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Kinsz
The procedure of installing multi-channel audio speakers in home theater products is fairly tedious and suppliers have invented new products and technologies such as wireless surround sound systems lately to help simplify the setup. I will have a look at a number of of the products and technologies that have emerged and give some advice about picking proper components for a hassle-free setup.
While in the past installing a TV has been fairly easy, the emergence of multi-channel sound has made installing home theater systems a great deal more challenging by requiring a number of external speakers to create surround sound. In case of 5.1 surround, 6 speakers are utilized: center, left and right front, left and right rear and a subwoofer. More recent 7.1 systems require a total amount of 8 speakers by adding 2 additional side speakers.
Therefore setting up a home theater has become pretty intricate and long speaker wire runs are normally undesirable for aesthetic reasons. Some technologies have emerged to simplify this procedure.
The first option is generating so-called virtual speakers by applying signal-processing to the sound and introducing phase shifts and special cues to those audio components that would typically be broadcast by the remote loudspeakers. The sound is next sent by the front speakers along with the front speaker audio components. The signal processing is modeled after the human hearing. It uses the information about how the human ear can determine the source of sound. Due to the signal processing, the viewer is tricked into assuming the audio is originating from virtual remote surround speakers.
Virtual surround eliminates the remote loudspeakers and simplifies the setup and also eliminates long speaker cord runs. Then again, it also has a downside. The form of each human's ear is slightly dissimilar. Consequently everybody processes sound in a different way. The signal processing is based on measurements which are done using a standard human ear model. If the shape of the ear changes, sound will travel differently. As a result virtual surround will not work equally well for everyone.
Another solution for simplifying home theater setups and avoiding long speaker cord runs is to utilize wireless surround sound products or wireless loudspeakers. A wireless solution will typically include a transmitter module that connects to the TV or source in addition to wireless amplifiers that will be connected to the remote speakers. Normally the transmitter part will have amplified loudspeaker inputs and line-level inputs. This provides flexibility to connect to every kind of source. A transmitter volume control helps take full advantage of the dynamic range and avoids clipping of the sound inside the transmitter.
As a number of wireless speaker devices have a wireless amplifier that connects to two speakers, other devices offer separate wireless amplifiers for every loudspeaker. The most sophisticated wireless products employ digital transmission to avoid signal degradation. Ensure that you pick a wireless system with a low audio latency, at most a few milliseconds. This will make sure that the sound from all loudspeakers, including the non-wireless speakers, is in sync. Low latency is also important for good sync with the video. A large latency would lead to an echo effect. This effect would deteriorate the surround effect. Wireless kits frequently use the 900 MHz or 2.4 GHz frequency band. A few products also use the 5.8 GHz band. These devices have less competition from other wireless products than products using the crowded 900 MHz or 2.4 GHz bands.
Another option are side-reflecting speakers. These product models are also referred to as sound bars. There are additional loudspeakers positioned at the front which broadcast the sound for the remote speakers from the front at an angle. The audio is then reflected by walls and seems to be originating from besides or behind the viewer. This solution works best in a square room with minimal interior design and obstacles. It will not function well in many real-world scenarios with different room shapes however.
While in the past installing a TV has been fairly easy, the emergence of multi-channel sound has made installing home theater systems a great deal more challenging by requiring a number of external speakers to create surround sound. In case of 5.1 surround, 6 speakers are utilized: center, left and right front, left and right rear and a subwoofer. More recent 7.1 systems require a total amount of 8 speakers by adding 2 additional side speakers.
Therefore setting up a home theater has become pretty intricate and long speaker wire runs are normally undesirable for aesthetic reasons. Some technologies have emerged to simplify this procedure.
The first option is generating so-called virtual speakers by applying signal-processing to the sound and introducing phase shifts and special cues to those audio components that would typically be broadcast by the remote loudspeakers. The sound is next sent by the front speakers along with the front speaker audio components. The signal processing is modeled after the human hearing. It uses the information about how the human ear can determine the source of sound. Due to the signal processing, the viewer is tricked into assuming the audio is originating from virtual remote surround speakers.
Virtual surround eliminates the remote loudspeakers and simplifies the setup and also eliminates long speaker cord runs. Then again, it also has a downside. The form of each human's ear is slightly dissimilar. Consequently everybody processes sound in a different way. The signal processing is based on measurements which are done using a standard human ear model. If the shape of the ear changes, sound will travel differently. As a result virtual surround will not work equally well for everyone.
Another solution for simplifying home theater setups and avoiding long speaker cord runs is to utilize wireless surround sound products or wireless loudspeakers. A wireless solution will typically include a transmitter module that connects to the TV or source in addition to wireless amplifiers that will be connected to the remote speakers. Normally the transmitter part will have amplified loudspeaker inputs and line-level inputs. This provides flexibility to connect to every kind of source. A transmitter volume control helps take full advantage of the dynamic range and avoids clipping of the sound inside the transmitter.
As a number of wireless speaker devices have a wireless amplifier that connects to two speakers, other devices offer separate wireless amplifiers for every loudspeaker. The most sophisticated wireless products employ digital transmission to avoid signal degradation. Ensure that you pick a wireless system with a low audio latency, at most a few milliseconds. This will make sure that the sound from all loudspeakers, including the non-wireless speakers, is in sync. Low latency is also important for good sync with the video. A large latency would lead to an echo effect. This effect would deteriorate the surround effect. Wireless kits frequently use the 900 MHz or 2.4 GHz frequency band. A few products also use the 5.8 GHz band. These devices have less competition from other wireless products than products using the crowded 900 MHz or 2.4 GHz bands.
Another option are side-reflecting speakers. These product models are also referred to as sound bars. There are additional loudspeakers positioned at the front which broadcast the sound for the remote speakers from the front at an angle. The audio is then reflected by walls and seems to be originating from besides or behind the viewer. This solution works best in a square room with minimal interior design and obstacles. It will not function well in many real-world scenarios with different room shapes however.
About the Author:
You can find additional information regarding wireless surround sound system models as well as other surround sound models from Amphony's web page.
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