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OPERATION  29

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

This mode turns off all surround processing and presents the pure left- and right- 

No surround channels

OFF (STEREO)

channel presentation of two-channel stereo programs.

30 OPERATION

Once you have completed the setup and configu-
ration of the AVR 4550, 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 4550 On or Off
• When using the AVR 4550 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 AVR
Selector

5∫. Note that the Power

Indicator 3 will turn green. 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

Indicator 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 4550 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 Lower
Display Line B 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 4550 will
automatically switch to the digital input (if
selected), surround mode and speaker configura-
tion that were entered during the configuration
process for that source.

• The front-panel Video 4 Inputs Ô, Optical
Digital 3 Input * or the Coaxial Digital 3
Input 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 green 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 4550.
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 16).

• 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

OPERATION  31

• Adjust the volume to a comfortable level using
the front panel Volume Control ı or remote
Volume Up/Down 

)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

Information Display ˜. Press the Mute
button 

, ˚ again to return to normal

operation.

• During a listening session you may wish to
adjust the Bass Control  and Treble
Control 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 4550 so that the
output is “flat,” with the tone and balance con-
trols 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 condition, 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 4550 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 4550.

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 28).

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 33).

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 Lower Display Line B 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 green 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 4550 will automatically select and switch to
the correct mode (Dolby Digital or DTS), regard-
less 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.

32 OPERATION

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 S U R R 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 4550 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 4550.

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 4550, 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 4550, 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 4550 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
Lower Display Line B, 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.

MP3 Audio Playback
The AVR 4550 is one of the few A/V receivers to
provide on-board decoding for the MP3 audio
format used on specific computer audio files and
by portable MP3 players/recorders. In addition,
some new CD and DVD players are capable of
playing back optical discs that are recorded with
MP3, rather than standard CD audio information.
By offering MP3 decoding, the AVR 4550 is able
to deliver more precise conversion of the digital
signals to an analog output, along with the 
benefits of listening to MP3 audio through the
AVR 4550’s high current amplifier and the 
speakers from your surround system, rather than
the smaller speakers and low powered amplifiers
typically used with computers.

To take advantage of the AVR 4550’s MP3 capa-
bilities, simply connect the digital (SPDIF) output
of a computer sound card able to feed the MP3
format to its digital output, or the digital (SPDIF)
output of MP3 compatible CD or DVD players or
of a portable MP3 player with a digital output to
either the rear panel Digital Inputs

!$ or

the front panel Digital Inputs *Ó.

NOTES:
• The AVR 4550 is only capable of playing sig-
nals in the MP3 (MPEG 1/Layer 3) format. It is
not compatible with other computer audio
codecs.

• The MP 3 DSP mode found in the new 
AVR 4550 requires an MP3 SPDIF stream.
Presently, only a few units provide this but in the
coming generations of motherboards and 
operating system updates this will follow, since
SPDIF is the standard for audio & video 
hardware.

• The digital audio input signal may be either
optical or coaxial, but the signal must be in the
MP3 SPDIF format. Direct connection of USB or
serial data outputs is not possible, even though
the signals are in the MP3 format. If you have
any questions about the data output format from
your computer or a sound card, check with the
device’s Owner’s Manual or contact the 
manufacturer’s technical support area.

• If your computer or sound card’s digital output
is not capable of direct connection to the AVR or
if the output is not capable of delivering MP3
data stream, you may use an optional, external
transcoder, such as those available from Harman
Kardon to convert the USB output of a computer
to a format compatible with the AVR. Contact
your Harman Kardon dealer for additional details.