Cambridge Soundworks MegaTheater MT500 User Manual

DVD PLAYER/TUNER – PREAMPLIFIER

USER MANUAL

®

2

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

SPEAKER’S COVER. NO USER-

SERVICEABLE PARTS INSIDE.

REFER SERVICING TO QUALIFIED

SERVICE PERSONNEL.

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.

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.

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.

3

IMPORTANT SAFETY INSTRUCTIONS

POWER-CORD PROTECTION – The AC power cord

should be routed so that it is not likely to be walked
on. No object should bring weight to bear on to the AC
power cord.

LIGHTNING – For added protection for this product
during a lightning storm, or when it is left unattended
and unused for long periods of time, unplug it from the
wall outlet. This will prevent damage to the product
due to lightning and power-line surges.

OVERLOADING – Do not overload wall outlets, exten­sion cords, or integral convenience outlets as this can
result in a risk of fire or electric shock.

OBJECT AND LIQUID ENTRY – Never use probes of
any kind to reach into the product as they may touch
dangerous voltage points or short parts that could
result in a fire or electric shock. Never spill liquid of
any kind onto the product.

SERVICING – Do not attempt to service the product
yourself as opening or removing the cover may expose
you to dangerous voltage or other hazards. Refer all
servicing to qualified service personnel.

DAMAGE REQUIRING SERVICE – Immediately
unplug the product from the wall outlet or other power
source and refer servicing to qualified service person­nel under the following conditions:

a) When the power-cord or plug is damaged.
b) If liquid has been spilled, or objects have fallen into

the product.

c) If the product has been exposed to rain or water.
d) If the product does not operate normally by follow-

ing the operating instructions; or exhibits a distinct
change in performance.

e) If the product has been dropped or damaged in

any way.

REPLACEMENT PARTS – When replacement parts
are required, be sure the service technician uses
replacement parts specified by Cambridge
SoundWorks, or ones which have the same character­istics as the original part. Substandard substitutions
may result in fire, electric shock, or other hazards.

SAFETY CHECK – Upon completion of any service or
repairs, ask the service technician to perform safety
checks to determine that the product is in proper
operating condition.

READ INSTRUCTIONS – All safety and operating
instructions should be read before the product is
operated.

RETAIN INSTRUCTIONS – The safety and operating
instructions should be retained for future reference.

HEED WARNINGS – All warnings on the product and
in the operating instructions should be adhered to.

FOLLOW INSTRUCTIONS – All operating and use
instructions should be followed.

CLEANING – Unplug the product from the wall outlet or
other power source before cleaning. Use a dry cloth
for cleaning.

ATTACHMENTS – Do not use any adapters or attach­ments not recommended by Cambridge SoundWorks
as they may cause hazards.

WATER AND MOISTURE – Do not use the product
near water - for example, near a bath tub, wash bowl,
kitchen sink, or laundry tub; in a wet basement; or near
a swimming pool or other similar areas.

ACCESSORIES – Do not place the product on an
unstable cart, stand, tripod, bracket, or table. The
product may fall, causing serious injury to a child or
adult and serious damage to the product.

VENTILATION – Any slots, openings and metal fins
provided for ventilation must not be blocked or covered
such as by placing the product on a bed, sofa, deep
pile rug, or other similar surface. The product should
not be placed in a built-in installation such as a book­case or rack unless sufficient clearance is maintained
to provide adequate ventilation.

HEAT – The product should be situated away from heat
sources such as radiators, heat registers, stoves, and
other products (including amplifiers) that produce heat.

POWER SOURCE – The product should be operated
only from the type of power source indicated on the
rear panel. If you are not sure of the type of power sup­ply to your home, consult your dealer or local power
company.

POLARIZATION – The product is equipped with a
polarized alternating-current plug (a plug having one
blade wider than the other). This plug will fit into the
power outlet only one way. This is a safety feature. If
you are unable to insert the plug fully into the outlet, try
reversing the plug. If the plug should still fail to fit, con­tact your electrician to replace your obsolete outlet. Do
not defeat the safety purpose of the polarized plug.

4

DISC PRECAUTIONS:
MOISTURE OR DEW – May occur if the product is

suddenly moved from a cold environment to a warm
one, and prevent it 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 drive
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.

5

6

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Introduction ................................................................7

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

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

Front Panel and Display ..........................................12

Getting Started ........................................................13

System Connection Diagrams..................................14

Basic Setup Menu ....................................................19

Operation and Use ..................................................22

Advanced Operation ................................................27

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

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

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

7

INTRODUCTION

Thanks for choosing the MegaTheater AVS500 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 AVS500 will entertain you for many years with its
flawless DVD playback, sensitive AM and FM radio
reception, and playback of normal CD, CD+G, HDCD
and compressed music files on DVD-R, CD-R, or
CD-RW discs. It will also play back VCD and SVCD
discs you burn on your PC from video files such as
home movies from your digital camcorder. In addition,
the AVS500 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 AVS500 includes all the inputs and outputs neces­sary for the most common home theater system
needs. There are two sets of rear panel A/V inputs and
outputs which can be used to connect a VCR and a
satellite receiver or cable box. A third front panel input
and output can be used for quick connection of a
camcorder video game, or portable music player. An
optical digital input is also provided to connect the
Dolby Digital 5.1 signal from a cable TV set top box or
a satellite receiver equipped with an optical digital out­put. The built-in Dolby Digital and DTS 5.1 surround
decoders will accurately play back any contemporary
DVD when connected to a suitably powered loud­speaker system or multichannel power amplifier.
Because of its stereo and Virtual Surround modes, the
AVS500 can also be used with a stereo TV or with
powered 2.0 or 2.1 speaker systems.

Finally, the AVS500 is compatible with High Definition
TV monitors thanks to its advanced 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 24 frame per second rate of film sources to
video’s 60 frames per second. 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.” Each title has a numerical label displayed on
the front panel Vacuum Flourescent Display (VFD). You
can select the different titles using the title key on the
remote control, or by using the Playback Control (PBC)
function. 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.

Each title is divided further into “Chapters.” You may
navigate chapters using the skip keys
( |<<, >>| ), directly using the numerical keypad, or
within the DVD’s on-screen menu.

CD and VCD discs are divided in tracks. You may
select them using the skip keys or the numeric key­pad. MP3 and Picture CDs are organized in files con­tained within folders. Use the on-screen “Smart Nav”
function to select the files you wish to play.

The selection of many features of DVD playback is
automated by “flags” in the digital bitstream that let the
disc producer tell your player the optimum playback
mode. The AVS500 will respond to these flags where
appropriate and automatically select the proper
soundtrack or technique for producing a progressive
scan picture on high definition TV sets.

8

CARTON CONTENTS

A) One AVS500 main control unit.
B) Remote control
C) Two AAA Batteries
D) FM Antenna
E) FM antenna to F-connector adapter cable.
F) AM Loop antenna
G) AV 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

E

C

F

G

H

I

D

STANDBY

EJECT/LOAD

PBC

OSD

321

654

AUDIO JPEG SHUFFLE SLIDE

SUBTITLE ANGLE REPEAT A-B/MUSIC

–

+

VOL

VOL

CLEAR/EQ

PROGRAM

987

GOTO+100

MUTE

AV1 AV2 AV3

SPDIF TUNER

–

+

CH

CH

DVD

PROLOGIC

SAVE

STEP

VOL SETUP

– AUTO +– TUNE +

AM/FM

PAUSE PLAY

ENTER

– PRESET +

ZOOM STO P

RETURN RESUME SLOW

TITLE

MENU SETUP

9

REMOTE CONTROL

Installing The Remote Control Batteries

Open the lid of battery chamber under 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 imme­diately. Old batteries may leak highly corrosive fluid
and permanently damage the remote control.

Button Locations and Functions

Most operation of the AVS500 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 AVS500 on and off
for normal use. (The front panel power switch
should normally be left on.)

2. REPEAT: Repeats a chapter or title on DVD, and
disc or track on CD.

3. 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.

4. SHUFFLE: Selects CD and MP3 music tracks in
random order.

5. SLIDE: Selects slideshow mode, which will play a
selection of JPEG photos on CD in sequence.

6. 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.

7. PBC: This key toggles the Playback Control state.
Normal default operation is PBC ON.

• With PBC on, disc play uses the DVD menu, and
conventional 0n-screen navigation controls.

• With PBC off, you see an information display show­ing the contents of the disk. It includes the number
of titles, tracks, total time, audio streams, and sub­picture streams. It also shows the encoding stan­dard, video format, and languages and sound
options.

You have direct access to titles and tracks of the
disc. Use the number keys to select the desired
title (DVD) or track, (VCD, CD).

8. PROGRAM: When in PBC OFF mode with the disc
stopped, you may program a playing sequence.

10

9. CLEAR/EQ: Clears the last entry while program­ming. Selects Graphic Equalizer mode at all other
times. See the Advanced Operation section for
equalizer operation.

10.INPUT SELECTOR: Press the button corresponding
to the desired input source. Use the DVD button to
select any disc inside the AVS500 (DVD, VCD, CD,
CD-ROM with JPEG or MP3 files).

11.VOLUME: Press to adjust volume level from 00
(Minimum) to 32 (Maximum). The level is displayed
on the OSD and on the front panel.

12.MUTE: Press to toggle between muted and non­muted state.

13.VOL SETUP: Press to enter the Volume Setup
menu. You may adjust each individual channel vol­ume level while listening. You may also adjust bass
and treble from this menu. Press this button again
to exit the menu.

14.CURSER CONTROL: Press these buttons to navi­gate through menus. Use the ENTER key to make
your selection.

15.SETUP: Use to enter the AVS500 main setup
menus. Disc play will stop when selected. Press the
button again to exit the menu when you are done.

16.TRANSPORT CONTROLS: Use to start, stop, or
pause disc playback.

• 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.

17.|<< and >>| / –AUTO +:

• Disc play – Selects PREVIOUS or NEXT track or
Chapter.

• Tuner – Auto tunes to the next lower or
higher station.

18.STEP/SAVE: Each press advances one frame in
DVD mode. Press to save a tuned radio station into
the currently selected preset location.

EJECT/LOAD

SUBTITLE ANGLE REPEAT A-B/MUSIC

STANDBY

AUDIO JPEG SHUFFLE SLIDE

DVD

PROLOGIC

SPDIF TUNER

ENTER

MUTE

TITLE

CH

+

–

CH

AV1 AV2 AV3

OSD

321

654

987

GOTO+100

PBC

PROGRAM

CLEAR/EQ

VOL SETUP

MENU SETUP

VOL

+

–

VOL

ZOOM STOP

RETURN RESUME SLOW

AM/FM

STEP
SAVE

PAUSE PLAY

– AUTO +– TUNE +

– PRESET +

2

3

4
5
6

7

8

9

10

11

12

13

14
15

16

17

18

19

1

32

31

30

29

28

27

26

25

24

23

22

21

20

11

27.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.

• To skip to a track or chapter while playing a disc
press GOTO, then select the track or chapter num­ber 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 highlight the
title. Enter the desired title number using the num­ber keys. Use the < > keys to highlight the desired
chapter and enter this using the number keys.
Press ENTER and the disc will begin playing from
the point you selected.

• To start playing a disc from a specific time, press
GOTO twice. Use the < > keys to highlight Title and
select a title number using the number keys. Use
the < > keys to highlight 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 selected time.

28.AUDIO: This button selects one of the audio
streams available on a DVD. Some DVDs only allow
selection of the audio stream from the DVD menu.

29.JPEG: This button selects the mode used to transi­tion between JPEG still pictures.

30.SUBTITLE: Selects different subtitles available on
the DVD. Not all DVDs support subtitle selection
from this key.

31.ANGLE: Selects different view angles. Very few
DVDs support this feature.

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

19.SLOW/AM/FM:

• 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 – Toggles between AM and FM band.

20.PRESET

+,

PRESET –: Use these keys to select a

specific preset location for a radio station.

21.<< and >> /–TUNE +:

• Disc play – Each press selects 2x, 4x, 6x, 8x fast
play mode. The fifth press returns to normal speed.

• Tuner – Manually tune.

22.ZOOM: Each successive press zooms the
image 1.5x, 2x, and 3x. Press again to revert
to normal size.

23.MENU: Press to select the disc menu for the cur­rent title. This may vary depending on how the par­ticular disc is mastered. If there is no menu level,
this button will select the current title.

24.TITLE: The unit will return to the disc title page. You
may navigate and make your selection using the
CURSOR, ENTER and PLAY keys.

25.CH –/ PRO LOGIC:

• Tuner mode: Selects next lower station preset.

• Auxiliary A/ V input mode: Toggles between
STEREO and PROLOGIC for analog sources, and
for music playback from CD or MP3. Note: When

using an external digital source, surround modes are
automatically selected as with DVD playback.

26.CH +/ SPDIF:

• Tuner mode: Selects the next higher station preset.

• Auxiliary A/ V input mode: Toggles between Analog
and Digital (SPDIF) input for a selected input.

Note: The A/V input must be in STEREO mode.

12

FRONT PANEL AND DISPLAY

VIDEO

1. POWER – Turns main AC power on and off. Leave
on for normal operation, use the remote control to
switch the unit to standby mode when you are not
using it. It is only necessary to turn off this power
switch when you are leaving the unit for extended
periods, such as when you go on vacation, or for
added protection during electrical storms.

2. VFD – Vacuum Fluorescent Display of player status.

3. POWER LED – Indicates the presence of AC power.
This will remain lit in standby mode when the main
power switch is engaged.

4. VOLUME – Controls volume in 32 steps.

5. OPEN/CLOSE – Opens and closes the disc drawer.

6. PLAY – Starts play of the disc.

7. PREVIOUS TRACK/CHANNEL – Selects previous
track on a disc, or selects the next lower radio preset.

8. NEXT TRACK/CHANNEL – Selects the next disc
track or the next higher radio preset.

9. AV3 IN – Composite video and stereo analog audio
inputs for external AV source.

10.AV3 OUT – Composite audio, stereo analog audio,
and Coaxial digital output.

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

VIDEO

TITLE CHP

ST.

TUNED

3D

RDS

DIGITAL

KHz
MHz

L

R

C

LS

RS

S

Parental Lock

Indicator

Not used in

US model

Not used in

US model

Speaker

Format

Indicator

AM/FM

Tuned

Indicator

DVD: Title
RADIO: Preset Number

DVD: Chapter

RADIO: Band

DVD: Time

RADIO: Station Frequency

13

GETTING STARTED

There are two stages to an efficient setup and installa­tion of the MegaTheater system.

Stage 1 is the placement and connection of all the
components. We have made this as easy as possible
by color coding all of the critical connections.

Stage 2 is set-up and adjustment, where you tell the
AVS500 what type of TV set you have, and fine tune
the speakers according to their type and placement.
You may also set up parental controls and adjust tone
or equalization preferences at this time.

Arranging the Components:

The arrangement of the speakers within the room sig­nificantly influences their performance. Here are a few
guidelines to help you get the most from your system.

• The TV monitor is the focal point of any home theater
system. The front left and right speakers should be
placed symmetrically a few feet to either side of the
TV. These speakers should be no farther apart than
the distance of the listener to the speakers.

• The center channel speaker should be placed
directly above or below the TV, and ideally at the
same distance from the listener as the left and right
speakers. Placing the front left, front right, and cen­ter speakers at the same height is preferred.

• The surround speakers should be placed on the
side walls, slightly to the rear of the listening posi­tion. Ideally they should face each other and be at
a level about 2-3 feet higher than the listeners’
ears. If that is not possible, they may be placed on
the rear wall facing forward.

• The subwoofer is best placed in the front half of the
room, near the plane of the front speakers. Placing
the subwoofer in a corner will provide the most effi­cient coupling of the subwoofer’s energy to the

room. Positioning the subwoofer away from the
walls will reduce its output. Room acoustics play a
major role in the propagation of bass notes, so it is
advisable to experiment with a variety of placement
options and stick with the one that gives the
strongest bass with the most even response
throughout the room.

• The remote control needs a clear line of sight to the
AVS500’s front panel.

MAXIMUM RECOMMENDED DISTANCE

APART FOR HOME THEATER

SURROUND

SPEAKER

SURROUND

SPEAKER

POWERED

SUBWOOFER

CENTER CHANNEL

MAIN SPEAKERS

45 ANGLE

LEVEL

WITH

CENTER

SPEAKER