Problem with Harmon/Kardon 247 distorting. - Blu-ray Forum

tarletonaggie · 08-11-2009, 12:32 AM

I have a Pioneer BDP-51FD hooked up to my receiver via the analog out and sometimes when somebody shouts in a movie my speakers distort. I have a Polk CS1 center and Polk monitor 40's as the side speakers and usually don't turn up the volume past -25 db. I also hooked the player up with hdmi and it did the same thing. Is there a way to fix this or is there a problem with my 247? Any help will be greatly appreciated.

SlmShdy1 · 08-11-2009, 04:03 AM

When you say "shout", is it a deep shout or a high shout? My guess is that it might be your crossover settings but I'm not certain. If your speakers cannot handle the low frequencies, any lows being sent to your speakers could cause distortion. Try changing your crossover settings to send the lows to the subwoofer instead.

tarletonaggie · 08-11-2009, 04:38 PM

It is more when it is a high pitched scream or shout i decreased the treble setting to negative 8 on the receiver on my dish network optical input and that seemed to help a little but when you use analog inputs you cant adjust the level of anything. I am only using the analog inputs because of the sparkling issues that this receiver has with 1080p video through hdmi. If i can't figure this out i may have to upgrade my receiver. I was just wondering if this was a common problem with this receiver or if it is too underpowered for the speakers.

Fors* · 08-11-2009, 04:48 PM

When you say distort, is it a high pitched squeek kind of sound or the audio varies in pitch or the audio breaks up? It also looks like you are using the M40's as your front speakers, is this true?

SeanMF · 08-11-2009, 05:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tarletonaggie

I have a Pioneer BDP-51FD hooked up to my receiver via the analog out and sometimes when somebody shouts in a movie my speakers distort. I have a Polk CS1 center and Polk monitor 40's as the side speakers and usually don't turn up the volume past -25 db. I also hooked the player up with hdmi and it did the same thing. Is there a way to fix this or is there a problem with my 247? Any help will be greatly appreciated.

I would update to the latest firmware. I had the hk 254 and it had nothing but audio problems. Even adjusting the audio sync wouldn't help. Some movies it would play audio fine but some it wouldn't. Audio just never seemed in 'sync'. I sold it. I like the look of the hk but I won't own one again for some time. Oh yea...in 7 months time my 254 had to be repaired twice. I got a brand new one after the 2nd time. HK receiver seemed to be flawed and I've heard a lot of complaints on them.

tarletonaggie · 08-11-2009, 05:51 PM

Its like the sound is breaking up. I picked up the receiver used on ebay so i am thinking that i will just get a new reciever when I have the money. And Yes the Monitor 40s are my front speakers. I was thinking about getting one of the lower end pioneer 5.1 receivers because I am just in college and live in an apartment so I don't need anything fancy at the moment and don't have room for a 7.1 setup. Anybody have any other suggestions about a good receiver that would cost below 300 and I might be able to spring for under 400 in a couple weeks.

lojack1976 · 08-11-2009, 06:23 PM

I have the same receiver but I don't have any problems like that. Did you get it from the Harmon store on Ebay? They offer a full year warranty on them if you did. I use HDMI with mine and even though my TV is only 768p I have my PS3 set for 1080p output and I don't have any sparkle issues. I also don't have any sound issues. You may need to update the firmware to fix the problems.

You may also want to call up Harman and get someone on the phone to help you troubleshoot. It may just be some settings. I tried the auto calibration and it didn't give me good results at all. I ended up manually setting everything up to my liking. The default level for the sub was waaaayyy to much too and I had to lower it quite a bit. Definitely check your crossover settings. Harman receivers can be a pain setting up, but when you get it to your liking they sound terrific so don't give up on it. Its really a great receiver.

tarletonaggie · 08-11-2009, 10:48 PM

On scene that i seem to be having this problem with is the final scene in There Will Be Blood when DDL starts to scream at the young preacher. I also hooked it up via hdmi so that I could adjust the bass and treble levels all the way down to -10 and also set the cross over to 80 hz and that seemed to help a little bit but it still does it. Still think I am going to upgrade when I have the funds to be able to.

lojack1976 · 08-11-2009, 11:01 PM

Are you only having this problem with one movie or many titles? If this is happening with this movie only it may not be the receiver at all. It can be the disc or even your player since some movies have playback issues in certain players. It wouldn't hurt to check for the latest firmware for your player. Since you have a PS3 too try playing the movie with that instead and see if you get the same issue.

tarletonaggie · 08-11-2009, 11:18 PM

It happens in alot of movies, It did it when I only had the PS3 as a blu ray player.

lojack1976 · 08-12-2009, 12:23 AM

Well, definitely try a firmware update on the receiver. If you got it from the Harman store on Ebay then you may have gotten one with a dated firmware. If you continue to have problems after that then there may actually be something wrong with the receiver and you can call up Harman and get it replaced.

tarletonaggie · 08-12-2009, 12:30 AM

Thanks for all of the help I have seemed to have made it work fine for now by hooking it up via hdmi and being able adjust the settings a little bit more.

lojack1976 · 08-12-2009, 12:36 AM

Well, that's good news. Like I said before Harman receivers can be a pain to setup, but they do sound great once you get them working correctly.

08-11-2009, 12:32 AM	#1
tarletonaggie Member Member since:Oct 2008 Blu-ray collection:146	Problem with Harmon/Kardon 247 distorting. I have a Pioneer BDP-51FD hooked up to my receiver via the analog out and sometimes when somebody shouts in a movie my speakers distort. I have a Polk CS1 center and Polk monitor 40's as the side speakers and usually don't turn up the volume past -25 db. I also hooked the player up with hdmi and it did the same thing. Is there a way to fix this or is there a problem with my 247? Any help will be greatly appreciated.

08-11-2009, 11:18 PM	#10
tarletonaggie Member Member since:Oct 2008 Blu-ray collection:146	It happens in alot of movies, It did it when I only had the PS3 as a blu ray player. Last edited by tarletonaggie; 08-11-2009 at 11:23 PM.

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08-11-2009, 04:03 AM	#2
SlmShdy1 Blu-ray Guru Top contributor Member since:Nov 2007 Location:Honolulu, HI PlayStation® PSN: SlmShdy1 Home Theater Gallery:39 Blu-ray collection:292	When you say "shout", is it a deep shout or a high shout? My guess is that it might be your crossover settings but I'm not certain. If your speakers cannot handle the low frequencies, any lows being sent to your speakers could cause distortion. Try changing your crossover settings to send the lows to the subwoofer instead.

08-11-2009, 04:38 PM	#3
tarletonaggie Member Member since:Oct 2008 Blu-ray collection:146	It is more when it is a high pitched scream or shout i decreased the treble setting to negative 8 on the receiver on my dish network optical input and that seemed to help a little but when you use analog inputs you cant adjust the level of anything. I am only using the analog inputs because of the sparkling issues that this receiver has with 1080p video through hdmi. If i can't figure this out i may have to upgrade my receiver. I was just wondering if this was a common problem with this receiver or if it is too underpowered for the speakers.

08-11-2009, 04:48 PM	#4
Fors* Moderator Top ranked HT gallery Top contributor Member since:Jan 2009 Location:Pottstown, PA Home Theater Gallery:160 4K collection:12 Blu-ray collection:142 Trading Score:11	When you say distort, is it a high pitched squeek kind of sound or the audio varies in pitch or the audio breaks up? It also looks like you are using the M40's as your front speakers, is this true?

08-11-2009, 05:51 PM	#6
tarletonaggie Member Member since:Oct 2008 Blu-ray collection:146	Its like the sound is breaking up. I picked up the receiver used on ebay so i am thinking that i will just get a new reciever when I have the money. And Yes the Monitor 40s are my front speakers. I was thinking about getting one of the lower end pioneer 5.1 receivers because I am just in college and live in an apartment so I don't need anything fancy at the moment and don't have room for a 7.1 setup. Anybody have any other suggestions about a good receiver that would cost below 300 and I might be able to spring for under 400 in a couple weeks.

08-11-2009, 06:23 PM	#7
lojack1976 Blu-ray Guru Top ranked HT gallery Member since:Aug 2008 Location:7 Cities, VA Home Theater Gallery:62 Blu-ray collection:203	I have the same receiver but I don't have any problems like that. Did you get it from the Harmon store on Ebay? They offer a full year warranty on them if you did. I use HDMI with mine and even though my TV is only 768p I have my PS3 set for 1080p output and I don't have any sparkle issues. I also don't have any sound issues. You may need to update the firmware to fix the problems. You may also want to call up Harman and get someone on the phone to help you troubleshoot. It may just be some settings. I tried the auto calibration and it didn't give me good results at all. I ended up manually setting everything up to my liking. The default level for the sub was waaaayyy to much too and I had to lower it quite a bit. Definitely check your crossover settings. Harman receivers can be a pain setting up, but when you get it to your liking they sound terrific so don't give up on it. Its really a great receiver.

08-11-2009, 10:48 PM	#8
tarletonaggie Member Member since:Oct 2008 Blu-ray collection:146	On scene that i seem to be having this problem with is the final scene in There Will Be Blood when DDL starts to scream at the young preacher. I also hooked it up via hdmi so that I could adjust the bass and treble levels all the way down to -10 and also set the cross over to 80 hz and that seemed to help a little bit but it still does it. Still think I am going to upgrade when I have the funds to be able to.

08-11-2009, 11:01 PM	#9
lojack1976 Blu-ray Guru Top ranked HT gallery Member since:Aug 2008 Location:7 Cities, VA Home Theater Gallery:62 Blu-ray collection:203	Are you only having this problem with one movie or many titles? If this is happening with this movie only it may not be the receiver at all. It can be the disc or even your player since some movies have playback issues in certain players. It wouldn't hurt to check for the latest firmware for your player. Since you have a PS3 too try playing the movie with that instead and see if you get the same issue.

08-12-2009, 12:23 AM	#11
lojack1976 Blu-ray Guru Top ranked HT gallery Member since:Aug 2008 Location:7 Cities, VA Home Theater Gallery:62 Blu-ray collection:203	Well, definitely try a firmware update on the receiver. If you got it from the Harman store on Ebay then you may have gotten one with a dated firmware. If you continue to have problems after that then there may actually be something wrong with the receiver and you can call up Harman and get it replaced.

08-12-2009, 12:30 AM	#12
tarletonaggie Member Member since:Oct 2008 Blu-ray collection:146	Thanks for all of the help I have seemed to have made it work fine for now by hooking it up via hdmi and being able adjust the settings a little bit more.

08-12-2009, 12:36 AM	#13
lojack1976 Blu-ray Guru Top ranked HT gallery Member since:Aug 2008 Location:7 Cities, VA Home Theater Gallery:62 Blu-ray collection:203	Well, that's good news. Like I said before Harman receivers can be a pain to setup, but they do sound great once you get them working correctly.

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