Home Theatre Speakers - What You Need To Know

•Speaker types

There are four basic home theater speaker categories: towers, satellites, subwoofers, and center channels. A tower speaker is a tall, freestanding model capable of reproducing a full range of sound. Satellites, which be able to be used as both front or rear-channel (surround) speakers, are little, bass-limited models designed to be matched with a subwoofer - a dedicated speaker for reproducing both bass and the low-frequency-effects channel in Dolby Digital and DTS soundtracks. And a center channel speaker is a horizontally oriented satellite that's designed to reproduce dialog.

•Freestanding vs. on-wall

some time ago, home theater speakers were typically installed along with big-screen TVs - either freestanding or placed on top of speaker stands. But many new models are on-wall designs that come with wall-mounting hardware. One advantage to these kinds of speakers is that they get positioned on walls where they do not take any room space. A second advantage is that their slim, wall –hugging design well complements flat-panel plasma and LCD TVs.

•Do you really need a center channel?

With some systems - especially those built around a large, slim rear-projection TV - finding a place to put the center channel speaker can be a problem. Although you can get by without using one, it is not recommended - center channel speakers are purposely designed to reproduce voices. You will find that movie dialog will sound much clearer when you use them. So instead of bypassing the center speaker or using the TV's built-in speakers as a center channel substitute (a terrible option, since the tonal balance of your TV's speakers is not probable to match that of your other speakers), look for a substitute mounting method. Speaker wall mounts make a fine option, particularly with flat-panel TVs. Most TV stands also include storage shelves that can hold a small center channel speaker.

•Speaker connections. A kind of connectors can be found on the back of speakers.

•A spring-clip connector is a plastic, spring-loaded clamp that's normally found on the back of cheap speakers. The connection provided by spring clips is not as secure as other types, and they can only accept bare speaker wire.

•Binding posts are a intensify connection option found on high-quality speakers. There are two types of binding posts: standard and five-way. standard types accept both banana plug and spade-lug connectors on speaker cables. The connection they provide is very safe, and in some cases the connector is also gold-plated to prevent oxidation - a condition that can possibility degrade performance. And five-way binding posts, which accept bare wire and pin-type connectors in addition to banana plugs and spade lugs, offer even more hookup flexibility than regular types.

•In-wall and in-ceiling speaker + and –

For those who prefer to keep their audio/video instrumentation out of sight, in-wall and in-ceiling speakers make a Very good alternative to regular models. Even though the sound quality of in-wall and in-ceiling models is usually a notch below that of regular speakers, they can be mounted inside of cutout cavities in the walls or ceiling of your room where they Will not take up any space. Both types are also designed to contain vibrations within the cabinet, so you won't have to worry about rattling the walls during action movies. Installation of in-wall and in-ceiling speakers involves running wires through the walls and/or ceiling of your home. If you're an experienced DIY type, you might be up to that task, but for most people it is best left to a custom installer.

•Surround speaker considerations: direct-radiating, dipolar, and bipolar There are some options to consider when taking surround sound speakers for your system.

•Direct-radiating models fire sound directly out from the speaker's front baffle to the listener's ears. These are a good general-purpose surround sound speaker choice since their clear, focused dispersion pattern can accurately convey the directional sound effect pans in DVD soundtracks.

•Dipolar models release sound from both the speaker's back and front, with the opposing driver sets wired out-of-phase with each other. This design offers a more disperse, spacious sound than a direct-radiating model while retaining some of the latter's focused dispersion characteristics. (Dipolar models are favored for THX-certified designs specially because of their diffuse sound, which more accurately resembles what you'd hear in a real movie theater.)

•Bipolar models also release sound from the front and back, apart from that in this case both sets of drivers are wired in-phase with each other. This design allows a bipolar speaker to provide the best of both worlds: a direct-radiator's clarity and focus, and a dipole's spaciousness.

•What is frequency response, and what should I look for?

The range of audio frequencies that a speaker can regurgitate is known as its frequency response. Human hearing extends from 20 Hz to 20 kHz (20,000 Hz) - a span that few models are capable to cover fully. The bass frequencies at the bottom of the range (approximately 20-120 Hz) are the hardest for a speaker to cover. Satellites do not attempt it at all, but instead pass the task off to a subwoofer - a dedicated bass speaker with drivers large sufficient to move the massive quantity of air needed to reproduce low frequencies. Since tower speakers usually contain one or more woofers, they generally deliver decent bass. But if you're shopping for tower speakers - especially if you plan to use one in a system where there's no subwoofer - make a point of checking the low end of its frequency response specification. And memorize that not all measurements are the same. For example, the bass response of a speaker spec'd at –6 dB at 40 Hz probably won't sound as full as one that measures –3 dB at 40 Hz.

•Speaker impedance and selection

Most new speakers are designed to be well-matched with a wide range of receivers and audio amplifiers, so specifications like impedance-the measure of a speaker's resistance to electrical power flowing through it as specified in Ohms-generally are not things you need to be anxious about. But what you should know is that an amplifier has to work harder to drive a speaker with a lower impedance rating than one with a higher rating. Say that your receiver is rated to deliver 100 watts into an 8-ohm load. If your speakers have an 8-Ohm impedance spec, then you are not likely to encounter any problems. But if your speakers' specified impedance is 4 ohms or less, the chances for that same receiver to overheat and shut down will be increased.

•Placement: the final frontier

Many people tend to be relaxed about where they put their speakers; more often than not, they get jostled into any old space where it's convenient. But speaker placement becomes vital when setting up a home theater system. You will want the positioning of surround sound effects in your room to correspond to what happening on screen, and that will only happens if speakers are set up properly.

Front channel towers or satellite models on stands should perfectly be placed central from the TV's sides and about three feet out from the front wall. This setup will heighten imaging and reduce any sound-muddying room support effects. And your subwoofer should be pushed into a corner of the room to permit the sound-reinforcing effect of adjacent walls to strengthen the bass. While placement guidelines for surround speakers are less strict than those for front speakers, setting up them in a high position at the sides and slightly behind the listening area will usually enhance surround sound envelopment.