4. Picking the right speaker system
Because sound accounts for up to 60% of any movie experience, picking the right speakers is crucial. There are lots of brands and types of speakers to choose from. With just a little insight you'll have a much better idea of the scope of speakers available and what types are most suited to your home theatre.
Room size is a major factor: simply put, speaker size/power need to match the room size they're in – a big room needs big speakers and a small room, well, you get it. Then there's furnishings to consider: amount of glass/reflective surfaces, sound absorbing furniture and drapes etc. Our sales consultant will ask you to describe in detail the room where your home theatre will be and then make a rccommendation based on that.
Speakers by numbers
Do you know you can have a 2.1, 5.1, 6.1 or 7.1 channel surround sound speaker system. The first number (2, 5, 6 or 7) tells you how many speakers are in the system. The .1 tells you that the speaker system includes a subwoofer. A subwoofer is necessary in home theatre if you want to hear thunderous explosions and other deep, room shaking effects.
Many people feel that the more speakers there are, the better the surround sound effect becomes. Like all rules there are plenty of exceptions. A quality, well set up five-speaker-plus-subwoofer system will do a fantastic job of recreating a cinema quality (or better) experience in your home. As your expectations grow, you can add more speakers.
Home theatre speakers – what are they?
Main or Front speakers
Sitting either side of your screen these speakers are doing a lot of the movie soundtrack work and can be floorstanders, bookshelf or satellite:
Floorstanding speakers
Usually a metre or more in height, floorstanders are the big daddy of speakers, delivering a weightier sound than the equivalent bookshelf speaker simply because the size of cabinet can produce deeper sounds. Floorstanders typically offer good bass but also take up more room.
Bookshelf speakers
More compact than a floorstander, take up less space, but the trade-off is less bass. Of course some bookshelf speakers produce more bass than floorstanders and unless you're bass obsessed this might not be an issue. A subwoofer is optional, but recommended for home theatre applications.
Satellite speakers
Ultra-compact speakers often fixed to the wall or placed on a cabinet. Best suited to smaller rooms as generally don't have the volume or power of floor or bookshelf speakers – see more below.
Centre channel speaker
The centre-channel speaker is responsible for reproducing the dialogue in a movie. Has to perform well if you want to know what the hell is going on in the movie. Make sure it's a good sonic match with all the other speakers in your system – it's called timbre matching. Safest way to ensure this is to buy a home theatre pack that is the same brand and type of speaker.
Surround/rear speakers
Sitting off to one side and slightly behind you, these speakers produce the atmospheric, ambient sounds (rain falling, leaves rustling, distant cannons firing) and work with other speakers to create directional effects (rockets firing across the room, space-ships zooming overhead etc). These are typically a bookshelf-sized speaker but if you really want the best surround sound we strongly recommend bi/dipole speakers. These are rear-effects speakers designed specifically for the job and the difference they make is clear. Once again make sure the rear speakers are sonically a good match to the other speakers in your system.
Subwoofer
Produces deep, room-shaking bass. Almost essential in a home theatre system to get the most from movie soundtracks that are full of low frequency sounds like roaring jets, explosions, thunder etc. These sounds add real excitement to your movie-watching experience and for the generally modest price of a typical sub we recommend you include one in your home theatre line-up. You'll be amazed at the difference a sub makes to your music too – and not just deep bass but across the whole sound spectrum.
Satellite speakers
In recent years there has been an explosion of these lifestyle-oriented miniature speakers. Someone realised that not everyone wants big speaker boxes dominating their décor and so the sub/sat system was born. Typically they comprise very compact (read tiny) speakers in a myriad of cool shapes and finishes teamed up with a subwoofer that can be hidden out of sight. Because satellite speakers are so small they cannot produce lower frequency bass notes and so must be teamed with a sub to create the full sound spectrum. These are usually purchased as a complete set known as a sub-satellite speaker system. Most home theatre-in-a-box solutions include a sub-satellite speaker arrangement. Don't be fooled by their size, a quality sub/sat system can punch out a decent sound although not on the same scale as a full-sized system. Best suited to small/medium-sized rooms.
Speaker positioning
Any speakers need to be set up properly to create a cinematic feeling. And before you buy any speakers, it pays to consider the practicalities of setting them up. Will you need speaker stands? Wall brackets? Can you position floorstanding speakers where they need to be?
No matter how much money you spend, if you don't put your speakers in the right places you could end up being disappointed with the results.
It's also important that you sit in the right place to enjoy a full surround sound effect. The optimum spot is known as the 'sweet spot'. That is where you seem truly surrounded by the sounds of the movie-world. Some speakers, such as KEF's Uni-Q range, are specially designed to offer a bigger sweet spot. That means people can sit in a wider area of the room and still enjoy fully immersive surround sound.
Front speakers
Sit either side of the screen but not too close to the screen. If a sound effect is produced by the left-front speaker for example, you want it to sound as though it's coming from the left side of the room. Direct the speakers towards your seating position.
* These are the only speakers in a virtual home theatre package and you position them in the same way.
Centre-channel speaker
You want dialogue to sound like its coming out of the actors mouths so put the centre-channel speaker right under the screen in a centred position.
Surround speakers
These should be mounted high on your walls behind your seating position. Tilt them down and in for best results. But if you don't want to wall mount anything, use tall stands.
Subwoofer
Because your ear can't detect where low frequency sounds come from a subwoofer can be placed pretty much anywhere in your room that suits. A good rule is to sit where you'd normally be sitting to watch a movie and try the sub in different locations. Where it sounds best – that's the spot to put it.
Choosing an AV receiver: powering your speakers
To get the best from your great sounding speakers you'll need an amplifier that is capable of driving them properly. That's your AV Receiver – the next piece of kit to purchase and the 'hub' of your home theatre system.