HK 525 Amp or Input Problem (1 Viewer)

[David Nolan]

good morning all,

i have a harman kardon avr-525 that has worked wonderfully for the past 6 months or so, until last night. i dismantled my old a/v cabinet and removed all of my components in order to install my new a/v stand. everything was turned off and unplugged before connections were made/unmade. then, once everything was reassembled, the 525 was not so right anymore. my "on" volume has always been set at -50db, and normal tv viewing was around -45db. after the reset, i have to turn up the volume to -30db to get the same spl reading that i used to get at -50db. and this is on all of the inputs, regardless of source material. but then the really weird part is the dvd input plays everything at full volume (like 0db)regardless of where the volume is set - and on both the optical and 6 channel inputs. the test tones come out the same as the other inputs - softer than they used to be, but not blaring. i tried unplugging and waiting, even tried the full reset, nothing helped. i'm wondering if i am missing something. there are no night modes enabled to make the other sources softer - and no rock concert modes enabled on the dvd. i've moved my equipment around many times before and never had anything like this happen. if anyone has any advice i would appreciate it. i have some family members coming this weekend and i was looking forward to demo-ing/showing off my set-up. the receiver is still under warranty, and i bought it from one call, so i'm not worried that i'm stuck with a lemon, just frustrated that i can't fix the problem. thanks in advance.

david

 

[JohnSer]

David,

I don't have a solution for you, but as an owner of a 520, I am very surprised that your normal viewing level was -45. I typically use between -30 and -15, for any listening. I remember posts from others which, ran within this same range. Either you have VERY efficent speakers, and/or very small listening room, or the volume level was recalibrated and all channels had been set to a high adjustment and they got zeroed during the upplug or reset.

JohnS

 

[David Nolan]

john,

the reset did zero out all of my old settings, but i put them back the way they were before. it just seems odd that there would suddenly be such a large difference. it doesn't sound BAD, just relatively softer than yesterday. anyway, i did some more testing and part of the problem may be in my dvd player - panasonic rp-91. the ps2 plays the same dvd i was testing in the dvd player just fine. how can a player output a signal that harman kardon's own ciruitry can't control? nothing in the panasonic's manual addresses this problem, so i guess i'll post this over in the a/v sources forum. thanks

david

 

[JohnSer]

David, your DVD issue doesn't make sense to me either. I believe the receiver saves speaker levels for each type of input. Did you readjust all of them? Curious to what your main L + R are set to. I try to get the mains set to 0, and adjust the center and surrounds up or down from that. Overall, I don't think it matters. It just changes the relative volume number, at where the amp will start to clip.

JohnS

 

[David Nolan]

well, i narrowed down the problem - the receiver's 6 channel analog inputs. when anything is plugged into them, that input's volume gets maxed and everything else goes down. i unplugged the dvd player from them and everything else is fine now. the optical, digital coax, all of the other analog inputs are fine, just those are messed up. so i'll be calling hk support i guess - see about getting it fixed. unless there is some grounding problem that has suddenly developed, or anybody has an idea.

david

 

[JohnSer]

David,

Curious problem. Did you have the 6 channel inputs hooked-up prior to the tear down or were they added as part of this rearangement? Sounds like you might have verified it is the input by using another source other than the DVD, but not sure. Any chance it could be a cable? Even if they all had the signal line to ground shorted, not sure it would cause that, but its worth investigating. Hopefully HK will be helpful. I've had good luck with the questions I've asked, but I have also seen posts from others, to the contrary. Interested in how it all turns out.

JohnS

 

[RobWil]

It sounds like you had some Intellivolume settings that may have been reset, or are different now than they used to be.

 

[David Nolan]

can intellivolume settings be adjusted by me? or only a technician? i tried several configurations with the dvd player, my cd player and my ps2 in the various inputs and with various cables. it all came back to the 6 channel inputs - any device plugged in there, and with any of about 4 sets of cables, had the same response. so for the moment i am without dvd-audio capability. i've been entertaining family with dvd's and all, but no blue man group, hotel california, etc. it will probably be monday before i can allot ample time to stay on hold with harman kardon. thanks for all of the input so far.

david

 

[JohnSer]

David,

You might want to try email with Harman Audio. I have received responses in 24 to 48 hours, given it was working days.

JohnS

 

[RobWil]

Did you buy it new or was it a demo or floor model? Sometimes they'll dick around with the settings at the stores to make it sound more powerful than it is, i.e. jack the volume up +10 or +12. However, if they had been reset due to the power-off it would explain why you now have to turn it up louder on some inputs but doesn't explain the DVD situation. It's like the Intellivolume is set to max volume or something for that input. You should be able to access these settings in the menu.

 

[David Nolan]

rob,

i bought it new from one call, and the settings had all been fine until i moved everything into the new a/v rack. after i unplugged the dvd player from the 6 channel inputs everything else went back to the way it was - like the 6 channel inputs were affecting the output of the amps on other sources or something odd. i emailed h/k about the problem, but of course it is saturday morning. i did recheck all of my settings and they are fine - and like i said, everything else is back to normal now. we'll see what happens. thanks

david