10
10
USING EzSET
Using EzSet
This section replaces Step Four in the Initial Setup section of the
AVR 144 owner’s guide.
An essential step in setting up your multichannel audio/video receiver
is calibrating the channel output levels so that they all sound equally
loud at the listening position. This sets a baseline, enabling the
director to create a desired mood by moving the dialogue, action
and ambient sounds around the soundstage, resulting in a more
realistic presentation.
EzSet takes the guesswork out of the manual process described in
the AVR 144 owner’s guide, replacing multiple steps with a simple
button press.
By now you should have connected all of your speakers and sources
and your video display. You should have turned on the receiver and
used the Manual Setup menus to program each of your speakers as
Large or Small.
Sit in the listening position with the remote control, and make sure
to eliminate external noises for the few minutes needed to run the
EzSet procedure.
Use the volume control buttons on the remote to adjust the volume
to –15dB.
Point the remote at the receiver. Press and hold the SPL Button until
the LED remains steadily lit, then press the “5” key. See Figure 3. The
procedure works best if you hold the remote at about ear level, pointed
toward the receiver. Try not to tilt the remote out of line with the AVR’s
front panel.
Figure 3 – EzSet (SPL) Button
The receiver will generate a loud test tone, which sounds like static.
In fact, it’s a tone that simultaneously uses all frequencies from 20Hz
to 20kHz.
The tone should be heard first through the front left speaker. It will
circulate to the other speakers in this order: front left, center, front
right, surround right, surround left. The tone pauses for a few moments
at each speaker position, while a microphone built into the remote
measures the loudness (sound pressure level) of the tone. The remote
contains programming that compares the loudness of the tone at each
position to a reference and sends commands to the receiver to adjust
the output level for that channel until the tone matches the reference.
A tri-color LED on the remote indicates EzSet’s findings. The LED turns
red if the channel’s level is too high, amber if the level is too low, and
green when the level is correct.
The result is that each speaker will be heard equally loudly at the
listening position. This is important for movie directors, who adjust the
loudness of each channel in the recording to produce a desired sound
presentation. Usually, the director reduces the loudness of, or even the
presence of information in the surround channels so as not to distract
the viewer from the main action taking place on screen. If the test tone
sounds as loud in the rear speakers as it does coming from the other
speakers, then the receiver is performing correctly.
As the tone circulates to each speaker position, the semi-OSD system
and the front panel will display a message reporting which channel the
tone is being sent to. Make sure that the message matches the speaker
you are actually hearing the tone from, and that you are hearing a tone
from each speaker. If that isn’t the case, press the Test Button
twice
to
stop EzSet, and turn off the receiver and unplug it. Then check your
speaker-wire connections.
The semi-OSD system and front panel will also display the level adjust-
ments being made. The levels may vary from –10dB to +10dB. If you
notice that the levels for all speakers are being adjusted very far in either
direction, then stop EzSet by pressing the Test Button
twice
, and adjust
the master volume level higher to compensate for EzSet pushing each
speaker close to +10dB, or lower to compensate for EzSet lowering
each speaker close to –10dB.
As the levels are being adjusted, the LED on the remote will change
until it is green for all channels.
The tone will circulate a second time, and then the procedure will end.
NOTE:
In order to optimize performance for each of the many
surround modes and their variants, the AVR 144 is able to
associate a different set of output level settings with each mode.
While this results in extremely realistic reproduction of surround
sound presentations, it does require that you determine the
correct settings for each surround mode.
The first time you turn on the AVR, it will default to the Logic 7
Music mode. Harman Kardon recommends that at initial setup
you use the default Logic 7 mode, and then copy down the
settings produced by EzSet. Change the surround mode either
by using the on-screen Surround Setup menu, or by pressing
the desired surround mode group button on the remote, and
reenter the same settings for each new mode, selecting all
modes you are likely to use.
If you prefer, you may run EzSet for the major surround modes,
such as Logic 7
®
(select either Cinema or Music), Dolby (select
Dolby Pro Logic
®
II Movie) and DTS (select DTS Neo:6). Then
you may copy the resulting level settings for the other mode
variants within each group.
Advanced users may rerun EzSet for each mode individually.
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