Proper Surround Sound Speakers Will Immerse You In All The Action And Truly Bring The Movie Going Experience Home

The difference between TV and home theater is the quality of sound. When you set up a home theater system, you want to recreate the experience of watching a movie at the theater. Of course, you want a great HD (high definition) large screen video display, but home theater speakers are even more important. Without the speakers, it’s a great television; with surround sound speakers, it’s a movie experience.

Home theater speaker systems are designed to recreate lifelike sound. In real life, sound comes from all around you, and that’s what surround sound speakers do. When home theater speakers are set up properly, voices seem to come from the video images. Ambient sounds, like birds chirping and cars going by, come from all around you, like they would if you were right in the room with all the action.

Surround sound speakers also give you a sense of movement. The most common example is the space ships in the Star Wars movies. If you watch them in the theater or with surround sound speakers, you can hear the ships move from right to left and front to back of the room.

And then there’s the bass. Home theater speaker systems usually include a subwoofer. A subwoofer plays only very low sounds, at or below the threshold of human hearing. This helps recreate the theater experience because you can feel real sound (sound waves are conducted through our ears and our bones). A subwoofer helps you feel home theater sound, too, and gives you those very low sounds that most speakers can’t reproduce.

If you’re thinking about setting up a home theater system, you may have some of the same questions a lot of other people do about speakers. The following FAQ’S should help.

• How many home theater speakers do I need?

The absolute bare minimum number of speakers for setting up surround sound is four. Most new systems are 5.1, 6.1 or 7.1. The first number is the number of speakers and the ".1" is the subwoofer. Your a/v receiver will determine how many speakers you need—check it to see how many speaker ports it has.

• How do I place the speakers?

You usually place three speakers in front of the seating—one in the middle and one on each side. The rest of the speakers are evenly arrayed behind the seating.

We don’t hear deep bass sound directionally, so the subwoofer can be placed anywhere that gives you good results. Most people place it in front and to one side. The subwoofer waves may be dampened by other audio waves, so you may have to experiment a bit to find the best spot for your subwoofer.

• What if my receiver only has room for four speakers?

The middle front speaker anchors the sound to the video. If you don’t have a middle speaker, you can use your TV speakers instead. It doesn’t produce the same quality of sound, though.

• What is THX certification?

THX certification means that the component meets the highest industry standards for sound reproduction. THX components give you the best possible sound. They are rated for the size of your room to ensure that you get theater quality sound in that specific environment.

THX components are top-of-the-line, and more expensive. If you want the best possible sound, though, THX certification guarantees that you will get it.

• What do I look for when I’m buying speakers?

You listen for speaker quality—appearance is secondary to sound. Take some of your own CD’s or DVD’s with you and listen to different types of sound. Listen for deep bass notes and higher notes. Crank up the sound and see if you get any distortion. Listen from different distances and see if you get any distance distortion. Make sure the speakers perform well before you bring them home.

Great home theater speakers are essential to your home theater experience. The better the speakers, the more "theater-like" it will be.

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