NAD 711 Owner's Manual page 12

GB
CD PLAYER CONTROL
(for use with NAD CD Player)
DISC Next disc (for NAD CD changers)
Play
||
Pause
Stop
I
Previous Track
|
Next Track
DELAY To set Delay time.
TEST Starts the Surround Set-up Test proce-
dure.
MUTE Mutes all audio.
CENTER VOLUME
Adjusts the relative level of the
Center channel speaker.
REAR VOLUME
Adjusts the relative level of the
Surround speakers.
MASTER VOLUME
Increases or decreases the
Volume setting, using the motorised
front panel Volume control.
BATTERIES
Alkaline batteries are recommended for maximum
operating life. The two AA (R6) batteries are
contained in the battery compartment at the rear of
the Remote Control. When replacing batteries, check
that they have been put in the right way round, as
shown on the base of the battery compartment.
APPENDIX
A SHORT GUIDE TO SURROUND SOUND.
Since the middle of the 1970's, film companies
have been making movies in increasing numbers in
Dolby Stereo, the four channel surround sound sys-
tem available in most movie theaters today.
Fortunately it is a simple operation to take the film's
Dolby Stereo soundtrack and place it on a stereo
VHS video tape, Laser Disc or Video-CD. The sound
track does require some conversion for home use,
and the domestic version of Dolby Stereo is called
Dolby Surround.
Today, most video copies of movies also contain
this surround information originally designed for the
movie theater. As well as videos, Dolby Surround is
also being used on TV programmes and on music
CDs, and all of these can be decoded using your
AV 711.
Unlike the quadraphonic systems which tried to
produce pin-point sounds coming from all directions,
Dolby Surround is designed to give you a clear front
image with the Surrounds filling the room with
atmospheric sound.
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For best results, the Surround loudspeakers should
not beam the sound directly at the listener. One way
of achieving this is to use 'dipole' Surround speakers
which aim the sound down the walls rather than
directly into the room. An alternative is to use stan-
dard small loudspeakers for Surrounds, but not to
point them directly at the listening position. It is
always worth experimenting with various Surround
speaker positions to see which works best in
your room.
SPEAKER PLACEMENT
Placement of the speakers in a Dolby Pro Logic
surround system plays an important role in the perfor-
mance of the system.
FRONT SPEAKERS
The front speakers should be placed with the left
and right speakers evenly spaced either side of the
TV screen. The centre speaker should be placed
underneath or above the TV monitor so that dialogue
is localised close to the TV image.
SURROUND SPEAKERS
The surround speakers are used to create a diffuse
room-filling atmospheres rather than pin-point sound
effects. Surround speakers should be wall or shelf
mounted fairly high up either on the side walls, rear
wall or in the rear corners. Speakers can be mounted
facing sideways or upwards to increase the diffusing
effect by bouncing the sound off the walls and ceiling
before it reaches the listener.
SUB-WOOFER
The very low frequency sounds produced by the
sub-woofer are difficult to localise so the Sub-woofer
can be placed virtually anywhere in the room. Placing
Sub-woofers against walls or in corners will increase
the amount of bass produced in the room.
WHY HAVE A CENTER SPEAKER?
The Dolby Pro Logic decoder produces three sepa-
rate outputs for the Front signals - left, center and
right. On most soundtracks, the sound effects and
music are spread across all three front channels but
the dialogue is mainly fed to the center channel only.
Using a separate center channel speaker will allow
the dialogue to cut through even the biggest sound
effects and musical scores. Having the sound spread
across three front speakers also stabilises the stereo
image, making the usable listening area much bigger.
If you are using the AV 711 with only two front
speakers, setting the CENTER mode to PHANTOM
will place the center information on both the left and
right speakers. This creates the impression of a cen-
ter channel sound source.
For best results, you should consider using a
center speaker. Ideally it should be the same type as
the left and right speakers, although there are now
many new speakers, such as the NAD 808CC, which
are specifically designed as center channel add-ons
for existing stereo systems.