Advanced Sound Control for the RCA RT2600 Home Theater System

Advanced Sound Control for the RCA RT2600 Home Theater System 

Dolby Digital

The Dolby Digital mode lets you enjoy full digital surround from software processed in the Dolby Digital format. Dolby Digital provides better sound quality and more powerful presence than conventional Dolby Surround. This unit is equipped with Dolby Digital 5.1-channel so that you can enjoy enhanced full digital surround sound. Being different from Dolby Pro Logic in which only four channels ( Front Left, Front Right, Center and Rear ) are used, the new system provides stereo separation of the rear speakers (Rear-Right, Rear-Left ). These 5 channels, together with the subwoofer channel for bass sounds (counted as 0.1 channel ), constitute as 5.1-Channel ( or 6 Channels ) Input for Dolby Digital that brings you the most sophisticated sound enjoyment.

Digital Theater Systems (DTS) (RT2600 only)

DTS is a digital surround system which delivers six channels of master-quality, 20-bit audio. It offers five full-range channels plus a special low frequency effect (LFE) channel for subwoofer, resulting commonly know 5.1 channels. It can be applied with existing 5.1 speaker configurations. DTS is available in DVD, SAT/ CAB, TV and CD mode. (When digital cable is connected)

Stereo

The Stereo mode uses the two main channel outputs from the front speakers. Use this mode if you have connected the front speakers only.

DSP (Digital Sound Processor)

These digital sound effects resemble sounds in a real environment such as (STADIUM/ THEATER/ CONCERT/ CLUB/ CHURCH/ ARENA). DSP automatically converts analog audio signals to digital ones which enables you to adjust the sound without degrading the sound quality. Different modes will give you different feel of size and type of listening environment. (Not available in Dolby Digital/DTS)

Night Mode

By using Dynamic Range Compression technology (pressing OK), you can enjoy enhanced Dolby Digital sound quality at night without interrupting your roommates or neighbors. Night Mode will compress the difference in volume between normal voices and sound like explosions, while still enjoying a Dolby Digital enable component (DVD, SAT). Night Mode can be activated by pressing the OK button repeatedly until NORMAL appears on the display. While Normal is still on the display, press the LEFT or RIGHT. Adjustment buttons on the remote control,around the OK button, on the remote control until you select the desired mode. There are three modes (NORMAL, SOFT, SOFTER) for you to choose the extents of compression.

Fine Setting of the Components

The receiver has pre-selected surround mode once you turn on the unit by pressing the Source Buttons (like DVD, SAT, CD) directly. The default surround modes for different components are listed in the table below. If you decide to change the surround mode, you can press the SURR MODE repeatedly to toggle among the different surround mode choices and select the one you want. The receiver will keep the last selection in memory.

Note: If linear PCM source (CD), format will be Dolby Prologic even with Digital Input.

Input Signal Setting: The receiver defaults to the most convenient settings for your easiest use (see table). If your connection is different from the default setting:

1. Select the source.
2. Press DIGITAL INPUT button to toggle among optical/ coaxial/ analog to match your connection. Your selection will be stored automatically. The selected source and input source will be displayed on the display as long as they are active, except for some temporary change of display (e.g. adjusting volume).

Digital Input: Select this setting to play digital signals from a DVD, CD, LD player, SAT or TV.

Note: Digital input is only available for DVD, SAT, CD and TV.

Analog Input: Select this setting to play analog signals from a cassette deck, VCR or turntable.

Fine Setting of the Speakers

This receiver supports a wide range of speakers and subwoofers. For optimal surround sound enjoyment, you need to register the speaker selection settings of your audio system. If you buy this receiver with accompanied speaker package, then this step has been done for you. Also, to make the surround sound more effective and suit the acoustic conditions in your listening room, you need to delay the signal from some of the speakers. Such channel delay compensates for center or surround speakers that are closer to listening position than the front speakers. You can make use of the SETUP button to adjust the speakers’ relative loudness.

The TEST TONE button: You can adjust the relative loudness of the individual speakers by the TEST TONE button.

1. In Surround (Dolby Digital/Pro Logic/DTS) modes, press TEST TONE briefly. A short noise will be heard in the speakers one by one. The speaker having the noise at that moment will be shown in the display.
    
2. To adjust the volume level of the test tone, turn up/down the VOLUME knob or press VOL UP/DOWN key on the remote control.
    
3. To adjust individual speaker volume level, press the LEVEL key on the main unit when the short noise is played on the speaker you want to adjust then turn the VOLUME knob to modify the output level.
    
4. Press LEVEL again to save your setting.
5. Repeat step 3 to adjust other speaker volume levels.

Note: To adjust the level of all speakers (center and surround speakers), you must select Pro Logic mode first by pressing the SURROUND key.

Advanced Setting

Factory defaulted Advance setting indication from VFD: The receiver has defaulted the following distances:

Speaker Configurations: You can also change the setup of the speakers by pressing the SETUP button until the display shows L/R SML or L/R LRG which enables you to set the size of the front speaker.

Available Selections:

Pressing SETUP button once, while the display is still showing L/R LRG, you may press the OK button to toggle among: front, center, surround, subwoofer.

Notes:

• The sub-woofer selection will always be YES when the main speakers are set to small (SML).
• For the subwoofer phase setting, it will be affected by how you locate the subwoofer.
• Try both + and - settings and select the one that has better bass effect.
• If your unit comes with speakers, always set all speakers size to “small” to protect them and optimize the sound quality.
• When left and right front speakers are set to SMALL, center and surround speakers can not be set to LARGE.

Use a subwoofer to enjoy optimum sound.

• Subwoofer Phase: Try both settings and select the sound preferred.
• Speaker distance: For optimum surround experience measure the distance between the speaker and your favorite listening position.

1. Press SETUP once.
    
2. While the VFD display is showing L/R SML, press UP/DOWN ARROW button to select.
    
3. Press OK button once to move to the next speaker setting.
4. Repeat step 3 to set up the next speaker
5. When set up is done, wait for 5 seconds to automatically save your settings or press any key to save your selection and set up mode.
    

Speaker Icons

The receiver shows you the speakers’ types and settings on the display with the following icons:

Displaying Program Formats

When a digital source is playing, the receiver will automatically switch to the proper surround mode and indicates on the speaker icons on the right-hand side of the display. (See diagram)

It is important to note, however, that not all Dolby Digital sources are encoded with the full complement of five channels plus LFE*. Speaker icons show how many and which speaker you have enabled (See “Fine Setting of the Speakers”) and the letters inside the speaker icons show which channel is present in the source information. For example, the diagram shown means you have all the five speakers and subwoofer enabled and the digital sources you played have five channels plus LFE complemented.

* LFE stands for Low Frequency Effect. The indication “LFE” appears if the digital source contains LFE information. In this case, the bass signal will be delivered to the subwoofer, offering more dynamic deep bass sound effects. If the letter is flashing, the signal is either too weak or just gone.