# Avr 254



## knowthyself36 (Aug 22, 2009)

I purchased a new Harmon Kardon AVR 254, My surround system is 7.1, I did the easy set up and placed my avr 254 on 7.1, however I can get it to play 5.1 but can't seem to get the 7.1 to play ....what am i doing wrong, PLEASE UP!!!


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## tonyvdb (Sep 5, 2007)

Welcome to the Shack Reggie, Are you using a surround mode that supports 7.1? 90% of movies only have 5.1 encoded audio so your receiver must matrix the 6th and 7th channels from the other two.


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## knowthyself36 (Aug 22, 2009)

Thats a very good question, I have a blueray DVD and have been watching them.........I do not know if the blueray are 7.1? thanks for your replay


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## tonyvdb (Sep 5, 2007)

On the back of the BluRay package it will say either 5.1 or 7.1 audio. if its only 5.1 you will need to use a surround mode like Dolby PLIIx or if your receiver has THX certification using THX Cinema. These will expand the sound to the 6th and 7th channels. Check your receivers manual for more options.


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## lsiberian (Mar 24, 2009)

Put it on Logic 7 with a music cd and you'll find out really quick. 

Logic 7 FYI is one of my favorite DSPs


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## knowthyself36 (Aug 22, 2009)

I have another issure with my H/K Avr 254, I put in a dvd, when i hit the surround (movie)mode, and select dolby PLIIX the voice becomes muffered, the sound is fine

another issure is when i select stereo mode only the 2 channels are highlighted and not 5 channel or 7 channel, what am i doing wrong. I am not enjoying my surround sounds at the moment. Please help!


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## tonyvdb (Sep 5, 2007)

knowthyself36 said:


> I have another issure with my H/K Avr 254, I put in a dvd, when i hit the surround (movie)mode, and select dolby PLIIX the voice becomes muffered, the sound is fine


In the DVD players audio menu do you have it outputting Bitstream or PCM? it should be bitstream. Also do you have the centre channel level calibrated so it is the same volume as the mains?



> another issure is when i select stereo mode only the 2 channels are highlighted and not 5 channel or 7 channel, what am i doing wrong. I am not enjoying my surround sounds at the moment. Please help!


Stereo mode is just that, 2 channels and will mix all the audio to the left and right speakers only.


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## absoloot (Jul 20, 2009)

tonyvdb said:


> Stereo mode is just that, 2 channels and will mix all the audio to the left and right speakers only.


this is true in general, although in reference to the 254 specifically, if you go into the "surround modes" menu, you can specify what you want to use for "stereo mode". either 2 channel stereo, 5 channel stereo (if you have it configured without surr back) or 7 channel stereo (if you have it configured with surr. back). so theoretically, on that avr, he could set it to stereo mode and get sound from all of his speakers, although i have no idea why in the world anyone would want to watch a movie that way.

knowthyself, can you give some more details on your setup? i assume you have 7.1 channel if the 254 is giving you access to PLIIx, right? are you sure you have all of your speakers hooked up in the correct places on the receiver? have you run the ezset/eq, configured manually, or neither? if the answer to that is ezset, did you confirm it's choices manually - check levels with an spl meter and make sure it chose appropriate crossovers? ezset is known to do some pretty random, unwanted things. when you choose "avr auto select" from the surround modes menu for the dvd in question, which format does the 254 choose to play in?


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## tonyvdb (Sep 5, 2007)

absolootbs, Just for your info. knowthyself36 has another two threads going on this subject and it seems that he has not run the EzSet/EQ setup on the receiver causing his problems. We are just waiting to hear back from him as to if the issues have been fixed.


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## Lordoftherings (Feb 8, 2009)

Deja vu or two for the 'price' of one...

http://www.hometheatershack.com/forums/home-theater-receivers-processors-amps/20968-avr-254-a.html

* Sorry for mentioning, but I was a bit confused (I think one thread only, here, would have been sufficiant).


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## Lordoftherings (Feb 8, 2009)

tonyvdb said:


> absolootbs, Just for your info. knowthyself36 has another two threads going on this subject and it seems that he has not run the EzSet/EQ setup on the receiver causing his problems. We are just waiting to hear back from him as to if the issues have been fixed.


That's right. I think that the OP should have use the same thread (the other one, in this case).

* Maybe someone at the Shack could join the two together?


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## recruit (May 9, 2009)

I have merged the 2 threads chaps :T


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## Lordoftherings (Feb 8, 2009)

recruit said:


> I have merged the 2 threads chaps :T


Excellent. :T


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