Official Harman Kardon AVR 1600/2600/3600 owner's thread - Page 76

Last night I realized while trying to watch some blurays that I was missing some surround sound modes. I can only choose between Auto, Virtual Sound and 2 channel stereo. Movies, Music and Video Games are not accessible. Has anyone seen this before? If so, how did you fix the problem?

What audio cables are you running from your blu-ray player to the AVR?

Also, how many speakers in your setup?

I runninng 5.1 speakers (Monitor Audio Silvers).
This morning I unplugged my new WD TV Live from the HK and everything and my surround modes appeared again.
Very weird. Does HK have problems working with WD live units?

I'm also having problems outputting surround sound from the WD TV via optical cable into the optical input of my 3600. It's like the unit cannot detect the audio at all. When I use HDMI audio, I get 2 channels working.
Does anyone have their HK units running WD TV Live in 5.1 surround?

Yes, I've experienced this exact issue with my AVR-254 several times (which, operationally, is nearly identical (but lacking dolby volume))

In every case, the issue was the audio stream was 2.0 or 2.1 DD. The Music, movie, and game modes were all set to Logic 7 (default and/or what I myself left it from last use).
Since Logic 7 post-process on anything but analog 2.0 or 2.0 PCM is unavailable with the 16/26/3600 (or any other HK receiver below the flagships or top-lines (e.g. 7550, 745, 645)) the receiver defaulted to the AUTO surround mode which was just the native source content, leaving 2 channel stereo and DVS the only options. The firmware would not let me go to the other shaded-out modes to select a different surround mode than L7.

To get around this, I have to stop the source such that the audio stream is interrupted/no signal, then go to the "Surround" mode menu and change the surround mode to PLII/PLIIx for the default 'movie' surround mode. (or sub 'Music' or 'Game' as needed)

After which I could select the Movie mode for PLII 5.1 with the incoming 2.0 or 2.1 DD stream.




Give it a try, hope this helps!

can you use the remote control from an AVR 254 on the AVR 1600 unit? the 1600 remote really sux compared to the 254/354/2600/3600...i wound up with an extra 254 remote and my parents have the 1600...they struggle with that remote

more power = better sound...i actually preamp out from my 3600 into an old PM665 (100 /ch dual mono) and it sounds great!

Most all H/K AVR remotes work on any other AVR unit. I have old remotes from my 247, and my AVR7000 and they work. Plus I had a AVR520 (had the light button at the very bottom)?? I believe it was, and that remote worked as well.

Have anyone found problem with Dolby TrueHD 7.1 volume is drop when set with 5.1 system?
I think H/K Sound processor have some problem when downmix from Dolby TrueHD 7.1 to 5.1.
You can test by change Number of speaker from 5.1 to 7.1 in Speaker setup menu, dynamic and volume are difference clearly.

The movie that have Dolby TrueHD 7.1 are Super 8 and Transformer 3.

*** My H/K is AVR2600.

What a great receiver! I still love the sound of that unit. I ended up going down the Denon path after struggling with the decision. Numberoneson is using it now in his new home....may be replacing it with new H/K; possibly the 2600.

Have I read correctly on this thread that the 2600/3600 is stable to 4 ohms? The specs on H/K's site doesn't say.

Thanks

Basically correct..
However note that as the new AVR models were introduced, more buttons were added for certain new features..
But for basic power, volume, tuner controls things are fine..

Just my $0.02..

Is the H/K AVR 3600/AVR 460 still worth it these days as a value purchase? I've come across a closeout on a store display model. Specifically:
- how would it handle speakers that are rated 8 ohms but dip down to 3 ohms?
- room correction any good compared to say Audyssey MultiEQ XT?
- any major bugs eg popping sounds on source change etc?

Just to let future BD player buyers know, I had the same problem as this person. It seems that the Panasonic DMP-BDT110/210 do not play well with the HK. It worked fine for DVD and regular Blu-ray, but would not pass 3D at all. New high-speed cables, HDMI by-pass on, etc.

Stole my son's PS3 for a quick test = passed 3D with no problems.
Ran to Walmart and picked up a Vizio VBR133 = passed 3D with no problems.

I just got the Panasonic bd210 last week and it has been very picky on playing 3D blurays, it's played 2 out of the 5 , after seeing this post I decided to try a ps3 which I had upstairs and she played everything no problem, it's to bad I really liked this player , the 2 movies that did played seemed to have more depth, I guess I will try the Samsung out next and hopefully my hk likes it

I'm a happy owner of a Version 1.0 AVR 3600 and I am trying to upgrade to the 3D version. I have followed the steps on the instructions but the AVR does not recognize the software on the stick. Could someone confirm/deny that H/K only recognizes PC files. I am a MAC user.... I am assuming that H/K is compatible with both? I don't have a PC anywhere in my collection.

I prefer to not install Boot Camp because I don't have any PC OS to install and for one upgrade it is not worth a purchase.

Any suggestions welcome.

Glebeman

Your Mac should be writing FAT32 files to the stick. Get info on it and check. If it's not, reformat the stick to FAT32 and it should work.

Thanks for the suggestion. I went further. I discovered an old IBM Laptop with Windows 2000 on it... also found a fresh copy of XP so I nursed the machine up to XP Pro.... oh what awful memories. I then downloaded and unzipped the files from the HK site and attempted the upgrade again.

No cigar..... still reports "does not have a valid H/K software upgrade file. I did check and the stick is "FAT 32"

Any other suggestions?

Glebeman

Which version do you currently show ?

AFW v1.6.1.1

USB Version
17-03-2009 02

DSP VERSION
1.1.1

Did you unzip the file so the AVR can find the root directory?

I contacted the Canadian Distributor of H/K and they will accept the unit, under warranty and do the complete update.

During that conversation they spoke about the "speed" of the USB stick.

I procured a "fast" stick and tried again. Success in getting the program to was achieved. The instructions mentioned that it would take 1/2. I sat through 1 and 3/4 hours and attempted to do a reset of the programs. My TV went blank and never returned. I further attempted to get things running via on-screen with no luck whatsoever.

Today, I pack up the unit and return it to the Canadian Mother Ship for dry-dock work. A bit of a bother but what the heck.

Unless there is more to suggest.... TTFN Glebeman

So I've searched but haven't found an answer. Is there a rule of thumb on where to set your sub prior to running the EzSet/EQ? I'm not sure where to set the sub volume and crossover controls on the sub before running the test.

Update: When I went to use the EZSet/EQ it said to set the sub at half way. It didn't say anything about the crossover so I set it at 40. I ran the setup twice and both times I selected a 7.1 setup but when it was done it had the sub as off. I had to set it as on and then fine tuned the setup. Why would it keep setting the sub as off?

Set your crossover on the sub to as high as it will go (120-200hz?). This will allow your AVR to manage all of the bass.

I'm having an interesting problem that I hope someone here can help me with.

I have had my HTPC hooked up to my AVR 2600 for over a year now and everything has worked fine. However, I am trying to upgrade to a newer video card in the PC and am having trouble. When the PC is booting when it gets to just past the "Starting Windows" screen my TV screen (a Samsung 6800 LED) goes blank then shows messages saying "No Signal" and "TV Mode Not Supported". However, if I switch to a different input on the 2600 and then switch back the TV will then show the PC image.

This only happens when the AVR 2600 is set to HDMI Bypass for this input. If I turn HDMI Bypass off this does not happen. However, I always turn HDMI bypass mode on to avoid lip sync issues.

I applied the HDMI 1.4a firmware update after I got the receiver last year so I have the latest firmware on the 2600 and also on the TV.

Here is what I think is happening: With HDMI bypass turned ON I suspect the 2600 is reporting to the HTPC that it is HDMI 1.4 capable so the PC tries to negotiate an HDMI 1.4 connection. The 2600 then passes that signal on to the TV which only supports HDMI 1.3 so the TV shows the messages indicated above. With the HDMI bypass turned OFF the 2600 is reporting itself as being HDMI 1.3 compliant so the PC sends a 1.3 signal which the TV is happy with. If I hook the PC directly to the TV using HDMI everything works as it should so I definitely think it is the 2600 that is doing something weird to the HDMI handshaking.

Does this sound like a plausible explanation for the problem? If so, any suggestions on how to resolve it? What I would like to try is to restore the original firmware on the AVR 2600 so that it is only HDMI 1.3 capable to see if the problem goes away but so far I have been unable to find anywhere to get the original firmware from. I requested it from H/K tech support but they told me that doing a processor reset would restore it. (It doesn't. It only restores the factory settings, not the firmware version.)

The reason I never ran into this problem before was that the original video card in the HTPC is only HDMI 1.3 capable (an ATI HD 3200 built onto the motherboard). The new card is HDMI 1.4 capable (an ATI HD 6570). I am using the latest drivers for the video cards. In fact, it is the same driver for the one that works and the one that doesn't.

Any help with this would be very much appreciated.

Thanks.

Has anyone reported hearing a slight humming noise in the speakers coming from the 3600? The noise has always been very low but since I tried connecting a Bryston amp via the pre-outs, the noise is now amplified.
I'll do some tests tonight but I was wondering if this was a known issue.

No hum for me.

No hum from mine, you could try adding a Power Conditioner and see if this helps?

Ran the setup again with the sub x-over set as high as it would go. This time the receiver recognized the sub and didn't set it to off. I fine tweaked the settings and really like how it sounds. My daughter even noticed, asking me what I did to make it sound better. Maybe I'll just end up keeping it instead of spending money on a new receiver such as the Onkyo TX-NR809 I've been looking at. Some of the features the 809 would be nice but I don't think I would gain much if anything in the sound department, besides 99% of the use is home theater use.

None from mine ...

No need for a new receiver! I have the 2600, and I honestly think that Dolby Volume is the single best feature I have heard on a receiver (just remember to tweak the setting in the setup. When I first used Dolby Volume, I didn't like it, it emphasised the bass too much. After tweaking the DV setting and the sub levels, I now use it on all of my sources except music)

I don't find the EZ Set to have done too much for me, and I have left mine off. I am not interested in most other features (network etc). I couldn't be happier with my receiver.