How to Create That Movie Theater Experience at Home
Now that you've bought that big-screen high-definition TV you find that the audio from the built-in speakers is lacking, mediocre, even pathetic, putting a kink in your home theater plans. To get that theater adventure at home you need to create a sonic experience equal to the visual sensation of that new 65 inch plasma screen.
The solution? A surround sound system that will replicate a movie sound track as it was intended by the movie director. The most common surround sound system today is known as 5.1 surround sound. A 5.1 surround sound system consists of 5 separate speakers, a sub-woofer and a receiver capable of decoding and sending the proper sound to the proper speaker.
The surround part means that the speakers are positioned such that the sound track seems to surround the listener, but even more than being surrounded, the sounds are coming at you from the correct direction.
A movie character speaking from in front of you should sound like their voice is coming from in front of you and not from all sides, or even worse, a wrong direction. Proper positioning of the speakers is critical. Typically a 5.1 speaker system will position a main speaker directly inline with the TV or screen so that the characters voices will be coming from the the direction of the characters. Nothing kills the realism like the sensation of seeing someone talking in front of you, but their voice is coming from behind you.
Two more speakers are placed to the right and left of the screen, these speakers will carry the bulk of the ambient sounds and will help to provide the illusion of sound direction such as the sound of a car traveling across the screen.
Additionally two speakers are placed behind the listener providing fill and directional sounds that come from behind, completing the sonic illusion of being present in the scene.
These five speakers make up the 5 in 5.1. The.1 is the addition of a sub-woofer designed to carry the low bass sounds adding weight to the theater-like experience. Many sub-woofers will actually send vibrations throughout the room adding a tactile sensation making explosions and crashes even more realistic.
The secret to all of this sonic magic is a surround sound receiver. A 5.1 receiver/decoder decodes the soundtrack recorded on the DVD or sent over cable, and sends each individual sound to the proper speaker as the sound track created by the movie director was intended. A surround sound receiver/decoder can either include an amplifier or may be a separate component that feeds into a standalone amplifier.
The movie experience of today is a far cry from even a few years ago. Going to the movie theater immerses you in both visual and audible sensations. Recreating that experience in your own home theater has never before been more achievable or affordable than it is today.