 Setting up Home Theater AudioPosted 07:52PM December 14 2004 Audio Introduction 
With the advent of mass-marketed, low-budget home theater systems, a guide to the acoustic world of audio is necessary. Stereo technology has
simply evolved from two speakers, each containing a sound-reverberating cone known as a woofer, into an elaborate mix of directional sound, known as channels, and equipment called a receiver to not only power the channels,
but also digitally-control the sound processing.
Channel Location and Specification 
The layout of speakers (channels) in a home theater design is relatively simple but in order to properly assemble each piece of the puzzle,
a knowledge of the types of speakers employed is necessary.
Directly in front of the television viewer, normally sitting on top of the monitor itself, is the center channel. A receiver utilizing today's most advanced sound-processing techniques, such as Dolby DTS, will rely on the center channel for all dialogue. The center channel, like all speakers except for the subwoofer (see below), is powered by the receiver, a component that interprets and directs sound. These speakers are easily connected with positive and negative terminals and require no additional power source. Free-standing on either side of the center channel are the left and right front channels. The speakers are generally the largest in a home theater and may contain multiple woofers, as well as a small dome usually made of paper, aluminum, or titanium, known as a tweeter. Generally a foot behind the listener, mounted on either side slightly higher than ear level, are the left and right rear (surround) channels. These speakers add the cinematic effect of background sound. They are normally smaller than the front channels and operate at a lesser wattage, the amount of power a device uses to operate. The subwoofer is a single large woofer, usually suspended in a wooden or plastic box, that produces low-frequency rumbling. It is often independently-powered and connects to the receiver by a "subwoofer cable," which can normally be substituted with a common RCA-style connection. The subwoofer's placement has often been debated and suggestions of even placing it within the next room have been made. However, the primary requirements of placing a subwoofer are to keep it low to the ground, and out of direct hearing range. More About the Receiver 
All components that produce audio need to connect to the receiver. These include television signals, DVD players, and VCR's. Older equipment may need to connect via analog RCA cables, usually a left and right channel, combined into a single pair of connections.
Newer equipment may connect by Digital Optical or Digital Coaxial cables. Optical connections use fiber-optic wire to transmit audio information in the form of bright, red light, while coaxial connections rely on sturdy, often gold-plated, wire.
Both are capable of sending sound data for all 5 channels, plus the subwoofer signal (the .1 of 5.1 Surround Sound) for the receiver to then interpret.
Technological Advances Home theater equipment and specifications are constantly improving. Many consumer-grade receivers today are capable of interpretting up to 7 channels of audio, however no applications currently exist for it. The receiver has also become more like the heart of the home theater, generally managing video connections such as S-Video and Component input, in addition to sound. Although the receiver's role in a home theater may be perpetually changing, the concept of audio has always remained the same. Living through our senses, man has consistently been amazed at the surreal feeling surround sound can create.  |