Speakers and Home Theater

What is it? A basic surround-sound system consists of a receiver and six (also referred to as "5.1") speakers--three front speakers (right, left, and center channels), two rear surround speakers, and one subwoofer. More advanced systems have one or two additional surround speakers. The receiver is the brain of the home-theater system--it supplies power to the speakers and decodes audio and video signals.

Why do I need it? Blu-ray discs are capable of feeding significantly more audio information into your sound system to provide deeper, richer sound. However HDTV built-in speakers tend to have low power and relatively poor sound quality (compared to a home-theater system) and the benefits of high-def sound cannot truly be appreciated without a surround-sound speaker system. A surround-sound system allows you to fully experience high-definition entertainment.

What's the next step? Surround sound requires at least a 5.1 system. (Audiophiles should explore 6.1 or 7.1 systems.) Even if you're working with limited space and a modest budget, a home-theater system isn't out of reach; satellite speakers can be considerably smaller than tower or floor-standing versions without sacrificing sound quality, and entry-level receivers/speakers are sufficient for most home-theater systems. Our guide will help you optimize your new surround-sound system.

Read below:

Speaker Basics
Bringing Out the Best in Your Home-Theater Sound System
Budgeting for Good Speakers

Speaker Basics

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How to Bring Out the Best in Your Home-Theater Sound System

Though a home-theater sound system can be tricky to set up, the results are worth it. The combination of a high-def picture with immersive sound can make you forget you're on your own couch instead of at the local multiplex. Here's what you need to know to make the most of your audio equipment.

1. Placement Is Key

When positioning your speakers, keep symmetry in mind to balance out the surround audio. The left and right front speakers should be equidistant from your prime listening seat, with the TV centered between them, and the center speaker is meant to be placed directly above or below your TV. All three front speakers sound best when their tweeters are the same height as the listeners' ears. If the center speaker is on top of the TV, position its grille as close to the front edge of the TV as possible.

Try to keep the front left and right speakers at least two feet away from the corners of the room, as bounced sound off of side walls can create unwanted audio effects. If the room is too small to avoid this, angle the speakers inward so they're aimed at the listening position. Also position them this way if the speakers are less than eight feet from your seating area. This can produce more treble detail and will focus the sound in the right direction.

Many real-life situations thwart the ideal placement of surround speakers, but there's also more room for variance in their placement without adversely affecting sound quality. In a 5.1 channel system, the surround speakers are best positioned two to three feet above, to the side of, and slightly behind the main listening position. A wall-mount is best. The rear center channel in a 6.1 channel system should be directly behind the seating area. In 7.1 channel systems, the ideal placement for the two rear speakers is on the back wall at approximately the same angle from the listening position as the front left and right speakers.

A subwoofer placed in a corner almost always produces the most bass. Believe it or not, a great way to figure out where the sub should go is to first put it in the main listening position. Play music or movies with a lot of bass and stroll around the room, stopping at each of the spots you're considering for the sub's placement. Identify the spot where the bass is deepest and best defined (not muddy or boomy), and put the sub there.

2. The Sweet Sound of Successful Speaker Setup

Results with audio setup can depend on many variables, such as your specific receiver, your speakers, and the room in which they are placed. Test your system's auto setup to make sure it sounds the way you'd like, and if it doesn't, refer to your owner's manual to manually adjust your audio system, paying particular attention to setting the speaker size, delay, distance, and level.

The last major setting is Speaker Level, which balances the volume of all of your system's speakers. While sitting in your prime listening position, judge the volume of a test tone as it circles around the room, one speaker at a time. Use the remote's volume control to adjust the test tone so it sounds equally loud from each of the speakers. Using a sound-level meter (also known as SPL meter) to set your speaker levels is more accurate than doing it by ear alone, so serious audiophiles may want to invest in one (or get a few friends together to share the cost).

If you have a subwoofer, the single-cable LFE (A.K.A. direct or bypass input) greatly simplifies installation. Just connect your receiver's dedicated output to this input on the sub. The subwoofer will sound best when it's in phase with the main speakers (i.e., they move in and out of sync with each other). To determine if your sub's phase is correct, play music with a lot of bass, listen for a minute or so, and then have someone sitting by the sub flip its 0/180-degree phase switch between those two settings. The correct setting is the one that yields the most bass. If you don't hear any difference between the two, leave the control in the 0 position.

This may seem like a lot to do just to watch a movie, but when you consider all the hours you'll spend enjoying your home theater, getting it right from the beginning is the way to go. A properly configured sound system will be music to your ears for years to come.

If you've tried and still aren't getting the sound that matches what you paid for your speakers, consider a professional service. For a price, you can have a specially trained audio professional calibrate your audio setup and make recommendations in the room to optimize the sound. Even if you spend $100K on a speaker set-up, it can easily sound no different than a $200 system if the speakers and environment are not set up properly. The room environment, the placement of the speakers, the placement of furniture, and other environmental factors can actually be of more importance than the speakers. HAA offers professional assistance from basic calibration to full-room environment recommendations and calibrations. Visit http://www.homeacoustics.net for more information.

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Be Sure to Budget for Good Speakers

It's easy to neglect speakers when putting together your home-theater set-up. After shelling out so much for a brand-new HDTV, you may be tempted to save some cash by repurposing your old stereo speakers. While it's true that speakers last a long time and are less likely to become outmoded than other types of audio and video equipment, your performance may greatly suffer if you find yourself mixing and matching old speakers with new ones. For a balanced system, buy all of the speakers from the same manufacturer and same line, and rest assured, good speakers don't have to cost a fortune. For home-theater purposes, speakers are sold singly, in pairs, or in sets of three, six, and eight.

1. What's Available?

Be cautious with so-called bookshelf speakers; at 12 to 18 inches tall, they might not actually fit on your shelf. But they're still easier to find a home for than floor-standing models. A pair of bookshelf speakers can ably serve as the front or rear duo in a home theater, provided they have a matched center channel. Small speakers have made strides of late in their ability to handle deep bass without distortion or buzzing, formerly a perennial problem. Any bass-handling limitations are less of a concern in a multi-speaker system that has a subwoofer to reproduce deep bass. Price: $50 to $800 or more.

Floor-standing speakers, typically about three to four feet tall, handle low frequencies better than bookshelf speakers. Price: $200 to more than $1,000.

The center-channel speaker sits on, above, or beneath the TV in a multichannel setup. Don't scrimp with the center channel, as it's the most-used speaker in a home-theater system. (This is the speaker through which dialogue is typically heard.) Price: $100 to more than $500.

Rear speakers, part of the surround-sound speaker system, deliver rear ambient effects such as crowd noise. Multichannel formats such as Dolby Digital, DTS, DVD-Audio, and SACD make full use of these speakers' capabilities. They tend to be small and light, well-suited to a wall-mount or shelf placement. Price: $50 to more than $500.

Three-piece sets combine two bookshelf or small satellite speakers for midrange and higher tones with either a center-channel speaker or a subwoofer. Price: $100 to $800.

An easy route to a surround-sound system, six- or eight-piece sets include small bookshelf or satellite speakers for both front and rear pairs, a center-channel speaker, and a subwoofer. These full sets take the guesswork out of mixing and matching your way to a home theater. Price: $400 to more than $1,000.

2. How to Choose

Floor-standing speakers might overwhelm a smaller room, so bookshelf speakers are your best bet when space is at a premium. Many smaller speakers do a fine job, so don't worry that you're giving up quality for compact design. Compare reviews before buying--some of the lowest-priced speakers reproduce sound frequencies more accurately than their pricier cousins.

But the best way to judge a speaker's accuracy--its most important trait--is to listen to it in action. Bring a favorite CD to the store and try out various speakers. If you like to crank your music, make sure your receiver is rated to handle the impedance of the front speaker pair (generally 4 to 8 ohms), or it could be damaged at high volumes.

Since the word here is "budget," sacrifices may very well be in order. If you want to make one budget-minded purpose and be done with home audio for the foreseeable future, an all-in-one home theater set will generally strike the safest balance of cost, performance and convenience. Meanwhile, if you're buying your implements a few at a time and are willing to upgrade your system within the near future, your front, center and subwoofer speakers deserve most of your budget. Again, matching your speakers is important, so if you plan on saving money and buying your audio components in chunks, be sure to research both your present and future speaker choices before diving in.

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