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INSTALLATION AND CONNECTIONS 17

No matter which type or brand of speakers is
used, the same model or brand of speaker
should be used at least for the front-left, center
and front-right speakers. This creates a seamless
front soundstage and eliminates the possibility
of distracting sonic disturbances that occur when
a sound moves across mismatched front-channel
speakers.

The placement of speakers in a multichannel
home-theater system can have a noticeable
impact on the quality of sound reproduced.

Depending on the type of center-channel
speaker in use and your viewing device, place
the center speaker either directly above or below
your TV, or in the center behind a perforated
front-projection screen.

Once the center-channel speaker is installed,
position the left-front and right-front speakers so
that they are as far away from one another as
the center-channel speaker is from the preferred
listening position. Ideally, the front-channel
speakers should be placed so that their tweeters
are no more than 60cm above or below the
tweeter in the center-channel speaker.

They should also be at least 0.5 meter from your
TV set unless the speakers are magnetically
shielded to avoid colourings on the TV screen.
Note that most speakers are not shielded, even
with complete surround sets only the Center
speaker may be.

Depending on the specifics of your room
acoustics and the type of speakers in use, you
may find that imaging is improved by moving the
front-left and front-right speakers slightly
forward of the center-channel speaker. If
possible, adjust all front loudspeakers so that
they are aimed at ear height when you are
seated in the listening position.

Using these guidelines, you’ll find that it takes
some experimentation to find the correct
location for the front speakers in your particular
installation. Don’t be afraid to move things
around until the system sounds correct. Optimize
your speakers so that audio transitions across
the front of the room sound smooth.

Surround speakers should be placed on the side
walls of the room, at or slightly behind the
listening position. The center of the speaker
should face you.

If side-wall mounting is not practical, the
speakers may be placed on a rear wall, behind
the listening position. The speakers should be no
more than two meters behind the rear of the
seating area.

Subwoofers produce largely nondirectional
sound, so they may be placed almost anywhere
in a room. Actual placement should be based on
room size and shape and the type of subwoofer
used. One method of finding the optimal
location for a subwoofer is to begin by placing it
in the front of the room, about 15cm from a
wall, or near the front corner of the room.
Another method is to temporarily place the
subwoofer in the spot where you will normally
sit, and then walk around the room until you
find a spot where the subwoofer sounds best.
Place the subwoofer in that spot. You should
also follow the instructions of the subwoofer’s
manufacturer, or you may wish to experiment
with the best location for a subwoofer in your
listening room.

Right Front
Speaker

Left Front

Speaker

No more than 

         60cm

Center Front Speaker

Center Front

Speaker

Optional Rear-Wall Mounting

TV or Projection Screen

Right Front

Speaker

Left Front

Speaker

No more than 2m

when rear-mounted

speakers are used

18 SYSTEM CONFIGURATION

Once the speakers have been placed in the
room and connected, the remaining steps are to
program the system configuration memories.
With the AVR 3500 two kind of memories are
used, those associated individually with the
input selected, e.g. surround modes, and others
working independently from any input selected
like speaker output levels, or delay times used
by the surround sound processor.

You are now ready to power up the AVR 3500 to
begin these final adjustments.

1. Plug the Power Cable

H into an un-

switched AC outlet.

2. Press the Main Power Switch 1 in until it
latches and the word “OFF” on the top of the
switch disappears inside the front panel. Note
that the Power Indicator 3 will turn orange,
indicating that the unit is in the Standby mode.

3. Install the three supplied AAA batteries in the
remote as shown. Be certain to follow the (+)
and (–) polarity indicators that are on the bot-
tom of the battery compartment.

4. Turn the AVR 3500 on either by pressing the
System Power Control 2 or the Input
Source Selector ! on the front panel, or via
the remote by pressing the AVR Selector

5

or any of the Input Selectors

46 on the

remote. The Power Indicator 3 will turn green
to confirm that the unit is on, and the Main
Information Display Ú will also light up.

Using the On-Screen Display
When making the following adjustments, you
may find them easier to make via the unit’s on-
screen display system. These easy-to-read dis-
plays give you a clear picture of the current sta-
tus of the unit and facilitate speaker, delay, input
or digital selection you are making.

To view the on-screen displays, make certain you
have made a connection from the Video
Monitor Out jack 

C on the rear panel to the

composite or S-Video input of your TV or projec-
tor. In order to view the AVR’s displays, the cor-
rect video input must be selected on your video
display.

IMPORTANT NOTE: When viewing the displays
on a projection TV it is important that they not be
left on the screen for an extended period of time.
As with any video display, but particularly with
projectors, constant display of a static image such

as these menus or video game images may cause
the image to be permanently “burned into” the
CRT. This type of damage is not covered by the
AVR 3500 warranty and may not be covered by
the projector TV set’s warranty.

The AVR 3500 has two on-screen display modes,
“Semi-OSD” and “Full-OSD.” When making con-
figuration adjustments, it is recommended that
the Full-OSD mode be used. This will place a
complete status report or option listing on the
screen, making it easier to view the available
options and make the settings on the screen. The
Semi-OSD mode uses one-line displays only.

Note that when the full OSD system is in use,
the menu selections are not shown in the
Information Display ÚN. When the full
OSD menu system is used, O SD O N will
appear in the Main Information Display N
and the OSD Indicator M will illuminate to
remind you that a video display must be used.

When the semi-OSD system is used in conjunc-
tion with the discrete configuration buttons, the
on screen display will show a single line of text
with the current menu selection. That selection
will also be shown in the Main Information
Display N.

Selecting the On-Screen display
The full OSD system is always available by press-
ing the OSD button 

L. When this button is

pressed the MASTER MENU (Figure 1)
will appear, and adjustments are made from the
individual menus. Note that the menus will
remain on the screen for 20 seconds after the
latest action was made on the screen menu,
then they will “time-out” and disappear from
the screen. The time-out may be increased to as
much as 50 seconds by going to the
ADVANCED SELECT

menu, and

changing the item titled F U L L O S D
T I M E O U T

(see page 35).

The semi-OSD system is also available as a sys-
tem default, although it may be turned off by
using the ADVANCED SELECT menu.
(See page 35). With the semi-OSD system, you
may make adjustments directly, by pressing the
buttons on the front panel or remote control for
the specific parameter to be adjusted as outlined
in the following. Note that these direct adjust-
ments can be made only when the full OSD sys-
tem is turned off.

The AVR 3500 features an advanced memory
system that enables you to establish different
settings for the speaker configuration, digital
input and surround mode for each input source.
This flexibility enables you to custom tailor the
way in which you listen to each source and have
the AVR 3500 memorize them. This means, for
example, that you may associate different sur-
round modes and analog or digital inputs with
different sources, or set different speaker config-
urations with the resultant changes to the bass
management system. Once these settings are
made, they will automatically be recalled when-
ever you select an input.

The default settings for the AVR 3500, as it is
shipped from the factory, have all inputs set for
an analog source, with stereo as the surround
mode, the front left and right speakers set to
“large” (with surround modes other speakers to
”small”), and a subwoofer connected. Before
using the unit, you will probably want to change
these settings for most inputs so that they are
properly configured to reflect the use of digital
or analog inputs, the type of speakers installed
and the surround mode associated with the
input. Remember, since the AVR 3500’s memory
system keeps the settings for each input sepa-
rate from the other inputs, you will need to make
these adjustments for each input used. However,
once they are made, further adjustment is only
required when system components are changed.

To make this process as quick and as easy as
possible, we suggest that you use the full-OSD
system with the on-screen menus, and step
through each input. Once you have completed
the settings for the first input, many settings
may be duplicated for the remaining inputs. It is
also a good idea to set the configuration data in
the order these items are listed in the Main
Audio Setup Menu, as some settings require a
specific entry in a prior menu item.

The items that follow will describe the individual
settings required for each input. Remember that
once the settings are made for one input, they
are effective for that input only. Settings must be
made separately for each other input in use.

    *   M A S T E R   M E N U   *

I N P U T   S E T U P

S U R R O U N D   S E T U P

S P E A K E R   S E T U P

O U T P U T   A D J U S T

C H A N N E L   A D J U S T

A D V A N C E D

E X I T

SYSTEM CONFIGURATION 19

Input Setup
The first step in configuring the AVR 3500 is to
select an input. This may be done by pressing
the front panel Input Source Selector !
until the desired input’s name appears momen-
tarily in the Main Information Display N,
and the green LED lights next to the input’s
name in the front panel Input Indicators Ô.
The input may also be selected by pressing the
appropriate Input Selector on the remote control
46%.

When using the full-OSD system to make the
setup adjustments, press the OSD button 

L

once so that the MASTER MENU (Figure
1) appears. Note that the 

›

cursor will be next

to the INPUT SETUP line. Press the Set
button 

F to enter the menu and the

INPUT S E T U P

menu (Figure 2) will

appear on the screen. Press the 

‹

/

›

buttons

E until the desired input name appears in
the highlighted video, as well as being indicated
in the front panel Input Indicators Ô by the
green LED next to the desired input name. If the
input will use the standard left/right analog
inputs, no further adjustment is needed.

If you wish to associate one of the digital inputs
with the selected input source, press the 

¤

but-

ton 

D on the remote while the INPUT

S E T U P

menu (Figure 2) is on the screen, and

note that the on-screen cursor will drop down to
the DIGITAL I N line. Press the 

‹

/

›

but-

tons 

E until the name of the desired digi-

tal input name appears. To return to the
A N A L O G

input, press the buttons until the

word ANALOG appears. When the correct
input appears, press the 

¤

button 

D until the

›

cursor appears next to RETURN T O

M E N U

, and press the Set button 

F.

To change the digital input associated with the
input selected at any time using the discrete
function buttons and the semi-OSD system,
press the Digital Input Select button Ò

G

on the front panel or the remote. Within five sec-
onds, make your input selection using the
Selector buttons on the front panel 5 or the

⁄

/

¤

buttons 

D on the remote until the

desired digital or analog input is shown in the
Main Information Display N and in the
lower third of the video display connected to the
AVR 3500. Then press the Set button 

F to

enter the new digital input assignment.

Speaker Setup
This menu tells the AVR 3500 which type of
speakers are in use. This is important as it
adjusts the settings that determine which
speakers receive low frequency (bass) informa-
tion. For each of these settings use the
L A R G E

setting if the speakers for a

particular position are traditional full-range
loudspeakers that are capable of reproducing
sounds below 100Hz. Use the S M A L L set-
ting for smaller, frequency-limited satellite
speakers that do not reproduce sounds below
100Hz. Note that when “small” front (left and
right) speakers are used, a subwoofer is
required to reproduce low frequency sounds. If
you are in doubt as to which category describes
your speakers, consult the specifications in the
speakers’ owner’s manual, or ask your dealer.
Remember that the speaker setup must be
made individually for each input in use.

It is best to select the Dolby Pro Logic II mode
for making the speaker setup. For that press the
Surround Mode Selector 7 on the front
panel until any Pro Logic II mode is indicated in
the display or press the Surround Mode
Selector

A and select any Pro Logic II mode

with the 

⁄

/

¤

D. Note

that with the currently selected input all speaker
settings will be copied to other surround modes
too (as far as possible) and need not be repeat-
ed with any other mode (but with each input
used).

1. It is easiest to enter the proper settings for
the speaker setup through the SPEAKER
S E T U P

menu (Figure 3). If that menu is not

alredy on your screen from the prior adjust-
ments, press the OSD button 

L to bring up

the MASTER MENU (Figure 1), and then
press the 

¤

button 

D twice so that the cursor

is on the SPEAKER SETUP line. At this
point, press the Set button 

F to bring up the

S P E A K E R S E T U P

menu (Figure 3).

Figure 3

2. When the SPEAKER SETUP menu
appears, the on-screen cursor 

›

will be at the top

of the list of speaker positions, pointing toward
the LEFT/RIGHT line, which sets the con-
figuration for the front left and right speakers. If
you wish to make a change to the front speakers
configuration, press the 

‹

/

›

buttons 

E so

that either LARGE or SMALL appears,

matching the appropriate description from the
definitions shown above.

When SMALL is selected, low frequency front
channel sounds will be sent only to the subwoofer
output. Note that if you choose this option and
there is no subwoofer connected, you will not
hear any low frequency sounds from the front
channels. This setting is not available with stereo
mode to ensure purest sound by bypassing the
crossovers of the DSP´s.

When LARGE is selected, a full-range output
will be sent to the front left and front right out-
puts. Depending on the choice made in the
SUBWOOFER

line in this menu (see below),

the front left and right bass information may also
be directed to a subwoofer.

Important Note: When a speaker set with two
front satellites and a passive subwoofer is used,
connected to the front speaker outputs

D,

the fronts must be set for LARGE.

3. When you have completed your selection for
the front channel, press the 

¤

button 

D on the

remote to move the cursor to CENTER.

4. Press the 

‹

/

›

buttons 

E on the remote

to select the option that best describes your
Center speaker based on the speaker definitions
shown on this page.

When SMALL is selected, low frequency cen-
ter channel sounds will be sent to the Fronts, if
they are set for LARGE and Sub is turned off.
When Sub is on, low frequency center channel
sounds will be sent to the subwoofer only.

When LARGE is selected, a full-range output
will be sent to the center speaker output, and
with analog and digital surround modes (except
with the Pro Logic II Music mode) NO center
channel signal will be sent to the subwoofer out-
put.

When NONE is selected, no signal will be sent
to the center channel output. The receiver will
operate in a “phantom” center channel mode
and center channel information will be sent to
the left and right front channel outputs and its
bass will be sent to the subwoofer output too as
long as S UB L/R+LFE is selected in the
SUBWOOFER

line in this menu (see below).

This mode is needed if no Center speaker is
used. Note that for the use of Logic 7C surround
mode a Center speaker is needed, but Logic 7M
works well without a Center too.

5. When you have completed your selection for
the center channel, press the 

¤

button 

D on

the remote to change the cursor to 
SURROUND

.

6. Press the 

‹

/

›

buttons 

E on the remote

to select the option that best describes the sur-
round speakers in your system based on the
speaker definitions shown on this page.

*   S P E A K E R   S E T U P   *

L E F T / R I G H T :  

S M A L L

           

C E N T E R         :  

S M A L L

S U R R O U N D     :  

S M A L L

S U B W O O F E R   :  

S U B

R E T U R N   T O   M E N U

    *   I N P U T   S E T U P   *    

I N P U T           :

V I D E O   1

D I G I T A L   I N :

A N A L O G

R E T U R N   T O   M E N U

20 SYSTEM CONFIGURATION

When SMALL is selected, with all digital sur-
round modes low frequency surround channel
sounds will be sent to the Fronts, when Sub is
turned off, or to the subwoofer output when Sub
is on. With the analog surround modes the rear
bass feed depends on the mode selected and the
setting of the sub and front speakers.

When LARGE is selected, a full-range output
will be sent to the surround channel outputs
(with all analog and digital surround modes),
and, except with Hall and Theater modes, NO
surround channel bass will be sent to the sub-
woofer output.

When NONE is selected, surround sound infor-
mation will be split between the front-left and
front-right outputs. Note that for optimal per-
formance when no surround speakers are in use,
the Dolby 3 Stereo mode should be used instead
of Dolby Pro Logic II.

7. When you have completed your selection for
the surround channel, press the 

¤

button 

D on

the remote to move the cursor to SUBWOOFER.

8. Press the 

‹

/

›

buttons 

E on the remote

to select the option that best describes your sys-
tem.

The choices available for the subwoofer position
will depend on the settings for the other speak-
ers, particularly the front left/right positions.

If the front left/right speakers are set to
S M A L L

, the subwoofer will automatically be

set to S U B, which is the “on” position.

If the front left/right speakers are set to
L A R G E

, three options are available:

• If no subwoofer is connected to the AVR 3500,
press the 

‹

/

›

buttons 

E on the remote so

that N O N E appears in the on-screen menu.
When this option is selected, all bass information
will be routed to the front left/right “main”
speakers.

• If a subwoofer is connected to the AVR 3500,
you have the option to have the front left/right
“main” speakers reproduce bass frequencies at
all times, and have the subwoofer operate only
when the AVR 3500 is being used with a digital
source that contains a dedicated Low Frequency
Effects, or LFE soundtrack. This allows you to use
both your main and subwoofer speakers to take
advantage of the special bass created for certain
movies. To select that option press 

‹

/

›

buttons

E on the remote so that SUB (LFE)
appears in the on-screen menu.

• If a subwoofer is connected and you wish to
use it for bass reproduction in conjunction with
the main front left/right speakers, regardless of
the type of program source or surround mode
you are listening to, press the 

‹

/

›

buttons

E on the remote so that SUB
L/R+LFE

appears in the on-screen menu.

When this option is selected, a “complete” feed
will be sent to the front left/right “main” speak-
ers, and the subwoofer will receive the front left
and right bass frequencies under the crossover
frequency of 80 Hz, additionally to the LFE
soundtrack (see above).

9. When all speaker selections have been made,
press the 

¤

button 

D and then the Set button

F to return to main menu.

10. The Speaker Configuration may also be
changed at any time without using the full-OSD
on-screen menu system by pressing the Speaker
Select button on the front panel Ù or remote
 . Once the button is pressed, FNT SPKR
will appear in both the lower third of the video
display and the Main Information Display N.

Within five seconds, either press the front panel

‹

/

›

Selector buttons 5 or the 

⁄

/

¤

buttons

D on the remote to select a different speaker
position, or press the Set Button Ó

F to

begin the adjustment process for the front left
and right speakers

When the Set button Ó

F has been pressed

and the system is ready for a change to the front
speaker setting, the on-screen display and Main
Information Display N will read F-LARGE
or F-SMALL depending on the current set-
ting. Press the front panel 

‹

/

›

Selector Buttons

5 or the 

⁄

/

¤

buttons 

D on the remote

until the desired setting is shown, using the
instructions for “large” or “small” shown earlier,
then press the Set button Ó

F.

If another speaker position needs to be changed,
press the front panel 

‹

/

›

Selector buttons 5

or the 

⁄

/

¤

buttons 

D on the remote to

select a different speaker position, press the Set
button Ó

F and then press the front panel

‹

/

›

Selector buttons 5 or the 

⁄

/

¤

buttons

D on the remote until the correct speaker set-
ting is shown and press the Set button Ó

F

again to confirm the selection.

To assist in making these settings, the icons in
the Speaker/Channel Input Indicators Q
will change as the speaker type is selected at
each position. When only the inner icon box is lit,
the speaker is set for “small.” When the inner box
and the two outer boxes with circles inside them
are lit, the speaker is set for “large." When no
indicator appears at a speaker location, that
position is set for “none” or “no” speaker.

Note: These icons are not visible when making
setup changes through the full OSD speaker
setup menu.

As an example, in Figure 4 below, the left front
and right front speakers are set for “large,” the
center, left surround and right surround speakers
are set for small, and a subwoofer is set.

Surround Setup
Once the speaker setup has been completed, the
next step for that input is to set the surround
mode you wish to use with that input. Since sur-
round modes are a matter of personal taste, feel
free to select any mode you wish – you may
change it later. The Surround Mode chart on page
26 may help you select the mode best suited to
the input source selected. However, to make it
easier to establish the initial parameters for the
AVR 3500, it is best to select Dolby Pro Logic II
for most analog inputs and Dolby Digital for
inputs connected to digital sources. In the case of
inputs such as a CD Player, Tape Deck or Tuner,
you may wish to set the mode to Stereo, if that is
your preferred listening mode for standard stereo
sources, where it is unlikely that surround encod-
ed material will be used. Alternatively, the 5
Channel Stereo or Logic 7 Music mode may also
be a good choice for stereo-only source material.

It is easiest to complete the surround setup using
the full-OSD on-screen menus. From the main
MASTER MENU

menu (Figure 1), press

the 

⁄

/

¤

button 

D until the 

›

cursor is next to

the SURROUND SETUP menu. Press
the Set button 

F so that the SURROUND

SETUP

menu (Figure 5 or 6) is on the screen.

Since the factory default for all inputs is Stereo,
the words S U R R O F F will initially appear in
highlighted video (Figure 5) unless another sur-
round mode choice was made with the input just

*   S U R R O U N D   S E T U P   *

S U R R O U N D :  

D O L B Y  

                   

D I G I T A L

C E N T E R   D E L A Y :     0 M S

S U R R       D E L A Y :   0 0 M S

N I G H T :  

O F F

  M I D   M A X

R E T U R N   T O   M E N U

*   S U R R O U N D   S E T U P   *

S U R R O U N D :  

S U R R   O F F

C E N T E R   D E L A Y :   # # M S

S U R R       D E L A Y :   # # M S

N I G H T :   # # #

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