Surround theater
Surround sound systems are used nearly everywhere for entertainment purposes. Movie theaters, games, home theatres, and other media involving audio are increasingly providing the surround sound option. Before surround sound, audio generated from a single source, or two speakers at maximum that gave the sense of right and left channels. Surround theater provides audio from all directions. Older surround theaters used a complex configuration to simulate surround sound without any inbuilt programming to properly provide a real experience. Scattering speakers around the audience did this so that sound came from all directions.
Surround Sound Techniques
Psychoacoustics is a new procedure that is commonly found in headphones along with localized audio generation to simulate 3-dimensional sound. There are similar technologies that follow different techniques (like WFS, wave field synthesis) to achieve the same result. Modern electronic devices like stereo, camcorders, and PC sound cards use digital signals in order to create sound waves that have multiple stereo sources.
Surround sound theaters have developed over a long time and this has resulted in many different formats that are favored by different devices. The most common sound theater format today is the 5.1 Surround Sound format that is used with audio DVD and Super Audio CD (SACD). Further enhancements to this format come through the use of ambisonics and through Dolby 5.1.
Surround Sound Formats
Here are some of the sound formats that are available today along with their specifications.
- 3.0 Surround (Matrix)
features 3 audio channels, 2 for the front speakers and 1 for the rear speaker. - 4.0 Surround (Matrix Quadraphonic)
features 4 audio channels, 2 for the front speakers and 2 for the rear speakers. - 4.1 Surround (Matrix Prologic)
features 5 audio channels, 2 for the front speakers, 2 for the rear speakers, and 1 for the front center speaker and the .1 represents the sub-woofer. - 5.1 Surround (Matrix Prologic II)
features 5 audio channels, 2 for the front speakers, 2 for the rear speakers, and 1 for the front center speaker and the .1 represents the sub-woofer. - 5.1 Surround (Discrete Dolby Digital, DTS)
features 5 audio channels, 3 for the front speakers (left, right, and center), 2 for the rear speakers, and the .1 represents the sub-woofer. - 6.1 Surround (Discrete Dolby Digital EX, DTS-ES)
features 6 audio channels, 3 for the front speakers (left, right, and center), 3 for the rear speakers (left, right, and center), and the .1 represents the sub-woofer. - 7.1 Surround (Discrete SD DS)
features 7 audio channels, 3 for the front speakers (left, right, and center), 1 each of left and right surround speakers, 2 for the rear speakers, and the .1 represents the sub-woofer.
Other factors to consider
As you can see, there is plenty of choice and the higher up you go in the surround theater standard the more you will have to pay for that. A surround theater is the only way to fully experience the same feeling you get in a movie theater. The speakers themselves will affect the cost of the surround theater as high-quality speakers can be very expensive. Fortunately, there are several low-priced speakers that offer incredible sound quality.
Besides the cost of the speakers you must also pay attention to the ease of installation. Speaker installation in a surround theater can be very complicated if the setup is not designed properly. Many people can install a home theater system but get stuck on the right speaker configuration they should create in their viewing room. Make sure the surround theater of your choice comes with a detailed and easy to understand diagram of how you must install it. If you have no place to put the speakers on their base and wish to hand them at ear level for best results then check the back of the speakers to see if there is an adequate wall-mounting bracket, preferably the swivel type, provided with the speakers.
Speakers do not have to be big in dimensions to be powerful. Even small satellite speakers can pack a punch if they are designed properly. Small speakers also look elegant and fit into any environment with ease.Finally, make sure that the design of the surround theater is such that it goes with the rest of the décor in your house or living room.