Harman Kardon AVP-1A Owners Manual - Page 11

ments will not sound exaggerated, but will sound like an ensemble playing in front of you. The natural room acoustics of the recording environment will be preserved. The Jazz mode delivers full-range mono surround channels with variable time delay, Panorama and "fast" logic speed. "New" jazz and fusion music also benefit from this mode. Blues fans will find the Jazz mode the most effective, especially on live recordings. CHAMBER This music mode is a "purists" mode suitable for any music where minimum processing is desired. It is a passive circuit (no steering logic) similar to the L-R circuit often erroneously referred to as the "Hafler" circuit. This circuit extracts ambience from a natural stereo recording and places it in the surround channels. Front channels are completely unprocessed. A special equalization curve is applied to the surround channels to emulate the natural decay of high frequencies over distance for more natural hall ambience. Chamber music is natural and enveloping in this mode, as are all small acoustic ensembles. The listener is placed close to the performance. ORCHESTRA The Orchestra mode, like Chamber, uses no processing on the front channels, and center channel is disengaged. Orchestra mode applies steering logic only to the surround channels only with a narrow matrix providing a "mid-hall" perspective. This setting is ideal for larger symphonic works. You may switch on, at your option, the center channel speaker in the 'Orchestra' mode. Steering logic is engaged on the front sound stage when the center speaker is switched on. Audio signal delay settings may be extended to 80 ms. 70MM MOTION PICTURE The decoding matrix is identical to the one used in the Dolby Pro Logic mode, but with a more extended frequency response on the surround channels. Audio signal delay settings may be extended to 50 ms. There is controlled blending of left/right front channel information into the left/right back channel outputs to provide an increased sense of spaciousness from stereo soundtracks with little or no encoded surround information. The 70MM mode increases the excitement level of Dolby Surround encoded soundtracks. 35MM MOTION PICTURE This mode provides improved performance over Dolby Pro Logic. The mode features higher speed steering logic and a more extended frequency response on the surround channels. Audio signal delay settings may be extended to 50 ms. DOLBY PRO LOGIC This is the consumer version of the system used in theatres to decode four channels of sound from the film's optical soundtrack and provides performance identical to that of theatrical Dolby decoders. The proprietary harman/kardon discrete circuit topology used within the AVP1A delivers Pro Logic decoding with superb sonic quality. Audio signal delay settings range from 15 to 30 ms in 5 ms increments. MONO ENHANCE: This mode generates a synthesized surround field from a monaural source. A pleasing, spatial effect can be derived from older music recordings, mono TV broadcasts, or movies mixed in mono. The Panorama control is operative in Mono Enhance. BYPASS: The Bypass mode allows the listener to electronically remove the AVP1A surround processing circuits from the audio signal path. Only the left and right front speakers and subwoofers remain functional. A single buffered gain stage with remote control of volume remains in the signal path.