| With the increasing popularity of HDTV, watching a | | | | surround sound setup that will be right for your home. |
| DVD movie at home is a great entertainment | | | | Much of the seating area will be determined by the |
| experience. The picture is sharp, clear, and vibrant. But | | | | size and type of TV that you have. If it is a 40" HDTV, |
| what about the sound? After all, that is one of the real | | | | which is a very common size, you can probably sit |
| attractions of going to a movie theater, the | | | | about 5-8 feet away and not notice any degradation in |
| wraparound sound that lets you hear every detail. So | | | | the picture quality. Just experiment with the seating |
| is there a way to bring that kind of audio into our | | | | distance until it seems comfortable though. Then the |
| homes too? Absolutely! | | | | two front speakers usually flank the TV, but make |
| Actually surround sound has been around for a while | | | | sure that they are wide enough to form a triangle with |
| now in one form or another, but it just never had a | | | | the seating area so everyone will be in the sound |
| platform to bring it into the mainstream before HDTV | | | | sweet spot. |
| and digital media like the DVD became so prevalent. | | | | The two back speakers are often placed somewhere |
| But now by combining the right equipment, a person | | | | around the seating area and faced either to a side or |
| can actually very closely simulate the movie theater | | | | rear wall. The middle speaker needs to be situated |
| experience right in the comfort of their home | | | | somewhere close to the TV, and the subwoofer can |
| whenever they want. | | | | be put anywhere in the room that you like, since it puts |
| For surround sound, you will need three things, (1) a | | | | out such low frequency bass that seems to come |
| digital source that has surround sound already | | | | from everywhere. |
| encoded into it such as a DVD or a HDTV broadcast, | | | | Every room has different listening characteristics |
| (2) equipment to decode that surround sound signal, | | | | though due to it's configuration and furnishings, so feel |
| and (3) at least 6 speakers including a subwoofer to | | | | free to experiment around until you find the |
| take full advantage of the most popular 5.1 surround | | | | combination that works best for you. A surround |
| sound format. It's called 5.1 because it use 5 channels | | | | sound installation may seem challenging, but it's just |
| of sound to drive 5 separate speakers, and the .1 | | | | simply getting the right equipment and placing the |
| stands for the low-frequency subwoofer. | | | | speakers where they produce the best overall sound. |
| Once you have the equipment you need to establish a | | | | |