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AVR 700/AVR 70/AVR 70C

15

Set Up the AVR, continued

consult the technical specifications for your system’s main left and right speakers and 

locate the frequency response, usually given as a range, e.g., 80hz – 20khz (±3db). 

note the lowest frequency that the speakers are capable of playing (80hz in the above 

example). note: this frequency is not the same as the crossover frequency that may 

also be listed in the specifications.
use the remote’s left and right arrow buttons to select the crossover frequency that 

most closely matches the low frequency specification that you noted above. the AVr 

will divide the source signal at this crossover point, will send all information above the 

crossover point to your system’s speakers, and all information below the crossover point 

to the subwoofer. this way, each loudspeaker in your system will perform at its best, 

delivering a more powerful and enjoyable sound experience. record the setting in table 

A2 of the Appendix, on page 21.
7.  press the bAck button and select “Speaker distance.” the Speaker distance menu 

will appear.

8.  measure the distance from each speaker in your system to the listening position. 

record the distances in table A3 of the Appendix, on page 21.

9.  use the remote’s left and right arrow buttons to change the distance setting for each 

speaker so it matches the distance you wrote down in step 8. when you’re finished, 

press the remote control’s bAck button to return to the Speaker Setting menu.

10.  Select “channel level.” the channel level menu will appear. use the remote’s left 

and right arrow buttons to set test tone to “manual” and press the remote’s ok 

button. After the on-screen countdown you will hear test noise through the front left 

speaker.

11.  Sit in the main listening position and adjust the AVr’s volume control so the test noise 

is moderately loud. note the volume of the test noise through the first speaker. press 

the remote’s down arrow button to advance the test noise to each of your system’s 

speakers and note the volume level of the noise in each speaker.

12.  As you advance the test noise through the speakers, use the remote’s left and right 

arrow buttons to adjust the volumes of the channels until all of them play at the 

same volume.

Notes on Setting Speaker Volumes in Home Theater Systems:
while setting your system’s individual speaker volume levels is ultimately up to your 

personal taste, here are some ideas you may find helpful:

•  For  films  and  video-music  programs,  your  overall  goal  should  be  to  create  an 

enveloping, realistic sound field that draws you into the film or music program 

without drawing your attention away from the action on the screen.

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

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

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

(as you would experience in a concert hall).

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

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

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

and will make some sound effects sound unrealistically loud.

•  Sometimes the ideal subwoofer volume setting for music is too loud for films, while 

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

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

volume level that works for both.

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

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

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

lessen its bass output.

13.  when you’re finished, record the settings in table A3 of the Appendix, on page 21, 

then press the remote’s Setup button to turn off the on-screen menus.

you can also adjust the following settings:
HDMI Set: Selecting Arc/cec on will send audio from the tV to the AVr via the hdmI 

Audio return channel (Arc) connection (which is in the hdmI cable connecting the AVr 

to the tV). this way, whenever you’re watching a source that is connected directly to 

your tV (such as an Internet connection), you can listen to the sound through the AVr by 

selecting tV as the AVr source device. Selecting on also allows the communication of 

control information among the hdmI devices in your system (cec).
Audio Settings: Selecting Audio Settings allows you to adjust the following audio 

settings:

•  Night  Mode  works  with  specially  encoded  Dolby

®

 digital discs or broadcasts, 

compressing the audio so that louder passages are reduced in volume to avoid 

disturbing others, while dialogue remains intelligible. press the left/right arrow 

buttons to advance through the following drc (dynamic range control) settings:

off: no compression is applied. loud passages in the program remain as they were 

recorded.
mid: loud passages in the program are reduced moderately in volume.
max: loud passages in the program are reduced more in volume.
Auto: Automatically compresses the audio a specific amount in response to 

instructions encoded in the dolby digital program.

•  PLII Music: Additional adjustments are avalable that allow you to fine-tune the Dolby 

pro logic II music surround mode’s performance for your listening room and personal 

taste:

panorama: with the panorama mode turned on, some of the sound from the front 

speakers is moved to the surround speakers, creating an enveloping “wraparound” 

effect. each press of the left or right arrow buttons toggles the setting on or off.
center width:

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

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

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

adjust this setting.
dimension:

 this setting affects the depth of the surround presentation, allowing you 

to “move” the sound toward the front or rear of the room. the setting of “0” is a 

neutral default. “+” settings  move the sound toward the front of the room, while “–” 

settings move the sound toward the rear. use the left/right arrow buttons to adjust it.
See Audio Processing and Surround Sound, on page 17, for more information about 

dolby pro logic II.

Auto Power Control: this setting allows you to set the AVr to automatically enter the 

Standby mode after a period of inactivity, saving energy. the available settings are off 

(default), 2 hours, 4 hours and 6 hours.
Speaker On/Off: use this setting to turn the speakers off when you are listening through 

headphones.

AVR 700/AVR 70/AVR 70C

16

Operating Your AVR

now that you have installed your components and completed a basic configuration, you 

are ready to begin enjoying your home theater system.

Adjust the volume either by turning the front-panel Volume knob (clockwise to increase 

volume or counterclockwise to decrease volume) or by pressing the Volume up/down 

buttons on the remote. 

to mute all speakers and the headphones, press the mute button on the remote. Any 

recording in progress will not be affected. the mute message will appear in the front-

panel display as a reminder. to restore the sound, press the mute button again, or adjust 

the volume.

plug the 1/4-inch stereo plug on a pair of headphones into the front-panel phones jack for 

private listening. note: for information about turning off the speakers during headphone 

listening, see Additional Setup Menu Items – Speaker On/Off, on page 15.

there are two different ways to select a source:
•  Press the front-panel Source Select buttons. 
•  Directly select any source by pressing its Source Selector button on the remote. 
the AVr selects the analog audio and video inputs assigned to the source and any other 

settings you made during setup.
the digital audio inputs are not assigned to any specific sets of analog inputs. once you 

select a source device you can use the remote control’s Audio Input Select (dIgItAl) 

button to select the specific audio input connection (hdmI, coaxial digital, optical digital, 

analog) that you want to listen to. (note: you cannot select an audio input connection for 

the fm/Am or uSb source buttons.)
the source name, the selected audio input and the surround mode will appear on the 

front panel. 

If there is no picture:
• Check the source selection.
• Check all connections for a loose or incorrect connection.
• Check the video-input selection on the TV/display device.
Additional Tips for Troubleshooting HDMI Connections
•  Turn off all devices (including the TV, the AVR and any source components).
•  Unplug the HDMI cables, starting with the cable between the AVR and the TV, and 

continuing with the cables between the AVr and each source device.

•  Carefully reconnect the cables from the source devices to the AVR. Connect the 

cable from the AVr to the tV last.

• Turn on the devices in this order: TV, AVR, source devices.
NOTE: Depending upon the particular components involved, the complexity of 

Select the Am/fm source. use the tuning up/down buttons to tune a station, which will 

be shown on the front-panel display and the tV screen.

In the fm Stereo mode, the radio uses automatic tuning, meaning each press of the 

tuning up/down buttons scans until a station with acceptable signal strength is found. In 

the fm mono mode, the radio uses manual tuning, in which each press of a tuning button 

steps through a single frequency increment. (using the fm mono mode may improve the 

reception of weaker stations.) 
Preset Stations
A total of 30 stations (Am and fm combined) may be stored as presets. when the desired 

station has been tuned in, press the memory button and the preset number will flash on 

the front-panel message display. use the remote’s number buttons to enter the desired 

preset number.
to tune a preset station, press the preset up/down buttons or enter the preset number 

using the remote’s number buttons.

your AVr is compatible with uSb 2.0 or uSb 1.1 media in the fAt 16 or fAt 32 file format 

and is compatible with the following mp3 and wmA media:

•  MP3:  Bit  rates  between  96  –  320kbps.  Fixed  bit-rates  at  44.1kHz  sampling  is 

recommended. Variable bit-rates (Vbr) are playable, but playing time may be 

displayed incorrectly. files must have a “.mp3” file extension.

•  WMA: Bit rates of 64kbps or higher. NOTE: Bit rates of 80kbps and 256kbps are not 

compatible. files must have a “.wma” file extension.

A maximum number of 65,536 folders and files can be supported.
Playing files on a USB device
1.  Insert the uSb drive into the AVr’s front-panel uSb port. ImportAnt: do not connect a 

personal computer or peripheral to the uSb port. uSb hubs are not supported.

2.  Select uSb as the source device. “uSb” will appear on the front-panel display, and 

after the AVr loads the contents of the current folder the uSb playback screen will 

appear on the oSd.

file 

type

data 

rate

Song title

Album title

Artist name

playback 

mode

repeat 

mode

elapsed 

time

use the remote’s transport control buttons to control playback.
to browse the contents of the current folder, press the remote’s bAck button. the uSb 

folder screen will appear on the oSd for 20 seconds.

use the remote’s up, down and ok buttons to highlight and select tracks.
IMPORTANT: to prevent damage or malfunction, press the remote’s Stop (■) transport 

control button before removing the uSb device from the AVr’s uSb port.

AVR 700/AVR 70/AVR 70C

17

Operating Your AVR, continued,  

and Advanced Functions 

Selecting a surround mode can be as simple or sophisticated as your individual system 

and tastes. feel free to experiment, and you may find a few favorites for certain sources 

or program types. you can find more detailed information on surround modes in Audio 

Processing and Surround Sound, below.
to select a surround mode, press the Surround mode Select buttons. each press 

advances to the next available surround mode. 
digital surround-sound modes, such as dolby digital and dtS systems, are available only 

with specially encoded programs, such as those available via hdtV, dVd and blu-ray 

disc media and digital cable or satellite television. other surround modes such as dolby 

pro logic II may be used with digital or analog signals to create a different surround 

presentation or to use a different number of speakers.
Surround mode selection depends upon the number of speakers in your system, the 

programs you are watching or listening to, and your personal tastes.

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

little intervention required on your part. you can also customize your AVr to suit your 

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

adjustments available to you.

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

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

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

several options for analog playback:

•  Stereo: When you want conventional 2-channel playback, press the STEREO button. 

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

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

(such as during a party), select 5ch Stereo via the Surround mode Select buttons. 

this plays the left-channel signal through the front left and surround left speakers, 

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

summed mono signal through the center speaker. 

•  Analog  Surround  Modes:  Your  AVR  is  able  to  process  2-channel  audio  signals  to 

produce multi-channel surround sound, even when no surround sound has been 

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

pro logic, dtS neo: 6, theater, hall, Stadium, club and Arena modes. use the 

Surround mode Select buttons to select one of these modes. See table A5 in the 

Appendix, on page 25, for breif explanations of each of these surround modes.

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

allow the encoding of up to 5.1 channels of discrete channel information directly into 

the signal. the result is improved sound quality and startling directionality, since each 

channel’s information is transmitted independently of the other channels. high-resolution 

recordings sound extraordinarily distortion-free, especially in the high frequencies.
digital surround-sound formats include dolby digital 2.0 (two channels only), dolby 

digital 5.1, dolby digital ex (6.1), dolby digital plus (7.1), dolby truehd (7.1), dtS-

hd high-resolution Audio (7.1), dtS-hd master Audio (7.1), dtS 5.1, dtS 96/24 (5.1), 

2-channel pcm modes in 44.1khz, 48khz, 88.1khz, 96khz or 176.4khz, and 5.1 or 

7.1 multichannel pcm. (your AVr will downmix the discrete surround back-channel 

information in 6.1-channel and 7.1-channel recordings into your system’s surround left 

and surround right channels.)

Surround Mode Selection
Surround-mode selection depends upon the format of the incoming audio signal as well 

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

modes are available, the table below indicates which surround modes are available for 

a given input.

dolby true hd,  

dolby digital plus,  

dolby digital 

(7.1-channel/5.1-channel) 

corresponding dolby true hd or dolby digital mode 

(theater, hall, Stadium, club, Arena and 5-ch Stereo 

are also available for 5.1-channel programs)

dolby digital (2.0-channel) 

dolby pro logic II movie, dolby pro logic II music, 

dolby pro logic II game, dolby pro logic

dtS hd master Audio,  

dtS, dtS 96/24

corresponding dtS mode (theater, hall, Stadium, 

club, Arena and 5-ch Stereo are also available for 

5.1-channel programs)

pcm (2-channel),  

Analog (2-channel)

dolby pro logic II movie, dolby pro logic II music, 

dolby pro logic II game, dolby pro logic, dtS neo:6 

cinema, dtS neo:6 music, theater, hall, Stadium, 

club, Arena, 5-ch Stereo

mp3/wmA

dolby pro logic II movie, dolby pro logic II music, 

dolby pro logic II game, dolby pro logic, dtS neo:6 

cinema, dtS neo:6 music, theater, hall, Stadium, 

club, Arena, 5-ch Stereo

when in doubt, check the broadcast or the jacket of your disc for more information 

on which surround modes are available. usually, nonessential sections of a disc, such 

as trailers, extra materials or the disc menu, are available only in dolby digital 2.0 

(2-channel) or pcm 2-channel mode. look for an audio setup section in the disc’s menu. 

Also, make sure your disc player’s audio output is set to the original bitstream rather than 

2-channel pcm. Stop play and check the player’s output setting.

In addition to using the AVr’s built-in test noise to configure the AVr for your speakers as 

explained in Configure the AVR for Your Speakers, you can also adjust the volume of any 

channel at any time to compensate for individual program sources or your personal taste.
1.  press the remote’s channel level button. the message display will show the left 

channel volume level.

2.  use the remote’s up and down arrow buttons to display the channel you want to adjust.
3.  use the remote’s left and right arrow buttons to adjust the channel’s volume.
press the bAck button when you’re finished.

two-channel analog audio signals, as well as composite video signals, are normally 

available at the appropriate recording output connectors. to make a recording, connect 

your audio or video recorder to the appropriate AVr output connectors as described in 

the Making Connections section, insert blank media in the recorder and make sure the 

recorder is turned on and recording while the source is playing. refer to the recording 

device’s instructions for complete information about making recordings.
noteS:
1.  the AVr does not convert digital signals to analog. only devices connected to the 

analog audio and composite video input connections can be recorded.

2. hdmI video sources are not available for recording.
3.  please make certain that you are aware of any copyright restrictions on any material 

you record. unauthorized duplication of copyrighted materials is prohibited by law.

AVR 700/AVR 70/AVR 70C

18

Advanced Functions, continued

the sleep timer sets the AVr to play for up to 90 minutes and then turn off automatically.
press the Sleep button on the remote, and the time until turn-off will be displayed on 

the front-panel message display the available settings are 30 min., 60 min., 90 min. 

and off.
when the sleep timer has been set, a small crescent-moon icon will appear on the front-

panel display.
If you press the Sleep button after the timer has been set, the remaining play time will be 

displayed. press the Sleep button again to change the play time.

If the AVr behaves erratically after a power surge, first turn off the front-panel main 

power switch and unplug the Ac power cord for at least 3 minutes. plug the cord back 

in and turn the AVr on. If this procedure doesn’t help, reset the AVr’s processor as 

described below.
note: resetting the processor will erase all user configurations, including speaker and 

level settings, and tuner presets. After a reset, reenter all of these settings from your 

notes in the Appendix worksheets.

To reset the AVR’s processor:
1.  press the front-panel Standby/on switch to place the unit in the Standby mode (the 

Standby Indicator led will turn amber).

2.  press and hold the front-panel Standby and memory/folder buttons until the reSet 

message appears on the front-panel message display.

3.  press the memory/folder button again to reset the AVr’s processor.
If the AVr does not function correctly after a processor reset, contact an authorized 

harman kardon service center for assistance. to locate an authorized service center, 

visit our web site at www.harmankardon.com.

If the AVr is unplugged or experiences a power outage, it will retain your user settings 

for up to two weeks.