All about Home Theater Speakers

You might have noticed that the Home Cinemas are usually discussed as 5.1 or 7.1 Home Theater Speakers Systems. These numeric values actually tell us about the audio components of the system which are responsible for producing auditory sensation. Number before the decimal point denotes the number of speakers used in that particular system, while the number after the decimal point symbolizes the presence of a subwoofer. So in a 7.1 system, there are going to be 7 speakers and 1 subwoofer.

You can use a large pair of audio speakers for your stereo system, but when it comes to assembling a home theater system having a flat screen television, you will definitely require slimmer speakers! Slimmer speakers serve the purpose really well as long as you don’t expect them to reproduce the lowest part of the musical range, known as “bass”. For that specific purpose, i.e., to reproduce a deep grave in sound, subwoofers are used. So, it’s the subwoofer that makes it possible to reduce the cabinet size of other audio speakers by taking the responsibility of reproducing the lowest bass notes. Because of these subwoofers we now see wall-mounted flat panel television screens, having built-in slot to couple slimmer speakers with them. Do you know why we use only one subwoofer? The answer is simple. Our ears cannot make out where deep bass notes are coming from. I bet you didn’t know that before!

There is also a center channel speaker which is normally positioned just below or above the television screen. The purpose of this speaker is to deliver vocal sounds which are associated with the action in the middle of the video. They are also responsible to deliver the dialogues. In the absence of steering dialog to a dedicated center channel speaker, if you head out to one side you’d “hear” the dialogue coming from the nearest speaker, yet “see” the person talking from the television, which can be a little disturbing! Moreover, if you have a central channel speaker in your home theater speakers system, you will be able to enhance your sound experience by spreading out the speakers on your left and right a little more.

Now, we’ll move to surround speakers. These dedicated speakers are used for reproducing the “wrap around” surround sensation which is responsible for making your movie watching experience incredibly astounding! Surround speakers are relatively smaller in size and are positioned usually on the sides of the seating area. What I have discussed so far is a 5.1 home theater system. In large places, where you have some space even behind your seating area, there is a possibility of adding 2 more surround speakers for more involving surround effects. This addition of two more speakers transforms 5.1 to a 7.1 home theater system. Pick dipole surround speakers if they are needed to be placed close to your ears. Dipole speakers simply envelope you with sound; they just don’t shoot into your ears. It is imperative to check if the left, right, and the center speakers are sonically harmonizing. To ensure that you get matching speakers and other components, buying the whole system from the same company is always preferable.