H/K AVR-247 Install

Lowell_M

I made the leap to the Harman Kardon AVR-247 from the AVR-635 so that I could use the HDMI from the Playstation for the lossless surround sound and upscaling.

The EasySet-EQ worked great on the 635, but I'm having some issues with the 247. For some reason, it isn't picking up my sub while doing the setup, so I have to go into manual mode and set the sub from "None" to "LFE" and then change all the crossover points, etc.

Has anyone else with the AVR-X47 genertion of H/K's had this problem with the easyset? I don't have a sound meter and don't feel like doing it the old fashioned way.

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Lowell_M

Yea.. I'm hooked on H/K for the home theater. Even though I only use the AVR as a processor, it feels weird to step down in power from the 635 to the 247..but I should never have use for the amp section from here on out with the ADCOM connected.

Anyway... the Easy Set tones on the 635 were completely different than the 247. The 635 did a freaquency sweep almost for each channel. I remember the sub test tone just about vibrated the lights out of the fixtures. The 247 tones are bursts of white (pink?) noise. The AVR sends the sub 4 or 5 test tones, each decreasing in volume and the first one is even very quiet. Much quieter than the other 5 channels. I just don't think the mic is picking it up. Then if I manually turn the sub on in the setup and leave the level at 0 it ist just about where it needs to be when playing movies and such. I don't get it.

The easyset set my Rti70's at large and everything else small, but crossover points were quite high accross the board. 120hz for the 70's and 150 hz for the center and rears. I also thought that was weird. I had everything manually crossed over at 80hz with the 635.

I am going to borrow a meter from a friend of mine this weekend, but if you have any thoughts on the sub test tone, let me know.

Willow

On my 335, sometimes I find it works and some others NOT! I just got my Rotel amp hooked up and used the Ezset, well the damn thing set my Xover on my rti8s at 200...WTF? it did do the sub, the walls rattled..I find it's tempermental....I went in afterwards and made th proper corrections.

Lowell_M

I'm so damn frustrated right now I can't stand it. I borrowed a friends SPL meter and manually set the levels and got everything within 1db or so. I haven't thought the AVR sounded right but blamed it on the levels of the channels being unbalanced, but this thing sounds like crap. I've played a couple of movies and an Eagles DVD with the Playstation sending LPCM to the AVR and then switched the input to optical and let the AVR do the decoding and the results were the same, so it doesn't have anything to do with the PS3 decoding the surround sound.

Keep in mind, I'm replaceing an AVR-635, so I know how this should sound. I'm using the same amp and IC's, the only new thing is the AVR. It sounds bright and very thin, with parts of the midrange very veiled.

I'm so pissed because I spent hours getting the input settings tweaked and programming my Harmony 880 so that it controlled everything and switched inputs correctly. AND... H/K technical support is closed due to an "emergency" (superbowl?).

Anybody else experience something similar to this when upgrading from a x35 generation H/K AVR to an x47 generation?

dkg999

Marantz or Pioneer Elite

I have to admit I have been impressed with your HT and also Daboyz's HT and the H/K AVR's you have been using. I've never been a real big H/K fan. To bad you can't get it working better.

The Eagles Farewell Tour 1 is sounding really nice over here today!

Lowell_M

dkg999 wrote: »

Marantz or Pioneer Elite

I have to admit I have been impressed with your HT and also Daboyz's HT and the H/K AVR's you have been using. I've never been a real big H/K fan. To bad you can't get it working better.

The Eagles Farewell Tour 1 is sounding really nice over here today!

Ha ha!! That's was I was trying to play and Glen sounded like crap. I was pretty pumped because the 247 would have been a really inexpensive upgrade.

I've been so happy with my HT but wanted more. Should have just left well enough alone. We will see what HK says to my email. I was really liking the upscaling from the PS3 and the picture in general through HDMI was richer than the component output.

heiney9

a_mattison wrote: »

and Glen sounded like crap.

Well, it is the Eagles :eek::p:D:):D. Sorry couldn't resist. I am beginning to think that audio rule number one is a good one too. Don't mess with success-lol

Lowell_M

Sounded like Bose

dkg999

Send it back before it infects the rest of your gear :eek:

daboyz

That's why I said not to sell the 635 until you know you're OK with the refurb.
Put the 635 back in,box up the 247 and send it back. They'll send you another and hopefully that one will be fine. I went through three before it was right.

Lowell_M

Did they keep sending you refurbs, or did they eventually send a new one?

DannyD

Hey mattisson are you sure you have the latest software upgrade on the 247. It's available on their website. I know for a fact it addresses issues for the LFE when outputting LPCM over HDMI. Without the upgrade the 247 sets the LFE -10dbs lower than all the other channels. It fixed some other issues as well but I just can't remember what they are. They're listed on Harmans website. I've had my 247 for about 2 years now it's been working fine. It might just need the ugprade...try it out;)

Lowell_M

DannyD - The signal that easy set sends to the sub is much quieter than the other tones and the easyset mic doesn't seem to pick it up, so the AVR sets the sub to "none". I haven't verified the firmware yet. good point. But... I set the sub to LFE and used a DVD in the playstation sending test tones via pcm to the receiver to set levels manually and actually had to turn the sub back 8db after turing it on in the setup.

What did you have before the H/K? I'm assuming the 247 sounds ok to you.. not veiled and thin? To me it sounds like Bose, but with a real subwoofer. I can't stand it. Way different than my H/K AVR-635

DannyD

I've only had the HK247 so I don't have much to compare to but I'm extremely happy with. I was almost going to upgrade for a receiver with TrueHD and DTS Master capability but when I found out I didn't need to I was happy. The RTI10 have a bad rap for having harsh highs but the HK sound tames them very well. I wish I could help you out more because once you get it going properly I know your going to love it. Check the firmware...that's all I can think of right now

DannyD

Oh by the way...I didn't have an issue with the EZEQ and the subwoofer setting so I can help much there. The high crossover points I can vouch for. I just reset mine manually to 80hz and called it a day.

Lowell_M

Thanks. I've got an email into H/K, but am also goign to call them tonight. I'll give them one chance to get this rigth and don't want to screw around after that. I LOVE the AVR-635's sound, so can always go back to that and upgrade down the road.

Lowell_M

DannyD wrote: »

Oh by the way...I didn't have an issue with the EZEQ and the subwoofer setting so I can help much there. The high crossover points I can vouch for. I just reset mine manually to 80hz and called it a day.

Yea.. The 635 always sets the crossover points a little high for me as well. Always a quick tweek.

Let me ask you.. what is the tone like that comes from the sub? Is it rattle the room pink noise? ... or barely a hiss?

I used the Sound and Vision test disc to do my manual calibration and calibrated at 75 db. The sub test tone was 85db on the meter so I brought the sub channel on the H/K back 6db.

DannyD

The test tone for the sub was a very very low rumble. Almost inaudible but the mic seemed to pick it up ok. I got this from the HK website so you can quickly check if you have the latest firmware:

* With the AVR turned on, press the 1, 2, 3 and 4 buttons on the remote in that order; then press the SET button.
* After a short pause, the software version number will appear on the AVR's front-panel display.
* If the top line reads "02-02-2008 02" you have the current software and no further action is required.
* If the version number is lower than the number listed above, click on the button below to download the most current software version.
Hope this helps out.

Lowell_M

DannyD wrote: »

The test tone for the sub was a very very low rumble. Almost inaudible but the mic seemed to pick it up ok. I got this from the HK website so you can quickly check if you have the latest firmware:

* With the AVR turned on, press the 1, 2, 3 and 4 buttons on the remote in that order; then press the SET button.
* After a short pause, the software version number will appear on the AVR's front-panel display.
* If the top line reads "02-02-2008 02" you have the current software and no further action is required.
* If the version number is lower than the number listed above, click on the button below to download the most current software version.
Hope this helps out.

I've got the latest firmware.

ugh..this is pissing me off. I keep listening to stuff thinking it will change. I tried some 2-channel from my computer and even 2-channel blows. I was on hold earlier forever so gave up... sent an email with my issues and hope to hear back soon. Maybe I should just send the thing back and be happy with my AVR-635.

I played "Brothers in Arms" and it sounded more like "Brothers with Bose". I can listen to both my rigs are pretty high volume and my ears never hurt...well this setup makes my ears hurt it is so bright. There is no midrange and no bass punch. Freakin irritating.

Since the HT is also my game room and party area, the computer has a bunch of crowd pleaser top 40 crap on it so I played T.I. Whatever you Like, which normally would rock my basement like a club and it sounds like ****. There's gotta be something wrong with this AVR, right? H/K couldn't have screwed up their DAC section that bad could they?

nikolas812

Hmmm. Maybe I should hold onto the 254???


I would have to think you have some sort of problem... Seems odd there would be such a big difference from you previous HK. You would think the sound would get better the newer the receiver got... With good material. My 254 sounds great. I played brother in arms the other day SACD. It was awesome... The only thing the 254 seems to be lacking is power. I can not hit reference levels without the music compressing. It doesn't distort. It just compresses and sounds like crap. It sounds best around 50db or 60db. Anything higher than that and it starts to sound like poo.

Does it sound bad at all volume levels?


Just wondering if you might be running out of power.


Nick

Lowell_M

nikolas812 wrote: »

Hmmm. Maybe I should hold onto the 254???


I would have to think you have some sort of problem... Seems odd there would be such a big difference from you previous HK. You would think the sound would get better the newer the receiver got... With good material. My 254 sounds great. I played brother in arms the other day SACD. It was awesome... The only thing the 254 seems to be lacking is power. I can not hit reference levels without the music compressing. It doesn't distort. It just compresses and sounds like crap. It sounds best around 50db or 60db. Anything higher than that and it starts to sound like poo.

Does it sound bad at all volume levels?


Just wondering if you might be running out of power.


Nick

I'm using an ADCOM GFA-7000 for an amp, so I've got boatloads of power. I've had my HT playing at club-like sound levels and crystal clear the whole time. That is why I didn't mind stepping down in power form the AVR-635 to the 247.

Hang on to the 254 if you like how it sounds. I will keep you update what I find out or if I just give up and send it back.

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nikolas812

a_mattison wrote: »

I'm using an ADCOM GFA-7000 for an amp, so I've got boatloads of power. I've had my HT playing at club-like sound levels and crystal clear the whole time. That is why I didn't mind stepping down in power form the AVR-635 to the 247.

Hang on to the 254 if you like how it sounds. I will keep you update what I find out or if I just give up and send it back.

Opps... I forgot about the external amp....



Nick

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Lowell_M

:rolleyes: I'm not very patient.

I'll hang tight for now. What I am worried about is the 30 day return policy. If I give them a chance to fix the situation by swapping out another 247 I will be outside of the 30 days before I get it all set back up. So, if I'm still not happy with the sound and they sey everything works ok I'm up the creek without a paddle. If they send me another one... I'll try to get them to commit to taking it back if I still think it sounds bad, but I shouldn't hold my breath.

Oh, Kex, when you talk about power, don't forget I'm just using this as a Pre/Pro since I have the ADCOM GFA-7000 connected to the preouts.

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Lowell_M

I've got another question for you guys... Does the video output come through HDMI and component at the same time? If I change my cable to an SD channel, the video gets sent through component and if I change to an HD channel video only goes through HDMI. So I am constantly changing the input on my TV. This seems like a pretty obvious problem unless I just have a setting screwed up.

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Lowell_M

Kex wrote: »

I also suggest you stop listening to it for the time being, since something is obviously wrong and it is really annoying you!

Good luck, and keep the faith!

I had to come upstairs and put Dire Straights on the LSi's.... The audio world is a much better place now. :cool:

nikolas812

Kex wrote: »

Wow! That seems very modest for it to be running out of power so early. Are you measuring C-weighted or A-weighted for such low results? Probably A, I'm guessing. The 87dB efficiency of your av123 speakers really must make a big difference with this type of receiver, compared to my RT series 91dB, if this is true. Maybe that explains some of my past listening test findings that some seem to have trouble taking seriously.

C weighted on slow.

Maybe that explains some of my past listening test findings that some seem to have trouble taking seriously

Hmm. Could be. I didn't realize they were that efficient..


I can assure you though. Its running out of steam for sure.. And to think. I was going to try and run my Lsi9's off of it for a while.:rolleyes: It doesn't really bother me too much though. I plan on getting a external amp and just using the Hk for a pre... So it will do until then..


Sorry to muck up the thread.


I don't have clue about your HDMI question.

Sorry.



Nick