If you are looking for a high quality home theater experience, among the most important components are home theater speaker systems. In order to understand just how a home theater speaker system helps to enhance your entertainment center, it is first important to discuss what a home theater is and how it is commonly set up.

A home theater set up seeks to create the movie theater experience within one's home. A home theater is the combination of two types of media, video and audio. On the video side, a home theater usually includes a big screen or high definition TV set and a DVD or high definition DVD player. On the audio side, this system includes a special home theater receiver which usually has the ability to decode specific home theater formats such as Dolby Digital, THX, etc and special speakers each positioned and created for precise placement in a room.Home Theater Speaker Systems

Components of a Home Theater Speaker System

Since home theater speaker systems recreate a movie theater like experience, several speakers are required. In a normal home audio set up, you will usually have a receiver with two speakers – one speaker for each channel (right and left). You usually place one speaker in the front of the room on the right and the other speaker in the front of the room on the left. However, in a home theater system, the number of speakers required to recreate a movie theater and the placement of the speakers is quite different than a normal home audio set up.

A Minimum of 5 Speakers

A common configuration for most home theater speaker systems is the 5.1 set up. In a 5.1 set up, a home theater includes a right front channel, a left front channel, a center channel, one channel that covers the left surround speaker and one channel that covers the right channel speaker. Also included is a low frequency channel that supports a subwoofer. Here are some more details about each channel.

Front Right Channel Speaker

The front right channel is to the right of the TV set and in many situations, is a loudspeaker able to handle large ranges of signal. Since it is one of the main speakers, the left being the other, it is extremely powerful, filling the room with high quality sound.

Front Left Channel Speaker

Like the front right channel, this speaker is extremely important and works in stereo with the right channel. Both front left and front right channel speakers are always sold in pairs and are equally powerful. They both include the same dynamic range so that the sound is even. Many times, front left and right channel speakers are sold as "Loudspeakers", due to their larger size and power than other home theater speaker components.

Center Channel Speaker

The center channel speaker is usually located either underneath the TV or above the TV. The center channel always consists of one single speaker that mostly handles the midrange of sound. Its purpose is to effectively anchor dialogue, which falls in the midrange of sound, keeping the dialogue in the front and center for the viewer. Center channel speakers are usually rectangular in shape and have a low profile. They are magnetically shielded due to the fact that they are mounted close to the TV set.

Surround Sound Channel Speakers

Surround sound channel speakers are usually a set of two speakers situated behind the viewer, either set up on stands that are about ear level or attached to brackets on a wall. Surround sound channel speakers are usually stereo channel speakers (one left and one right), but the sounds they create are usually used for ambient purposes to give a feel of the video's environment (such as the sound of wind, a train in the background or traffic).

Surround sound channel speakers can be the same size as the front speakers, but many times are much smaller (commonly referred to as satellite speakers). These smaller sized speakers are lightweight, allowing them to hang on wall brackets or on small stands. It should be noted that if you havea very large room, you could have not only one pair of surround sound channel speakers, but up to three pairs. These configurations are usually written as 5.1 (for one pair of surround channel speakers), 6.1 (for two pairs of surround channel speakers) and 7.1 (for three pairs of surround channel speakers).

The Subwoofer

As stated above, most home theater systems include a subwoofer to create extremely low frequency sounds (from about 10 Hz to about 150 Hz). Subwoofers are omni- directional meaning that they can be placed anywhere in the room, since low frequencies generally travel in all directions. In many cases, a subwoofer faces and fires its woofer into the ground. A subwoofer can greatly enhance your home theater enjoyment by recreating very low frequencies that play a major part in explosions, car engines, etc.

Types of Home Theater Speaker Systems

There are several types of home theater speaker systems, they include the following:

  • Home Theater Box Sets
  • Home Theater Satellite Speakers
  • Customized Home Theater Speaker Systems
  • Home Theater Speaker Systems for Computers

Home Theater Box Sets

One of the most common types of home theater speaker systems is called the home theater box set. These are pre-configured home theater speaker sets. They usually include 5 speakers (front right, front left, center, surround right, surround left), and in most cases a separate subwoofer. Also available are box sets that only include 3 speakers (front right, front left and center channel). In this case, a box set would not include a subwoofer. Home theater box sets are extremely easy to set up, pre-configured so that each speaker is equal with the other, ensuring that the audio is clear and balanced.

It should be noted that many home theater box sets even include a DVD player, making it a total solution for creating a home theater system – only a TV screen is required. Home theater box sets come in a variety of price points, ranging from about $150 to well over $1,500.

Home Theater Satellite Speakers

Satellite speakers are generally small sized speakers that can accurately produce sound. While satellite speakers are small, they are very powerful and can add a lot of punch to your sound. They are perfect for small rooms or for rooms in which large speakers are not aesthetically pleasing. Satellite speakers can vary in price. On the low end a home theater set can cost about $150, on the high end, they can range over $1000. Just like home theater box sets, satellite speakers mostly come with DVD players.

Customized Home Theater Speaker Systems

While box systems and satellite speaker systems are very popular, many audiophiles choose to buy home theater speakers systems individually instead of as a set.

In a customized home theater speaker system, usually select, high-end components are chosen specifically for the room it will be placed in and the types of audio it will generally reproduce. There are many types of speakers available and many of them can easily be used in a home theater environment. Customized home theater speaker sets can be quite expensive, costing up to a couple of thousand dollars for an entire set or even just one individual speaker.

Home Theater Speaker Systems for Computers

One of the emerging areas where home theater speaker systems have become popular is at the computer desk. Since many watch movies on their computer's DVD drive or download video and watch it on their computer monitor, home theater speaker systems for computers have gained in popularity. While much smaller than other types of home theater speaker sets, in many ways, they are just as powerful and reproduce high quality sound. In fact, most home theater speaker systems built for computers even include digital surround processing such as Dolby and THX. Prices are usually affordable, ranging from about $200 to about $1,000 for top of the line systems.

Brad Waite is ahome theater enginee with Integrity Home Theater.