Home theaters are becoming extremely popular among American homes. This modern technology is slowly giving movie theaters a run for their money.
Having a basic knowledge of how to set up a home theater system and its various components will help you gain the most relaxation, enjoyment and entertainment from your home theater experience.
The most important consideration in the design and set up of your home theater is the size of the room. The home theater speakers and all other components of your home theater need to be adapted to the size of the room. Small rooms may not need so many speakers. Generally for a small room, three speakers may be sufficient. If you have a small room, consider purchasing high-end brand home theater speakers to compliment the size of the room and maximise your home theater experience.
If you have a bigger room however, the basic three home theater speakers may not be enough. You may need to put up to six speakers around the room. You may also want to consider adding a subwoofer to complete the surround sound like in movie theaters. See the section below for help in choosing home theater speakers for your home theater setup.
A Brief Guide To Choosing Home Theater Speakers For Your Home Theater System
Almost all home theater systems include the following speakers:
- Front left and right speakers
- Center channel speaker
- Surround speakers
- Subwoofer
The above speakers work in combination to help create the surround sound experience of a movie theater in your living room. Keep in mind that there are many speaker brands and models that do a great job of reproducing sound. You do want to make sure, however, that the various speakers you choose for your home theater system will end up working well together.
Something to pay particular attention to when planning a home theater system, is voice-matching. Voice-matching is crucial to achieving an effective home theater sound. If your home theater speakers do not produce a similar tonal quality and share the same harmonic characteristics, the sound you hear will be disjointed as it travels from speaker to speaker. When you have voice-matched speakers, the sound moves smoothly and effortlessly around you in the room, creating a seamless surround sound effect. You can ensure that your setup has voice-matched speakers by choosing speakers from the same manufacturer or brand of speakers. If you have an existing pair of stereo speakers and would like to add center and surround speakers but you don't believe the series is in production anymore, simply call the manufacturer and ask for help in selecting a newer series with tonally similar qualities.)
Front Left And Right Speakers
In a home theater system, the role of the front left and right speakers is to offer a wide soundstage that blends with the video to create a more realistic and exciting movie experience. In addition to reproducing the musical soundtrack or movie score, your front speakers will handle most of the special effects as they move back and forth between the two speakers in sync with your screen images. Front speakers can also broaden the soundstage by reproducing off-screen special effects. Finally, remember that your home theater system front left and right speakers also serve as the left and right stereo speakers when you are listening to music.
Things to keep in mind about front left and right speakers:
Speaker Type
When choosing front left and right speakers for your home theater system, floor-standing speakers, bookshelf speakers and satellite/subwoofer systems will all work fine. Although floor-standing tower speakers create the most impact and provide a great low-frequency response, they also take up more space in the room. Bookshelf speakers don't reproduce as much bass, but if you're looking for space-efficient speakers that still sound great, these may be a great option. Keep in mind that compact wall-mountable satellite speakers need to be combined with a subwoofer. However, they're ideal if you are looking for big sound from a small speaker package. One other thing to keep in mind, is that both the bookshelf and satellite speakers may need stand placement or require wall mounting.
Voice-matching
As discussed earlier, voice matching is very important when setting up home theater speakers. Ensure that both your front left and right speakers are voice-matched to your other speakers, particularly your center channel speaker.
Video-shielding
Speakers can interfere with television signals if they're placed too near the TV. Ensure that your front left and right speakers are video-shielded so they won't affect your TV.
Center Channel Speaker
In your overall home theater speaker system setup, the center channel plays a pivotal role in helping to create the home movie experience you are looking for. More than half of the movie soundtrack, including almost all of the dialogue is delivered via the center channel. Since the purpose of the center channel is ensure that the sound remains anchored to the on-screen action, a quality center channel speaker is absolutely essential for completing a well-balanced home theater system.
Things to keep in mind about center channel speakers:
Speaker Placement
Normally, the center speaker will sit on or just below your TV, so make sure that your center channel size will be appropriate for where you intend to place it. If you have or plan to purchase a wall-mounted flat-panel TV and there won't be a stand to place your center channel on, you may need to consider setting up a wall-mountable center channel speaker, or an in-wall center channel speaker. Also, remember to place your center channel directly above or below your screen, as you will notice a significant disruption to the surround sound experience if you set the speaker somewhere off to the side and not dead centered.
Speaker Size
Center channel speakers come in a variety of sizes, just like front speakers. When making a decision regarding your center channel speakers, you need to take into consideration the other speakers in your home theater system, as well as the size of your tv set. If you have smaller mains and surrounds, the subwoofer/satellite system that uses smaller center channel speakers can work just fine in your entertainment setup. If you have tower speakers, or are planning to use larger speakers in your home theater setup, then you will need a larger center channel speaker model to help you maintain a seamless surround sound effect.
Voice-matching
It's very important that your center channel is voice-matched to your front left and right speakers when choosing a center channel speaker for your home theater system. For this reason, it is no surprise that most speaker manufacturers offer center channel speakers designed to create a perfect blend with their other products.
Video-shielding
Most center channel speakers shielded. However, if for some reason, you intend to use a speaker in the center channel speaker position that wasn't originally designed to be a center channel speaker, then make sure that it's video-shielded.
Surround Speakers
The role of surround speakers is to add the atmospheric and ambient sounds that help to create the surround sound effect. Sounds like footsteps, doors slamming, falling rain and rustling leaves. Surround speakers also work with the other speakers in your system to deliver directional effects and create a spectacular soundscape experience, like the sound of a train locomotive rushing across the tracks or a bullet zinging past your ears. Surround speakers are the magic components that help put you right in the middle of the action and make you believe that you are part of the movie itself.
Although the most common setup is a 5.1-channel surround system with only one pair of surround speakers, most newer home theater receivers are capable of powering more than a single pair of surround speakers and matching surround formats. It is not uncommon nowadays for serious home theater buyers and home entertainment buffs to incorporate additional surround speakers that can be used as "back surrounds" in a 6.1 or 7.1-channel system.
Things to keep in mind about surround speakers:
Speaker Type
Your surround speakers should ideally have the same performance capability as your front left and right speakers. Due to room size and space considerations, however, that is not always realistic or possible. When dealing with space and size limits or restrictions, you may want to consider purchasing either bookshelf or satellite speakers as your surround speakers. Both bookshelf and satellite speakers may require stand placement or wall mounting. Remember also, as discussed earlier, that if choosing to go with satellite speakers, you will need a subwoofer.
Speaker Placement
When you place your surround speakers correctly, you will get a very realistic three-dimensional soundfield. Incorrect surround speaker placement often results in people wondering if the surround sound is actually on. Speaker placement of surround speakers is very important, therefore. Consider carefully where you intend to place your surrounds and whether these will need to be stand-mounted, wall-mounted, in-wall or in-ceiling models.
Voice-matching
As discussed earlier, in order to create the most realistic listening experience, you need to ensure that your surround speakers are from the same brand, "family" or series as your front left, right, and center channel speakers, and that they all have similar tonal characteristics.
Dipole/bipole Capability
Many high-end surround speakers offer a dipole/bipole switch, which is also referred to as a "Solid/Diffuse" switch. These speakers feature two high-frequency drivers that either fire in phase (bipole) or out of phase (dipole). Dipole/bipole speakers take advantage of reflected sound to create a wide soundfield and they allow for greater speaker placement flexibility.
Powered Subwoofer
When designing a home theater, you should plan to include a powered subwoofer in your system. To accommodate the needs of new home theater technology, many Dolby Digital and DTS movie soundtracks provide a dedicated deep bass channel, which is also known as low frequency effects, or LFE. It is this bass channel that makes the entire movie soundtrack feel larger, fuller, and more life-like and gives many special audio effects like thunder or explosions their impact and kinesthetic experience.
Because most speakers simply can't deliver the required level of bass on their own, a home theater system needs a subwoofer to deliver its crucial low-frequency impact. A subwoofer is also a wonderful way to help enrich your music listening experience, as it can help to round out all types of music - classical, jazz, rock, pop, R&B, etc ...
Things to keep in mind about subwoofers:
Speaker Power
If you plan to set up a home theater in a large room, or you crave a richer music listening experience, consider buying a subwoofer with more watts in the built-in amp. The general rule is that the larger the driver, the deeper the bass. Choose, therefore, a sub with a big 10" or 12" woofer cone, or a multi-woofer sub, and you can be sure of getting a serious bass response from your system.
Speaker Placement
Low-frequency sound waves are omni-directional, so, when it comes to subwoofer placement, you actually have a great deal of flexibility. If you have picked out a spot in your home theater room for the subwoofer, it's important to consider the dimensions of your sub's cabinet to make sure that it will fit properly. Placing your subwoofer near a wall, or - even better - in a corner, can significantly increase your overall bass impact.
Video-shielding
If you plan to position your subwoofer anywhere near a television, ensure that the subwoofer is video-shielded.
If you want the home theater experience but don't feel competent to choose the speakers and assemble the home theater yourself, consider using the services of a professional home theater designer. They will be able to provide the best speaker recommendations for your needs and budget, as well as assist you in the placement of speakers to ensure that you will get the most out of your home theater system.
