Introduction - Harman Kardon AVR 3550 Owner's Manual

Introduction

Thank you for choosing Harman Kardon!
With the purchase of a Harman Kardon
AVR 3550 you are about to begin many years of
listening enjoyment. The AVR 3550 has been
custom designed to provide all the excitement
and detail of movie sound tracks and every
nuance of musical selections. With onboard
Dolby* Digital and DTS † decoding, the AVR 3550
delivers six discrete channels of audio that take
advantage of the digital sound tracks from the
latest DVD and LD releases and Digital Television
broadcasts.
While complex digital systems are hard at work
within the AVR 3550 to make all of this happen,
hookup and operation are simple. Color-keyed
connections, programmable remote control, and
on-screen menus make the AVR 3550 easy to
use. To obtain the maximum enjoyment from
your new receiver, we urge you to take the time
to read through this manual. This will ensure
that connections to speakers, source playback
units and other external devices are made prop-
erly. In addition, a few minutes spent learning
the functions of the various controls will enable
you to take advantage of all the power the
AVR 3550 is able to deliver.
If you have any questions about this product, its
installation or its operation, please contact your
dealer. He is your best local source of informa-
tion.
Description and Features
The AVR 3550 is among the most versatile and
multi-featured A/V receivers available, incorpo-
rating a wide range of listening options. In addi-
tion to Dolby Digital and DTS decoding for digi-
tal sources, a broad choice of analog surround
modes are available for use with sources such
as CD, VCR, TV broadcasts and the AVR's own
FM/AM tuner. Along with the latest Dolby
ProLogic ® II decoding technology, Dolby 3
Stereo, 5 Ch Stereo and custom Hall and Theater
modes, only Harman Kardon receivers offer Logic
7 ® to create a wider, more enveloping field envi-
ronment and more defined fly-overs and pans.
Another Harman Kardon exclusive is VMAx
which uses proprietary processing to create an
open, spacious sound field even when only two
front speakers are available.
In addition to providing a wide range of listening
options, the AVR 3550 is easy to configure so
that it provides the best results with your speak-
ers and specific listening-room environment.
On-screen menus make it simple to enter set-
tings for speakers, inputs and delay times, while
our exclusive EzSet™ remote measures a sys-
tem's sound levels and automatically calibrates
them for perfectly balanced soundfield presenta-
tion.
For the ultimate in flexibility, the AVR 3550 fea-
tures connections for three video devices, all
with both composite and S-Video inputs. Two
additional audio inputs are available, and a total
of four digital inputs make the AVR 3550 capa-
ble of handling all the latest digital audio
sources. Coax and optical digital outputs are
available for direct connection to digital
recorders. A video recording output, and a six-
channel input make the AVR 3550 virtually
future-proof, with everything needed to accom-
modate tomorrow's new formats right on board.
, The AVR 3550's powerful amplifier uses
™
traditional Harman Kardon high-current design
technologies to meet the wide dynamic range of
any program selection.
Harman Kardon invented the high-fidelity receiv-
er more than forty-nine years ago. With state-of-
the-art circuitry and time-honored circuit
designs, the AVR 3550 is one of the finest
receivers ever offered by Harman Kardon within
its price range.
I Onboard Dolby Digital and DTS
Decoding Using Crystal
Technology
I Harman Kardon's Exclusive Logic 7 and
VMAx Modes
I Dolby Laboratory's latest ProLogic II
decoding technology.
I
Remote Automatically Sets
TM
Output Levels for Optimum
Performance
I Multiple Digital Inputs and Outputs
I On-Screen Menu and Display System
I 6-Channel direct input for use with
SACD or DVD-Audio players, other
products with internal surround
decoders or external surround
decoders.
I Remote with Internal Codes Capability
® Chip
INTRODUCTION 3