Choosing surround sound speakers

Choosing the right surround sound speakers for your living room.

When it comes to choosing surround sound speakers that are right for your living room, it can get very confusing. It is one of those things where there are limitless options and possibilities, each sales clerk tells you something different, which leaves you hopeless. Before you even go out to the store where you plan on buying some surround sound speakers, make sure you know what you want. Research speakers, read reviews, find out if you want 5.1 surround sound speakers, 7.1 surround sound speakers, etc. In this little article, I want to help you out and tell you some things you should be considering before you even think about buying a new surround sound system.

Surround sound speakers can get to be expensive.

First of all, take into account your budget, and the size of your room. If your budget is small, and your living room is small, then you probably only need a 5-speaker system. If both budget and room size are large, than consider using 7 or more speakers. Next, try to pick a brand. If you have had great experiences with certain products in the past (such as jbl, Logitech, Pioneer, Yamaha, etc), than stick with that, if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. Do not mix and match brands, or even models of surround sound speakers, if you do, you could end up with speakers of different harmonic and tonal qualities, which will sound like a disaster. I always try to read as many product reviews on Amazon as I can; this gives you an idea of how good the product really is.

The front speakers:

The front speakers are going to be the workhorses of your surround sound system. They produce the off-screen special effects, on screen-special effects, musical scores, they act as your stereo while playing music, and the sound moves back and forth between them in sync with the images on the screen. There are three different kinds of front speakers: floor, bookshelf, and satellite. Remember, the bigger the speaker, the more sounds and frequencies it can produce, but they also take up the most space. If you go with bookshelf or satellite speakers, you will definitely want to consider using a subwoofer as well.

Surround speakers:

Pretty self-explanatory here, they produce the sound that surrounds whatever is on the screen. Such as raindrops, leaves rustling in the wind, people chatting, and all other ambient sounds. Ideally you want the same characteristics in your surround speakers as you want in the front speakers, but most people want their surround speakers a little smaller for easier placement and installation.

Subwoofer:

I don’t care if all of your other speakers are huge, I recommend using a subwoofer no matter what. They really give you that movie theater feel. Subwoofers give you that super low frequency punch that the other speakers just can’t produce. You have a lot of choices when it comes to the placement of a subwoofer. The low bass frequencies are omni-directional, so you can really place it anywhere you like. Most people place theirs in the center of the front of the room, or right off to the side of their television.

Center channel speaker:

The center channel speaker is what produces most of the dialogue of a film. The bigger the better, but remember how much room you have. This speaker usually gets placed right below or above the television.

Surround sound speakers can make your movie experience extremely worthwhile. If you’re going to be installing the speakers yourself, make sure you look up what the ideal speaker placements are for a room your size. Hope this helped in your journey to buying great surround sound speakers!