Home Cinema Systems

Home Cinema Systems

There are many different ways to achieve a surround sound setup, depending on room size, equipment budget, and if it's to be an independent audio system or part of a larger installation.

A soundbar is by far the simplest way to add the effect of surround sound to your TV. These superb active speaker systems feature surprisingly powerful output that's great with both movies and music, and their easy placement and connection make them a hugely popular upgrade.

Surround Sound Speakers

For installation home cinema, the surround speakers can be wall mount speakers or ceiling speakers, with the main stereo front pair and centre channel speaker being larger stand mount or even floor stand designs.

The addition of a subwoofer is a big part of the home cinema experience, with even a small active sub providing superb results with action scenes and soundtracks, and adding a real sense of depth to both TV sound and for music playback.

There is an array of confusing numbers that accompany surround sound systems, with 5.1, 7.1 and 9.1.2 being just a few of the labels you may see. These are Dolby speaker designations, which indicate the number of main speakers, subwoofers and surround speakers.

Dolby Surround Sound

For most home users, the standard 5.1 system is more than enough, which is three front channels, two rear surround speakers and a subwoofer. Most home cinema amplifiers can reproduce digital soundtracks to this format, or convert a stereo signal to utilise the system.

The latest setups such as Dolby Atmos require a more significant speaker system, with wall or ceiling speakers being incorporated for film effects. A full Atmos install can require up to nine main speakers and two subwoofers, and the amplifiers and media players capable of the format, so are a much larger investment.