12 P/DD-1500 Owner's Manual
Center Channel Delay
In a properly configured home theater system, signals from the front left, center, and right speakers
should arrive at your listening position at the same time, either by placing your front speakers at the
same distance from your listening position, or with electronic delay circuitry. The center channel delay
feature provides adjustment for arrival times from the center channel speaker. Use a tape measure or a
string to determine the distance from each speaker to your favorite listening position. If the distance
from the center speaker to your listening position is the same as the distance from the front left and right
speakers, set the center delay time to
0
M
S
. If you need to move the center speaker forward to line up on
the same plane as the front left and right speakers, add time delay to the center channel to "move" it back
electronically and align its arrival time with your front left and right speakers.
You should add 1 millisecond of time delay for every foot the center channel speaker is closer to you
than the front left and right speakers. For example, if the center speaker is two feet closer to you than the
front left and right speaker, apply a 2 millisecond delay to the center channel to compensate for the
shorter distance. This adjustment only needs to be made during initial setup unless you reposition any of
your front speakers which is why there is no center delay control on the remote.
To adjust the center delay time, first press the Delay Select button on the front panel until
C
appears in
the front panel display. Next, press the delay time up or down to select the desired center delay time.
The amount of delay can be adjusted from
0
to
5
milliseconds in 1 millisecond increments. Note that
after adjusting the center delay time, the front panel display reverts to
S
for surround delay.
Surround Channel Delay
Since Dolby Digital processing delivers a discrete signal for each channel, there is no need to delay the
surround channels to create a precedence effect to keep the soundstage focus in front of you. Sounds
from the surround and front channels should arrive at exactly the same time. As a result, Dolby Digital
material only requires a 0 to 15 millisecond surround delay range compared to 15 to 30 milliseconds
recommended for Dolby Pro Logic.
To adjust the delay time for the surround channels, press the delay time buttons up or down on the front
panel or remote control to select the desired surround delay time. The amount of delay can be adjusted
from
0
to
15
milliseconds in 5 millisecond increments. However, the delay time for Dolby Pro Logic
material is automatically set by the P/DD-1500 at 15 mS. Note that setting surround delay time on the
P/DD-1500 does not effect the delay time set on the P/SP-1500. Refer to the chart on the following page
for optimum surround delay times.
LFE
C
LS
RS
mS
L
R
10 Millisecond Surround Channel Delay Indication
LFE
C
LS
RS
mS
L
R
3 Millisecond Center Channel Delay Indication
