Harman Kardon VPM500 Owners Manual - Page 8

SECTIONIII: HOOK I NG UP THE VPM500 A note on not falling flat on your face. A floormounted VPM500 is going to have at least two and as many as eight cables running to various parts of your room. Since you will be viewing the VPM500 in a darkened room, and since it is almost a given that many of your friends and family will be enjoying the Home Theater experience with you, safe cable arrangement is extremely important. If possible, try to run cables and hook-up wires in such a way as to avoid pratfalls. Under carpeting or rugs is a good approach. If this is not possible, consider flat cable guides, available at hardware and building supply stores, to conceal cables and provide a flatter, less trippable surface to tread on. Video source quality. The VPM500 magnifies not only the dramatic visual impact of video, but also flaws in picture quality which may not have been visible on smaller sets. Therefore it is important to make sure that your video source is of good quality. Your TV antenna is an extremely important component in the VPM500 signal chain. If you have previously relied on an inside antenna, this may be the time to invest in a good line-of-sight exterior, allchannel antenna with high quality 75-ohm cable. If your existing outdoor antenna is small or over ten years old, you should consider investing in a larger, more modern one, or at least placing the antenna on a higher mast, adding a rotator and/or checking the signal path for deteriorated cable and other aging problems. If cable TV service is available in your area, this may be the time to have it installed. The minimal monthly cost will repay you handsomely in added big screen video subject matter. If remote control cable boxes are available, by all means get one to save steps once you're settled in front of the VPINI500. Needless to say, the quality of the tuner (either the tuner in your VCR or a separate component) used to receive these broadcast sources will also directly affect your VPM500's performance. If you are using the tuner in a VCR, it is desirable to have a model with remote control, including enough presets to cover all the stations you normally watch. An excellent source of high quality video and stereo sound is the laser video disc. Its quality is significantly better than that of commercial video tapes and can be truly appreciated on the VPM500 . Much of your viewing will probably be videocassettes, either pre-recorded or taped from broadcast channels. Once again, their quality (or lack thereof) will be far more obvious on the VPM500. If you usually record in the 6-hour mode, you may want to buy a few more blank tapes and stick to the higher quality 2-hour or 4hour modes. Make sure you buy a good grade of blank tape, too. Economizing on a cheap offbrand will be painfully obvious when viewed over the VPM500. If you are considering a new VCR, shop for a good quality model with HQ circuitry, such as the Harman Kardon VCD2000 or VCD4000. HQ provides a noticeable picture quality improvement on tapes you record yourself, and yet is totally compatible with pre-recorded videocassettes. A 4-head deck is not totally necessary since the extra heads are used to improve special effects and somewhat improve the 6-hour mode. However there is one feature most often found on higher quality decks, like the Harman Kardon VCD2000 and VCD4000 which will greatly enhance your Home Theater Experience: VHS Hi-fi. Since you will be pairing the VPM500's superb picture with full-range stereo sound, you can take full advantage of VHS Hi-fi's ability to deliver sound quality almost as good as Compact Discs! If you record concerts or can receive MTS stereo broadcasts, the increased frequency response and dynamic range of VHS Hi-fi is more than worth the small added cost of this feature. Also, most new videocassette movie releases have a VHS Hi-fi soundtrack as well as the regular one, allowing you to see blockbuster films with blockbuster sound, just like in the theater. There is one more element in your signal chain which becomes more critical with the VPM500's fantastic powers of resolution. The cable which runs from your video source to the VPINI500 is terminated in standard "RCA phono" plugs, just like the connections on your stereo. This leads to the temptation to simply buy an inexpensive audio cable. Unfortunately, the video signal running to the VPM500 is of a much higher frequency than audio and is more prone to signal loss through low grade wire. For the best possible picture, we suggest investing in high quality cables intended for video use. The VPM500 and your hi-fi system. To enjoy the Home Theater experience, you need nothing more than a good video signal source, your VPM500 and a stereo speaker on each side of the screen. However, there are several reasons to consider interconnecting the VPM500 with your existing stereo if it is in the same room. The first of these is convenience. If you own a receiver or integrated amplifier which includes video inputs and switching, you can take advantage of these features to switch video inputs and dub between VCR's or laser disc players. But the main reason to consider interconnection is the ability to use your existing stereo speakers, amplifier and its tone controls to provide more power and enhanced sound for your Home Theater. And you don't even need a receiver with special video inputs for this, since the VPM500 has its own set of audio outputs which can be routed back into a spare input on your receiver or amp. Of course in either case, your stereo system's speakers must be placed on each side of the VPM500's screen. We will discuss two different approaches to incorporating your existing system farther on. One possible negative factor to consider is the fact that completely by-passing the VPM500's audio inputs (that is, connecting the outputs of your VCR or video tuner directly to your hi-fi system rather than directly to the VPM500) robs you of the convenience of remotely controlling volume, tone and balance. In this case, the solution is one of the new generation of remote control receivers, making sure your stereo system is within arm's length of your favorite viewing position or investing in a VCR that has its own remote-controlled volume, such as the Harmon Kardon VCD4000.