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OPERATION  29

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∫ç∂ 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
3å 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

ç∂.

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 14).

• 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.

90

min

80

min

70

min

60

min

50

min

40

min

30

min

20

min

10

min

OFF

30 OPERATION

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

ı or remote

)î buttons.

• 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

˜. 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 330 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 27).

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 31).

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.

OPERATION 31

To listen to a program in traditional two-channel
stereo, using the front left and front right 
speakers only (plus the subwoofer, if installed and
configured), press the Stereo Button 

5

until SURR O F F appears in the Main
Information Display 

˜.

Digital audio is a major advancement over older
analog surround processing systems such as
Dolby Pro Logic. It delivers five or six discrete
channels: left front, center, right front, left
surround and right surround and with DTS ES
(see below) even surround back (with identical
signals for left and right). Each channel repro-
duces full frequency range (20Hz to 20kHz) and
offers dramatically improved dynamic range and
significant improvements to signal-to-noise
ratios. In addition, digital systems have the
capability to deliver an additional channel that is
specifically devoted to low-frequency infor-
mation. This is the “.1” channel referred to when
you see these systems described as “5.1,” “6.1”
or “7.1”. The bass channel is separate from the
other channels, but since it is intentionally
bandwidth-limited, sound designers have given it
that unique designation.

Dolby Digital 
Dolby Digital (originally known as AC-3

®

) is 

a standard part of DVD, and is available on 
specially encoded LD discs and satellite
broadcasts and it is a part of the new high-
definition television (HDTV) system.

Note that an optional, external RF demodulator
is required to use the AVR to listen to the Dolby
Digital sound tracks available on laser discs.
Connect the RF output of the LD player to the
demodulator and then connect the digital output
of the demodulator to the Optical or Coaxial
inputs 

 !*Ó of the AVR.

No demodulator is required for use with DVD
players or DTS-encoded laser discs.

DTS
DTS is another digital audio system that is capa-
ble of delivering 5.1, 6.1 or 7.1 audio. Although
both DTS and Dolby Digital are digital, they use
different methods of encoding the signals, and
thus they require different decoding circuits to
convert the digital signals back to analog.

DTS-encoded sound tracks are available on select
DVD and LD discs, as well as on special audio-
only DTS CDs. You may use any LD, DVD or CD
player equipped with a digital output to play
DTS-encoded special audio-only CDs with the
AVR, but DTS-LDs can be played on LD players
and DTS-DVDs on DVD players only. All that is
required is to connect the player’s digital output
to either the Optical or Coaxial input on the
rear panel 

 ! or front panel *Ó.

In order to listen to DVDs encoded with DTS
sound tracks, the DVD player must be compatible
with the DTS signal as indicated by a DTS logo
on the player’s front panel. Note that early DVD
players may not be able to play DTS- encoded
DVDs. This does not indicate a problem with the
AVR, as some players cannot pass the DTS signal
through to the digital outputs. If you are in doubt
as to the capability of your DVD player to handle
DTS DVDs, consult the player’s owner’s manual.

Please note that some DVD players are shipped
with their output set for Dolby Digital only. To
insure that DTS data is being sent to the AVR,
please check the setup menu system on your
DVD player to make certain that DTS data output
is enabled.

PCM Audio Playback
PCM (Pulse Code Modulation) is the non- com-
pressed digital audio system used for compact
discs, Non-Dolby Digital/DTS Laserdiscs and some
special PCM encoded DVDs. The digital circuits in
the AVR are capable of high quality digital-to-
analog decoding, and they may be connected
directly to the digital audio output of your
CD/DVD or LD player (LD only for PCM or DTS
programs, for Dolby Digital laser discs an RF
adapter is needed, see ”Dolby Digital” above).

Connections may be made to either the Optical
or Coaxial inputs 

 ! on the rear panel or the

front panel Digital Inputs

*Ó.

To listen to a PCM digital source, first select the
input for the desired source (e.g., CD) to feed its
video signal (if any) to the TV monitor and to
provide its analog audio signal for recording.
Next press the Digital Select button 

Û

G

and then use the 

⁄

¤

buttons 

D on the

remote, or the Selector buttons

7 on the front

panel, until the desired choice appears in the
Main Information Display 

˜, then press the

Set button 

@

F to confirm the choice.

During PCM playback the unit automatically will
turn to the default surround mode or to the

LOGIC 7

mode but you also may select any

surround mode except Dolby Digital or DTS.

Selecting a Digital Source
To utilize either digital mode you must have 
properly connected a digital source to the 
AVR. Connect the digital outputs from DVD play-
ers, HDTV receivers, satellite systems or CD play-
ers to the Optical or Coaxial inputs on the rear
or front panel 

 !*Ó. In order to provide a

backup signal and a source for analog stereo
recording, the analog outputs provided on digital
source equipment should also be connected to
their appropriate inputs on the AVR rear panel
(e.g., connect the analog stereo audio output
from a DVD to the DVD Audio inputs

 on

the rear panel when you connect the source’s
digital outputs).

To select a digital source such as DVD, first select
its input using the remote or front panel Input
Selector

4% as outlined in this manual in

order to feed its video signal (if any) to the TV
monitor and to provide its analog audio signal
for recording. When the digital input associated
with the input selected (e.g. “DVD”) is not
selected automatically (due to the input settings
made earlier during the system configuration, see
page 18), select the digital source by pressing
the Digital Input Selector button 

G Û and

then using the 

⁄

/

¤

buttons 

D on the remote

or the Selector buttons

7 on the front panel to

choose any of the 

OPTICAL

or 

COAXIAL

inputs, as they appear in the Main Information
Display 

˜ or on-screen display.

When the digital source is playing, the AVR will
automatically detect whether it is a multichannel
Dolby Digital or DTS source or a conventional
PCM signal, which is the standard output from
CD players.

Note that a digital input (e.g. coaxial) remains
associated with any analog input (e.g. DVD) as
soon as it is selected, thus the digital input need
not be re-selected each time the appropriate
input choice (e.g. DVD) is made.

32 OPERATION

Digital Bitstream Indicators
When a digital source is playing, the AVR senses
the type of bitstream data that is present. Using
this information, the correct surround mode will
automatically be selected. For example, DTS bit-
streams will cause the unit to switch to DTS
decoding, and Dolby Digital bitstreams will enable
Dolby Digital decoding. When the unit senses
PCM data, from CDs and LDs and some music
DVDs or certain tracks on normal DVDs, it will
allow the appropriate surround mode to be select-
ed manually. Since the range of available surround
modes depends on the type of digital data that is
present, the AVR uses a variety of indicators to let
you know what type of signal is present. This will
help you to understand the choice of modes and
the input channels recorded on the disc.

When a digital source is playing, the AVR will
display a variety of messages to indicate the type
of bitstream received. These messages will appear
shortly after an input or surround mode is
changed, and will remain in the Main
Information Display 

˜ for about five seconds

before the display returns to the normal surround
mode indication.

For Dolby Digital and DTS sources, a three digit
indication will appear, showing the number of
channels present in the data. An example of this
type of display is 3/2/.1.

The first number indicates how many discrete
front channel signals are present.

• A 3 tells you that separate front left, center and

front right signals are available. This will be dis-
played for Dolby Digital 5.1 and DTS 5.1 pro-
grams.

• A 2 tells you that separate front left and right

signals are available, but there is no discrete
center channel signal. This will be displayed for
Dolby Digital bit streams that have stereo pro-
gram material.

• A 1 tells you that there is only a mono channel

available in the Dolby Digital bitstream.

The middle number indicates how many discrete
surround channel signals are present.

• A 2 tells you that separate surround left and

right signals are available. This will be displayed
for Dolby Digital 5.1 and DTS 5.1 programs.

• A 1 tells you that there is only a single, sur-

round encoded surround channel. This will
appear for Dolby Digital bit streams that have
matrix encoding.

• A 0 indicates that there is no surround channel

information. This will be displayed for two-
channel stereo programs.

The last number indicates if there is a discrete

Low Frequency Effects (LFE) channel. This is the
“.1” in the common abbreviation of “5.1” sound
and it is a special channel that contains only bass
frequencies.

• A .1 tells you that an LFE channel is present.

This will be displayed for Dolby Digital 5.1 and
DTS 5.1 programs, as available.

• A 0 indicates that there is no LFE channel infor-

mation available. However, even when there is
no dedicated LFE channel, low frequency sound
will be present at the subwoofer output when
the speaker configuration is set to show the
presence of subwoofer.

When Dolby Digital 3/2/.1 or DTS 3/2/.1 signals
are being played, the AVR will automatically
switch to the proper surround mode, and no
other processing may be selected. When a Dolby
Digital signal with a 3/1/0 or 2/0/0 signal is
detected you may select any of the Dolby sur-
round modes.

It is always a good idea to check the readout for
the channel data to make certain that it matches
the audio logo information shown on the back of
a DVD package. In some cases you will see indi-
cation for “2/0/0” even when the disc contains a
full 5.1, or 3/2/.1 signal. When this happens,
check the audio output settings for your DVD
player or the audio menu selections for the spe-
cific disc being played to make certain that the
player is sending the correct signal to the AVR.

PCM Playback Indications
PCM is the abbreviation for Pulse Code
Modulation, which is the type of digital signal
used for standard CD playback, and other non-
Dolby Digital and non-DTS digital sources such as
Mini-Disc. When a PCM signal is detected, the
Main Information Display

˜ will briefly

show a message with the letters PCM, in addition
to a readout of the sampling frequency of the
digital signal.

In most cases this will be 

4 8 KHZ

, though in

the case of specially mastered, high-resolution
audio discs you will see a 

9 6 KHZ

indication.

The 

PCM 4 8 KHZ

indication will also appear

when modes or inputs are changed for analog
sources. In those cases the system is telling you
the sampling frequency used internally at the
output of the analog-to-digital converters that
change the incoming signal from a VCR, tape
deck, the tuner, or other ana-log source to digital.

Speaker/Channel Indicators
In addition to the Bitstream Indicators, the 
AVR features a set of unique channel-input
indicators that tell you how many channels of
digital information are being received and/or
whether the digital signal is interrupted.
(See Figure 9).

These indicators are the L/C/R/LFE/SL/SR/SBL/SBR
letters that are inside the center boxes of the
Speaker/Channel Input Indicators 

$ in the

front panel Main Information Display

˜.

When a standard analog stereo or matrix 
surround signal is in use, only the “L” and “R”
indicators will light, as analog signals have only
left and right channels.

Digital signals, however, may have one, two, five,
six or seven separate channels, depending on the
program material, the method of transmission
and the way in which it was encoded. When a
digital signal is playing, the letters in these 
indicators will light in response to the specific
signal being received. It is important to note that
although Dolby Digital, for example, is referred to
as a “5.1” system, not all Dolby Digital DVDs or
audio tracks selected on DVD or other Dolby
Digital programs are encoded for 5.1. Thus, it is
sometimes normal for a DVD with a Dolby Digital
soundtrack to trigger only the “L” and “R”
indicators.

NOTE: Many DVD discs are recorded with both
“5.1” and “2.0” versions of the same sound-
track. When playing a DVD, always be certain to
check the type of material on the disc. Most discs
show this information in the form of a listing or
icon on the back of the disc jacket. When a disc
does offer multiple soundtrack choices, you may
have to make some adjustments to your DVD
player (usually with the “Audio Select” button or
in a menu screen on the disc) to send a full 5.1
feed to the AVR or to select the appropriate
audio track and thus language. It is also possible
for the type of signal feed to change during the
course of a DVD playback. In some cases the pre-
views of special material will only be recorded in
2.0 audio, while the main feature is available in
5.1 audio. As long as your DVD player is set for
6-channel output, the AVR will automatically