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How to place speakers in Home Theater Systems
HOME THEATER
When choosing speakers for home cinema the demand for, and
placement of speakers differ depending on whether they will be used
for Dolby Pro Logic-sound or discrete digital soundtracks such as
Dolby Digital, DTS (Digital Theater System) (5.1).
Center speaker
The center speaker is probably the most important speaker in home
cinema sound. It must reproduce voices and sound effects clearly
and with high fidelity. It shall also be voice matched with the
other speakers in the system. A center speaker is usually placed
above or under the TV set.
Front speakers
When choosing front speakers, it's extremely important to use voice
matched drivers from the same manufacturer in order to achieve identical
sound character from all speakeers. The same type of drivers in
all five speakers gives you a seamless experience when the sound
is panned across the soundstage. The front speakers should always
be voice matched. This guarantees a balanced and natural sound from
the front of the room. The fact that the center channel speaker
is not equipped with the same bass drivers is not important since
the bass information is directed to your left and right front speaker
or to the subwoofer.
Surround speakers
The surround speakers in a Dolby Pro Logic set-up is used to create
an atmosphere and a sense of space. The sound has limited bandwidth
and is produced in mono. Therefore the speakers can be small and doesn't
have to be voice matched. They should be aimed away from the listener
and reflect the sound wall boundaries. Discrete digital systems, like
Dolby Digital and DTS (5.1 systems), needs more attention. The surround
speakers in a 5.1 system, reproduces sound in stereo with full bandwith.
Therefore, using speakers that are voice matched with the front set-up
and directing the speakers directly towards the listener is recommended.
Subwoofer
Movie producers are using deep and powerful bass to enhance the effects
of films. Therefore, movies contain more deep bass than musical recordings.
A separate subwoofer is designed to accurately reproduce the low bass
information, and adding a subwoofer to your system has many advantages.
It creates a better sound quality in the entire system wheter listening
to movie soundtracks or musical recording. By adding a subwoofer,
the low-bass information is directed to the subwoofer and the satellites
are relieved from the stress of reproducing bass information resulting
in a much better system performance.
In a Dolby Pro Logic set-up the adding of a subwoofer creates a
much better experience, In systems with Dolby Digital and 5.1 the
use of a separate subwoofer is mandatory since a large part of the
lower frequensies is mixed to the discrete subwoofer-channel for
added impact.
Dolby Pro Logic and Dolby Digital are registerd trademarks
and owned by Dolby Laboratories Licensing Corporation.
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