Choosing great home theater speakers isn’t too hard to do, if you know what specs to consider. Times were when a pair of speakers were all you needed for great stereo sound. That won’t cut it for home theater, though, where 5.1 sound is a minimum and newer, more exotic arrangements can have you putting up to eight speakers around your room.

The Basics of Home Theater Speakers
In a standard 5.1 surround sound setup, you’ll have six speakers, also known as channels:

1. Center channel. This is placed above or below the center of the screen and carries most of the music and dialog.
2. Left front channel. Placed to the left of the screen, this handles some music and sound effects.
3. Right front channel. Placed to the right of the screen, this is also used for music and sound effects.
4. Left rear channel. Placed behind the left-hand side of the seating area, this speaker is primarily used for atmospheric sound effects and echo.
5. Right rear channel. Placed behind the right-hand side of the seating area, this is also for atmospheric effects.
6. Subwoofer. This is the .1 in surround systems. It provides the low bass tones. Since the human ear has trouble locating the source of bass tones, you can put this speaker anywhere. Helpful, because this speaker is considerably larger than the rest of the speakers in the set.

In an ideal setup, the seating area is in the middle of the room, allowing the front and rear speakers to be placed at an equal distance from where viewers will sit. In a smaller room, these speakers can be placed on side walls or on either side of the seating area, pointing in.

In a 6.1 surround setup, an additional rear center speaker is added. A 7.1 surround system has left and right side channels that should be installed halfway between the front and back side speakers.

• Previous Page
• 1
• 2
• 3
• Next Page