Presently, the best sound quality is considered to be surround sound. It is the kind of audio system used in some movie theaters and is now available for such applications as video arcade games, computer games and, of course, home theaters. These home cinema surround sound speaker systems mimic the feel and quality of the theater experience.

How It Works

Usually, the sound accompanying the movie is broken up into channels meant to be combined into one sound. Each channel is mapped to a particular loudspeaker. One channel to one speaker is not the only type of surround sound. The audio signal can also be encoded and then decoded for distribution to the number of speakers is included in the system.

Some home cinema surround sound speaker systems use bass management to keep the audio crisp. When bass sounds occur on a channel, it is directed to a speaker or subwoofer that can handle it rather than to the speaker mapped to the channel.

A subwoofer is a speaker specifically designed to handle bass sounds. The number that appears with the surround description reveals the number of channels it is designed to handle. For instance, 3.0 channel sound extracts three channels from the source. Two channels are mapped to the speakers at the front of the theater and one for the rear.

The 4.0 home cinema surround sound speaker systems extract four channels – two at the front and two at the rear. In these systems, the front speakers should be placed at the sides of the screen slightly turned in toward the center. The tweeters are designed to be placed at ear height. The rear speakers should form a square with the front speakers.

The 4.1 home cinema surround sound speaker systems extract four channels just like the 4.0 systems but add one low-frequency channel. The speakers for these systems are placed front, left and right, one in the center, two speakers at the rear sharing a channel and the low frequency channel routed to a subwoofer.

The creator of THX sound, Tomlinson Holman, developed the 10.2 channel surround system. In this case, the number just means that it is “twice as good as 5.1” since it actually has 14 channels. The placement of the speakers in this home cinema surround sound speaker system takes into consideration the reflection of sound off the ceiling. Take the time to find out what home cinema surround sound speaker systems would be best for the configuration of your own home theater.