
entertainment system on a temporary basis.

• As the input source is changed, the new input
name will appear momentarily as an on-screen
display in the lower third of the video display.
The input name will also appear in the Main
Information Display

˜ and a blue LED will

light next to the selected input’s name in the
front-panel Input Indicators

ˆ.

• When a pure audio input (CD, Tuner, Tape,
6/8 Channel Input) is selected, the last video
input used remains routed to the Video Out-
puts

 (except from its own Video 1/2

source) and Video Monitor Output

. This

permits simultaneous viewing and listening to
different sources.

• When a Video source is selected, its audio
signal will be fed to the speakers and the video
signal for that input will be routed to the appro-
priate Monitor Output Jack

 and will be view-

able on a TV monitor connected to the AVR. If a
component video source is connected to the DVD
 or Video 2  Component Inputs, it will be
routed to the Component Video Outputs

.

Make certain that your TV is set to the proper input
to view the appropriate video signal (composite,
S-Video or component video, see Notes for S-
Video on page 13).

• There are two input choices available for use
with sources such as a DVD-Audio or SACD play-
er that are connected to the 8-Channel Direct
Inputs

. Select the appropriate input accord-

ing to the way your system and source equip-
ment is configured:

• The 

6 C H DIRECT

input should be used

when the SBR and SBL inputs are NOT in use and
the input source device has its own internal bass
management system. This input passes the input
from the source directly through to the volume
control without any analog to digital conversion
and it mutes the unused input jacks to prevent
unwanted noise from interfering with system per-
formance.

• The 

8 C H DIRECT INPUT

should be

used when an input is connected to all eight 
8-Channel Direct Inputs

 and when the

input source device has its own internal bass
management system. This input passes the input
from the source directly through to the volume
control without any analog to digital conversion
and it mutes the unused input jacks to prevent
unwanted noise from interfering with system
performance.

Note that when the 6-Channel or 8-Channel
Direct Input is in use, you may not select a sur-
round mode, as the external decoder determines
the processing in use. In addition, there is no
signal at the record outputs or bass management
when the 6-Channel or 8-Channel Direct Input is
in use and the tone or balance controls will not
function.

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OFF

28 OPERATION

• Adjust the volume to a comfortable level using
the front panel Volume Control

ı or remote

) buttons.

• To temporarily silence all speaker outputs press
the Mute button 

(. This will interrupt the out-

put 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 Infor-

˜. Press the Mute

button 

( again to return to normal operation.

• During a listening session you may wish to
adjust the Bass Control 

 and Treble

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 so that the output
is “flat,” with the tone and balance controls 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 con-
dition, 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 headphone
plug is removed, the audio feed to the speakers
will be restored.

One of the most important features of the 
AVR 230 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.

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
programs, with a stereophonic left and right rear
signal, 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 25).

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 29).

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,

, Logic 7 O, Stereo  or

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 Main Information Display

˜ 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

A repeatedly to

scroll through the list of available modes.

As the surround modes change, a blue 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 will automatically select and switch to the
correct mode (Dolby Digital or DTS), regardless of
the mode that has been previously selected. For
more information on selecting digital sources, see
the following section of this manual.

When the 6-Channel/8-Channel direct inputs are
in use there is no surround processing, as these
inputs take the analog output signals from an
optional, external DVD-Audio or SACD player, or
another source device and carry them straight
through to the volume control.