Harman Kardon TA260 Owners Manual - Page 8

STEREO position and the STEREO switch is in the NORMAL position. However, this is not necessarily so for older recordings. While one label may present the orchestra with the bass section on the right and the violins on the left, another recording company may reverse this procedure. Some of us prefer to listen to a symphony orchestra in the same relative orientation as in the concert hall. The REVERSE position on the STEREO switch serves to reverse the apparent locations of instruments in an orchestra to duplicate the original setting where necessary. For those who do not have matched speakers for stereophonic reproduction, the REVERSE position on the STEREO switch serves an additional purpose. In "Ping-Pong" stereo recordings, the bass is sometimes favored on one side, while the higher frequencies may appear on the other channel. By experimenting with the STEREO switch it is possible to channel the low frequencies through the speaker system having the best bass response. Merely throw the STEREO switch back and forth between NORMAL and REVERSE until the low frequencies are reproduced by the speaker system with the better low frequency response. The NORMAL position on the STEREO switch maintains the Left-Right relationship for properly made records. Function Selector Switch: The FUNCTION SELECTOR switch selects the desired type of program source and has 7 switching positions. EXTRA selects any device connected to the two EXTRA inputs on the rear of the chassis. If you are using a monophonic or stereophonic ceramic or crystal cartridge, set the FUNCTION SELECTOR switch to EXTRA to play your records. AM position selects the AM tuner for monophonic operation; FM selects the FM tuner for monophonic operation. FM-AFC selects the FM tuner for monophonic operation, but with the addition of an automatic frequency control circuit. The operation of this circuit will be discussed in a later paragraph. AM-FM selects both AM and FM tuners for simulcast stereo reception. FM-MULTI activates the two multiplex receptacles on the rear of the chassis for multiplex reception. MAG-PHO/TAPE HD selects your low level magnetic cartridge or tape playback deck for operation. FM-AFC: FM broadcasting, by its very nature, eliminates almost all natural and manmade static. However, the characteristics of FM which makes this possible also causes problems in tuning. The TA260 incorporates a special electronic circuit known as Automatic Frequency Control that overcomes these problems and insures proper tuning even if the manual tuning is not accurately done. Therefore AFC always keeps the station in the center of the channel and eliminates distortion caused by inaccurate tuning. In order to take maximum advantage of the benefits of AFC, it is suggested that fine tuning be done with the Function Switch in the FM position. When the switch is then turned to the FM-AFC position the AFC will improve this careful tuning by a factor of 10 to 1. This procedure is especially recommended when a weak station is being tuned on a channel adjacent to a stronger one. This will prevent the AFC from reaching for the more powerful signal and skipping over the weaker one. If the weaker station is timed in without the AFC, when the AFC is applied it will lock it in permanently. Magnetic Input Switch: This front panel slide switch selects between MAG 1 and MAG 2 input receptacles on the rear panel of the chassis. If your stereo cartridge is connected to the L and R MAG 1 inputs and your stereo tape deck to L and R MAG 2,