User manual PIONEER VSX-C550

[. . . ] Thank you for buying this Pioneer product. Please read through these operating instructions so you will know how to operate your model properly. After you have finished reading the instructions, put them away in a safe place for future reference. In some countries or regions, the shape of the power plug may sometimes differ from that shown in the explanatory drawings. [. . . ] If the center and surround speakers are set to None (­) the listening modes for all the inputs will automatically go into AUTO mode. The Subwoofer setting divides the high and low sounds (frequencies) between the speakers. Since most smaller speakers can't handle deep bass tones, this setting allows you to send those sounds to the subwoofer instead of the speakers set to Small (S) in your system. Choose the point at which you want the frequency routed to the subwoofer. We recommend setting this to 200 Hz if smaller bookshelf-type speakers are used for your "Small" speakers. Also, when a subwoofer is used, you have the option of selecting the PLS setting, which adds extra bass. Use the +/­ buttons to choose a speaker setting according to the speakers you hooked up. If the front speakers are set to Small (S) you can't choose Large (L) for the center speaker. If the center and surround speakers are set to None (­) the listening modes for all the inputs will automatically go into AUTO mode. Use the +/­ buttons to choose subwoofer setting 100 Hz, 150 Hz, 200 Hz, PLS (plus) or ­ ­ ­ (off). Front speakers distance setting Set the distance from the front speakers to the listening position. Use the +/­ buttons to choose the distance of the front speakers from the main listening position (within a range from 0. You can only select PLS when the front speakers are set to Large (L). If the all the speakers are set to Large (L) you can only select 100 kHz, PLS or off (­ ­ ­) for the Subwoofer. Setting the front speakers to Small (S) means you will use a subwoofer, thus its setting cannot be turned off. In this case make sure you set the subwoofer and choose its cutoff frequency. There are some cases where no sound will come from the subwoofer even if it is (this depends on the speaker setting, the listening mode and/or the kind of source material). If you do the Room Setup (see page 26) after the settings here, those will take precedence. Center speaker distance setting Set the distance from the center speakers to the listening position. Use the +/­ buttons to choose the distance of the center speaker from the main listening position (within a range from 0. Set the LFE attenuator as needed to prevent the ultra-low bass tones from distorting the sound from all the active speakers. Use the +/­ buttons to choose the attenuation level 0 dB, 10 dB or LFE OFF . [. . . ] Thus the Dolby Surround format encodes four channels (left, right, center, surround) into two channels for storage and transmission. This is a format with five channels (front left & right, center, surround left & right) and a channel for bass. (This is called the LFE channel and is usually output from a subwoofer. Since it is only for bass sounds it is thus expressed as . [. . . ]