Choosing the Right Speakers for Your Home Cinema System
These days, technology has advanced to allow the general public to experience almost the same picture and sound quality as when visiting a traditional cinema. Whether you're looking for top of the range or a more budget friendly setup, with the right features to look out for you and your family can enjoy an impressive home entertainment system.
An earlier article titled 'Easy Guide to Choosing a Suitable Home Cinema System' explains the main choices to fit your particular budget. The following guide gives you a more in-depth look at the all important sound options to be aware of when shopping around.
Space Allowance for Your Speakers
The speakers you choose and where they are placed is a crucial element of a quality home cinema system. Here you will firstly need to consider the aesthetics and space allowance of the room in terms of where the speakers will fit, in the same way as when buying a new piece of furniture. Home cinema system speakers can be rather large, especially the front right and left speakers and the subwoofer. Then there is the issue of where the cables will run and the presence of adequate sockets in the right places to supply power this can often be addressed however by buying an extension lead.
Placement for Surround Sound
To really get the best out of a home cinema system, you will also need to experiment with the placement of your speakers in relation to where you customarily sit. For example, if you were to buy a 5.1 speaker home cinema system package, you'd get 2 front speakers arranged at either side of your TV; a centre speaker which focuses on voice reproduction above or below your TV; 2 rear speakers placed behind where you generally sit to create a sense of space and movement; and lastly a subwoofer responsible for deep bass reproduction (this can be located anywhere in the viewing room but are generally best placed on the floor). In a nutshell, what you want for a truly satisfying experience is the equivalent to a 3D picture – your sound should come from different places to give a real-life expression in relation to the images on your TV screen. This is termed Surround Sound.
Choosing your Speaker Power
The size of the speaker system you choose will depend on a range of factors, from the room size to your budget and personal tastes. These are the main options you will have to decide on:
2.1 or 3 Speaker Systems
While these are the most budget friendly entry level options, they can still offer impressive sound quality even without Surround Sound. Every sound system has the traditional two front speakers. These are then significantly boosted by adding a subwoofer for added depth of sound.
5.1 Sound Systems
Generally the most popular selection for the average home cinema system buyer, these consist of are two front speakers; two rear speakers; a centre speaker and a subwoofer. This configuration will deliver impressive Surround Sound while viewing.
6.1 Sound Systems
Similar to their 5.1 counterparts, this type of system offers an additional centre back speaker to provide enhanced transient sound effects. This is generally placed centrally behind the place you usually sit.
7.1 Sound Systems
This option replaces the extra centre rear speaker of 6.1 systems with two extra speakers to the left and right, creating an even more sophisticated soundscape experience.
Some speaker systems go as far as a 9.1 – but here you will need to consider the available power outlet capacity of your home as well as your overall electricity bill.
Conclusion
The above article helps you get to grips with the types of speaker options available when putting together your individual home cinema system. If you're new to all this, it's a good idea to go down to your local retail outlet and see for yourself the range of setups on offer, so that you can visualise whether they will be suitable for your home.
Author Resource:-
Barry Knightly owns a home cinema system retail outlet.
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