Cambridge SoundWorks AVS550 User Manual

MegaTheater

AVS550
DVD/Tuner Pre-Amplifier
User Manual

™

The lightning flash with arrowhead,
within an equilateral triangle, is intended
to alert the user to the presence of
uninsulated “dangerous voltage” within
the product’s enclosure that may be of
sufficient magnitude to constitute risk
of electric shock to persons.

The exclamation point within an equilat­eral triangle is intended to alert the user
to the presence of important operating
and maintenance (servicing) instructions
in the literature accompanying this
product.

WARNING

DO NOT OPEN

TO PREVENT THE RISK OF ELECTRIC

SHOCK, DO NOT REMOVE

COVER. NO USER-

SERVICEABLE PARTS INSIDE.

REFER SERVICING TO QUALIFIED

SERVICE PERSONNEL.

READ AND HEED IMPORTANT SAFETY WARNING

ON REAR OF ENCLOSURE

CAUTION:

TO PREVENT ELECTRIC SHOCK, MATCH WIDE BLADE
OF PLUG TO WIDE SLOT, INSERT FULLY.

ATTENTION:

POUR EVITER LES CHOCS ELECTRIQUES, INTRODUIRE
LA LAME LA PLUS LARGE DE LA FICHE DANS LA
BORNE CORRESPONDANTE DE LA PRISE ET POUSSER
JUSQU’AU FOND.

AVISIQUE

POUR EVITER TOUT RISQUE DE

CHOC ELECTRIQUE, NE PAS

DEMONTER LE COUVERCLE DU
HAUT PARLEUR. AUCUN ENTRE­TIEN DES PIECES INTERIEURES

N’EST REQUIS.TOUT SERVICE

D’ENTRETIEN NE DOIT ETRE

EFFECTUE QUE PAR DU PERSON-

NEL D’ENTRETIEN QUALIFIE.

IMPORTANT NOTICE:

THE SERIAL NUMBER FOR THE PRODUCT IS LOCATED
ON THE REAR PANEL. PLEASE WRITE THIS NUMBER
DOWN AND KEEP IT IN A SECURE AREA. THIS IS FOR
YOUR SECURITY.

2

IMPORTANT SAFETY INSTRUCTIONS

1. Read these instructions

2. Keep these instructions.

3. Heed all warnings.

4. Follow all instructions.

5. Do not use this apparatus near water.

6. Clean only with a dry cloth.

7. Do not block any of the ventilation openings. Install
in accordance with the manufacturer’s instructions.

8. Do not install near any heat sources such as radia­tors, heat registers, stoves, or other apparatus (includ­ing amplifiers) that produce heat.

9. Do not defeat the safety purpose of the polarized or
grounding-type plug. A polarized plug has two blades
with one wider than the other. A grounding type plug
has two blades and a third grounding prong. The wide
blade or the third prong are provided for your safety. If
the provided plug does not fit into your outlet, consult
an electrician for replacement of the obsolete outlet.

10. Protect the power cord from being walked on or
pinched particularly at plugs, convenience receptacles,
and the point where they exist from the apparatus.

11. Only use attachments/accessories specified by the
manufacturer.

12. Use only with a cart, stand, tripod, bracket, or table
specified by the manufacturer, or sold with apparatus.
When a cart is used, use caution when moving the
cart/apparatus combination to avoid injury from tip-over.

13. Unplug this apparatus during lightning storms or
when unused for long periods of time.

14. Refer all servicing to qualified service personnel.
Servicing is required when the apparatus has been
damaged in any way, such as power-supply cord or
plug is damaged, liquid has been spilled or objects
have fallen into the apparatus, the apparatus has been
exposed to rain or moisture, does not operate normally,
or has been dropped.

3

DISC PRECAUTIONS:

MOISTURE OR DEW – May form on the lens or disc if

the product is suddenly moved from a cold environ­ment to a warm one, and prevent the unit from reading
the disc. If this happens, turn the product on for a
least one hour before inserting a disc.

DAMAGED DISCS – Never play cracked, warped, or
otherwise damaged discs as they may harm the
mechanism.

HANDLING DISCS –

• Do not touch the play side of the disc. Always

handle the disc by the edges.

• Do not attach paper, tape or labels to the disc

except for purpose-designed CD labels applied with
an applicator intended for the purpose. Out of bal­ance discs may damage the mechanism.

• Keep discs away from direct sunlight and
excessive heat.

• Keep disc in proper storage cases when not in use.

DISC CLEANING –

• Before playback, wipe the play surface of the disc

outwards from the center with a clean, soft, lint-free
cloth.

STATEMENT OF COMPLIANCE – This equipment has
been tested and found to comply with the limits for
a Class B Digital device pursuant to Part 15 of the
FCC Rules. These limits are designed to provide
reasonable protection against harmful interference in a
residential installation. This equipment generates,
uses, and can radiate radio frequency energy and, if
not installed and used in accordance with the instruc­tions, may cause harmful interference to radio commu­nications. However, this is no guarantee that interfer­ence will not occur in a particular installation. If this
equipment does cause harmful interference to radio or
television reception, which can be determined by turn­ing the equipment off and on, you are encouraged to
try to correct the interference by one or more of the
following measures:

• Reorient or relocate the receiving antenna and the
power cord.

• Increase the separation between the equipment and
the receiver.

• Connect the equipment to an outlet on a different cir­cuit than the one to which the receiver is connected.

• Consult the dealer or an experienced radio/TV tech­nician for help.

This product is manufactured under license from
Dolby laboratories, “DOLBY”, “AC-3”, “Pro Logic” and
the double-D symbol are trademarks of Dolby labora­tories. Copyright 1992-1997, Dolby laboratories.

This Product incorporates copyright protection tech­nology that is protected by method claims of certain
U.S. Patents and other intellectual property rights
owned by Macrovision Corporation and other rights
owners. Use of this copyright protection technology
must be authorized by Macrovision Corporation, and is
intended for home and other limited viewing uses only
unless otherwise authorized by Macrovision
Corporation. Reverse engineering or disassembly
is prohibited.

4

5

TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTION

Introduction ................................................................6

Carton Contents..........................................................8

Remote Control ..........................................................9

Front Panel and Display ..........................................13

Getting Started ........................................................14

System Connection Diagrams..................................15

Basic Setup Menu ....................................................20

Operation and Use ..................................................23

Advanced Operation ................................................28

Advanced Setup ......................................................29

Specifications ..........................................................36

Limited Warranty ......................................................37

Thanks for choosing the MegaTheater AVS550 as the

heart of your home theater system. We at Cambridge

SoundWorks believe that it is the ideal utilization of

high technology to simplify the home

entertainment experience.

The AVS550 will entertain you for many years with its

flawless playback of DVD movies and high-resolution

DVD-Audio discs, sensitive AM and FM radio recep-

tion, and playback of normal CD, CD+G, HDCD, and

MP3 or WAV music files on recordable CD or DVD

discs. It will also play back DVD-R, DVD-RW, DVD+R,

DVD+RW, VCD and SVCD discs you burn on your PC

from video files such as home movies from your digital

camcorder. In addition, the AVS550 will display your

JPEG digital still photos from CD on your TV screen.

You can even produce a “slide show” with musical

background by saving your photos and background

music MP3 file on the same disc.

The AVS550 includes all the inputs and outputs neces-

sary for most home theater system needs. There are

two sets of rear panel A/V inputs and a recording out-

put to connect a VCR and a satellite receiver or cable

box. A front panel input can be used for quick connec-

tion of a camcorder, video game, or portable music

player. Optical and coaxial digital inputs are also pro-

vided to connect up to two set top boxes (cable TV,

HDTV, or satellite receiver) equipped with a digital output.

The built-in 5.1 surround decoders (Dolby Digital,

Dolby Pro Logic 2 and DTS ) will accurately play back

any contemporary DVD when connected to a suitably

powered loudspeaker system or multichannel power

amplifier. The 24 bit 192kHz Analog to Digital convert-

ers make the AVS550 fully compatible with stereo and

5.1 DVD-Audio discs.

6

Finally, the AVS550 provides a superb picture when

connected to a High Definition TV thanks to its

advanced Super Smart™ progressive scan circuitry.

This unique circuit analyzes the characteristics of

the source material on DVD and automatically selects

the proper de-interlacing algorithm for fast motion or

still scenes, as well as 3:2 pulldown to convert the

frame rate of film sources to that of video. The result is

the clearest, sharpest picture - totally free of motion

artifacts or the visual stutter sometimes seen when

movies, or movie segments originally shot on film, are

converted to video.

If You Are New To Digital Discs

DVDs are divided into one or more sections called

“titles.” A number corresponding to each title is

displayed on the front panel Vacuum Fluorescent

Display (VFD). You can select the different titles using

the TITLE key on the remote control. The ability to

bypass titles on a particular DVD is controlled by the

maker of the specific DVD, and may not be available

on all DVDs.

MP3, WAV and Picture CDs are organized in files that

may be contained within folders. Use the on-screen

“Smart Navi” function to navigate through the folders

on the disc and select the files you wish to play.

Some features of DVD playback are automated by

“flags” in the digital bitstream that let the disc

producer tell your player the optimum playback mode.

The AVS550 will respond to these flags where appro-

priate and automatically select the proper soundtrack

or technique for producing a progressive scan picture

on high definition TV sets. Likewise, the disc producer

may activate or deactivate some features of the for-

mat. If you find the occasional disc that does not offer

some of the features explained in this manual, it is not

the result of a defect of the AVS550.

Each title is divided further into “chapters”. You may

navigate chapters using the skip keys ( |<<, >>| ),

using the numerical keypad, or within the DVD’s on-

screen menu.

CD and VCD discs are divided into “tracks”. You may

select the tracks using the skip keys or the numeric

keypad.

7

CARTON CONTENTS

A. One AVS550 main control unit.

B. Remote control

C. Two AA Batteries

D. FM Antenna

E. FM antenna to F-connector adapter cable.

F. AM Loop antenna

G. A/V cable with three RCA plugs

(red, white, yellow) on each end.

H. Component video cable with three RCA plugs

(red, green and blue) on each end.

I. S-Video cable

A

B

STANDBY

EJECT/LOAD

D

E

C

PBC

OSD

321

654

AUDIO JPEG SHUFFLE SLIDE

SUBTITLE ANGLE REPEAT A-B/MUSIC

–

+

VOL

VOL

CLEAR/EQ

PROGRAM

987

GOTO+100

MUTE

AV1AV2AV3

SPDIF TUNER

–

+

CH

CH

DVD

PROLOGIC

SAVE

STEP

VOL SETUP

– AUTO +– TUNE +

AM/FM

PAUSE PLAY

ENTER

– PRESET +

ZOOM STOP

RETURN RESUME SLOW

TITLE

MENU SETUP

F

G

H

I

8

REMOTE CONTROL

Installing The Remote Control Batteries

Remove the lid of battery chamber in back of the

remote control and install the two AAA batteries

(included). Observe and follow the polarity marks.

Replace the lid.

When the batteries become weak, replace them imme-

diately. Old batteries may leak highly corrosive

fluid and permanently damage the remote control.

3. OSD:

• When playing a DVD, press once to show an On-

Screen Display of the current title and chapter.

Press again to display the remaining time. Press a

third time to display chapter elapsed time. Press a

fourth time to display chapter remaining time. A fifth

press will turn the On Screen Display off.

• For all CD, VCD, SVCD discs, press once for single

track elapsed time. Press again for single track

remaining time. Press a third time for total elapsed

time. The fourth press displays total remaining time,

and the fifth press turns the OSD off.

• For MP3 discs, one press displays file elapsed

time, the second press turns the OSD off.

4. EJECT/LOAD: Press to eject the disc tray, or to load

the disc tray.

5. NUMBER KEYS: Use for direct access to chapters,

titles, and tracks (not all discs allow direct access).

You may also start a disc from a particular title and

chapter, or at a particular time.

Button Locations and Functions

Most operation of the AVS550 is done using the remote

control. Basic controls are provided on the front panel

for emergency use in the event of battery failure or a

lost remote.

1. STANDBY: Use this to turn the AVS550 on and off

for normal use.

2. MUTE: Press to mute the main audio output. Press

again to restore output.

• To skip to a track or chapter while playing a disc,

press GOTO, then select the track or chapter num-

ber desired (use +10 key for tracks above 9), then

press ENTER.

• To start playing a specific title at a specific chapter,

press GOTO, then use the < > keys to determine

the desired title number. Enter the title number

using the number keys. Use the < > keys to deter-

mine the desired chapter and enter the chapter

number using the number keys.

• Press ENTER to play the disc from the point you

selected.

• To start playing a disc from a specific time, press

GOTO twice. Use the < > keys to highlight Title

determine the desired title number. Enter the title

number using the number keys. Use the < > keys

to determine Time and enter it using the number

keys. You must enter a 0 first for hours less than 10.

Press ENTER and play will begin from your select-

ed time.

9

• You may also directly access radio station presets

1-10 by pressing the appropriate number button

during radio play.

6. VOLUME: Press to increase or decrease volume.

7. CH-/Slow:

2 3 4

• DVD, VCD, SVCD - Press to engage in slow motion

playback. The first press is 2x Slow (i.e.1/2 normal

speed), the second press is 4x, third press is 6x,

and the fourth press is 8x. A fifth press returns to

normal speed.

• Tuner - Select next lower numbered preset

radio station.

CH+/Step:

• DVD, VCD, SVCD - Press to step to the next frame

manually.

• Tuner - Select next higher numbered preset

radio station.

8. REMOTE SOURCE SELECT: Press the button that

corresponds to the device you wish to control. TV,

VCR, and CABLE may be programmed with codes

from other remotes during initial setup. See

“Learning IR Codes.”

9. SOURCE SELECT: Use to select the A/V Source to

be played by the AVS550. The button for AV3 is

located below the door covering the lower half of

the remote.

10.PLAY: Use to start disc play. Also used to step

between Equalizer preset curves.

11.STOP / TUNER SAVE:

• For DVD press the STOP key once, the unit enters

“memory stop.” Play resumes from the same point when

PLAY is pressed. Press STOP a second time to resume

from the disc’s beginning with the next press of PLAY.

• In TUNER mode the STOP Key is used to save the

currently tuned station as a preset.

11

12

15

16

19

20

25

26

29

30

1

6

5

7

9

8

10

13

14

17

18

21

22

23

24

27

28

31

32

12. |<< / AUTO –:

• Disc play - Selects PREVIOUS track or Chapter.

• Tuner - Seeks the next lower station.

33 34 35 36

10

13. >>| / AUTO +:

• Disc Play - Selects NEXT track or Chapter.

• Tuner - Seeks the next higher station.

14. PAUSE / AM/FM:

• Disc Play - Pauses playback

• Tuner - Selects AM or FM band

15.PRESET +: Use to select a specific preset location

to save a radio station.

• Slide Show Mode - select transition mode between

slides. Refer to Viewing JPEG’s on pg. 25.

16.PRESET –: Use to select a specific preset location

to save a radio station.

17. << / TUNE –:

ticular disc is mastered. If there is no menu level,

this button will select the current title.

25. ZOOM: Each successive press zooms the image

1.5x, 2x, and 3x. Press again to revert to normal size.

26.AUDIO/ST:

• DVD playback - Selects the available audio tracks

on a DVD. This feature is not available on all DVD’s.

• Tuner - Toggles FM reception between Stereo and

Mono.

27.ANGLE: Selects different view angles if supported

by the DVD.

28.SUBTITLE: Selects different subtitles available on

the DVD. Not all DVDs support subtitle selection

from this key.

• Disc Play - Selects fast reverse playback. Each

press increases speed of playback 2x > 4x > 6x >

8x > Normal.

• Tuner - Manual tune one step lower in frequency.

18. >> / TUNE +:

• Disc Play - Selects fast playback. Each press increas-

es speed of playback 2x > 4x > 6x > 8x > Normal.

• Tuner - Manual tune one step higher in frequency.

19.SETUP: Use to enter the AVS550 main setup

menus. Disc play will stop when selected. Press the

button again to exit the menu when you are done.

20.CURSOR CONTROL: Press these buttons to navi-

gate through menus. Use the ENTER key to make

your selection.

21.VOL.SETUP: Press to adjust the volume of individ-

ual channels. (Adjustment may be made in DVD or

tuner source mode only.)

22.AV3: Selects AV3 source input.

23.TITLE: The unit will return to the disc title page. You

may navigate and make your selection using the

CURSOR, ENTER and PLAY keys.

24.MENU: Press to select the disc menu for the cur-

rent title. This may vary depending on how the par-

29.REPEAT: Repeats a chapter or title on DVD, and

disc, folder or track on CD and MP3 playback.

30.A-B / MUSIC: Repeats a user-defined section of a

DVD, CD or MP3 file.

• Press the button once at the start of the section you

wish to repeat, press it again at the end of the

selection. Press the button again to cancel A-B

repeat.

• In Slide Show mode, this key is used to select the

background music file if desired.

31.CLEAR / EQ: Clears last entry when programming.

32.AUDIO IN: Press to toggle between analog and

digital inputs when using AV1 or AV2 source

33.PROLOGIC: Press to select the desired Dolby Pro

Logic 2 mode for Dolby Surround or stereo

sources. Each press selects the next mode.

34.SHUFFLE: Plays CD, WAV, and MP3 music tracks,

or JPEG files in random order.

35.SLIDE: Selects Slide Show mode for JPEG Photo

viewing.

36.PROGRAM: Use to program a playing sequence for

individual CD tracks.

11

Learning I.R. Codes:

You may teach the AVS550 remote control the codes

from up to three other remote controls. Once you have

programmed the new codes, the AVS550 remote will

operate your entire system.

1. Press and hold the REMOTE SOURCE button (TV,

VCR, or CABLE) you wish to program for 3 seconds

until the status LED above the ANGLE button illumi-

nates a steady GREEN.

2. Face the remote whose command you wish to learn

(source remote) towards the small window above

the ZOOM button of the ASV550 remote. Keep

them approximately 3-4 inches apart.

3. Press the button on the source remote that you

wish to teach the AVS550 remote. The LED will turn

AMBER.

4. Press the button on the AVS550 remote where you

want to assign the new code. When the command

was successfully learned the LED on the AVS550

remote illuminates a steady GREEN. If the Green

LED flashes, there was an error and you must try

again.

Hint: Only save the commands you need to use from

the source remote. There is usually no reason to save

all the commands. It may be easiest to combine

selected commands from various sources under one

REMOTE SOURCE button. For example, if you always

use a cable box or satellite tuner it will be easier to

save the TV input source switching and cable box

channel selection buttons under TV. You will not need

to save the channel commands from the TV.

5. The remote is now ready to learn the next com-

mand. Press the next button on the source remote

you wish to learn and repeat the process.

6. Repeat as needed until all the commands you need

to operate he system are learned. After 10 seconds

of inactivity the remote will leave learning mode, the

green LED will extinguish, and the remote control is

ready for use.

12