Connections; Subwoofer; Connecting Source Devices To The Avr - Harman Kardon AVR 245 Owner's Manual

CONNECTIONS

There are different types of audio and video connections used to con-
nect the receiver to the speakers and video display, and to connect
the source devices to the receiver. To make it easier to keep them all
straight, the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) has established a
color-coding standard. Table 1 may be helpful to you as a reference
while you set up your system.
Audio Connections
Front (FL/FR)
Center (C)
Surround (SL/SR)
Surround Back (SBL/SBR)
Subwoofer (SUB)
Digital Audio Connections
Coaxial
Optical
Video Connections
Component
Composite
S-Video
HDMI ™ Connections
(switching only)
HDMI
Table 1– Connection Color Guide
Types of Cables
This section will briefly review different types of cables and connections
that you may use to set up your system.
Speaker Cables
Speaker cables carry an amplified signal from the receiver's speaker ter-
minals to each loudspeaker. Speaker cables contain two wire conduc-
tors, or leads, inside plastic insulation. The two conductors are usually
differentiated in some way, by using different colors, or stripes, or even
by adding a ridge to the insulation. Sometimes the actual wires are dif-
ferent, one being copper-colored and the other silver.
The differentiation is important because each speaker must be connected
to the receiver's speaker-output terminals using two wires, one positive
(+) and one negative (–). This is called speaker polarity. It's important
to maintain the proper polarity for all speakers in the system. If some
speakers have their negative terminals connected to the receiver's positive
terminals, performance can suffer, especially for the low frequencies.
Always connect the positive terminal on the loudspeaker, which is usually
colored red, to the positive terminal on the receiver, which is colored as
shown in the Connection Color Guide (Table 1). Similarly, always con-
nect the black negative terminal on the speaker to the black negative
terminal on the receiver.
+
Figure 1 – Binding-Post Speaker Terminals With Banana Plugs
16 16
Left Right
Input Output
Y Pb Pr
The AVR 245 uses binding-post speaker
terminals that can accept banana plugs
or bare-wire cables. Banana plugs are
simply plugged into the hole in the mid-
dle of the terminal cap. See Figure 1.
Bare wire cables are installed as follows (see Figure 2):
1. Unscrew the terminal cap until the pass-through hole in the collar is
revealed.
2. Insert the bare end of the wire into the hole.
3. Hand-tighten the cap until the wire is held snugly.
1 2
Figure 2 – Binding-Post Speaker Terminals With Bare Wires

Subwoofer

The subwoofer is a specialized type of loudspeaker that is usually con-
nected in a different way. The subwoofer is used to play only the low
frequencies (bass), which require much more power than the other
speaker channels. In order to obtain the best results, most speaker
manufacturers offer powered subwoofers, in which the speaker contains
its own amplifier on board. Sometimes the subwoofer is connected to
the receiver using the front left and right speaker outputs, and then the
front left and right speakers are connected to terminals on the sub-
woofer. More often, a line-level (nonamplified) connection is made
from the receiver's Subwoofer Output to a corresponding jack on the
subwoofer, as shown in Figure 3.
Although the subwoofer output looks similar to the analog audio jacks
used for the various components, it is filtered and only allows the low
frequencies to pass. Don't connect this output to any other devices.
Although doing so won't cause any harm, performance will suffer.
Figure 3 – Subwoofer

Connecting Source Devices to the AVR

The AVR 245 is designed to process audio and video input signals,
playing back the audio and displaying the video on a television or moni-
tor connected to the AVR. These signals originate in what are known as
"source devices," including your DVD player, CD player, DVR (digital
video recorder) or other recorder, tape deck, game console, cable or
satellite television box or MP3 player. Although the tuner is built into the
AVR, it also counts as a source, even though no external connections
are needed, other than the FM and AM antennas and the XM antenna
module.
Separate connections are required for the audio and video portions of
the signal. The types of connections used depend upon what's available
on the source device, and for video signals, the capabilities of your
video display.
3
Preout Subwoofer