Setting up multi-channel audio like a home theater system has always been rather complicated and manufacturers lately have developed unique products and technologies like wireless speaker kit products or virtual surround sound to help simplify this procedure. I will take a look at some of the products and technologies that have emerged and give some advice about choosing appropriate components for a hassle-free installation.

Many of recent TVs will be installed as a multi-channel audio system. Whereas traditionally TVs would contain built-in stereo loudspeakers, nowadays a number of external loudspeakers are used to let the viewer experience surround sound. The most commonly used 5.1 surround sound format requires installing a total of 6 speakers. These are one center speaker, two front side speakers, two rear speakers and a subwoofer. The newer 7.1 standard raises this number to 8 by adding two extra side speakers.

Therefore installing a home theater has become fairly hard and long speaker wire runs are normally undesirable for aesthetic reasons. Vendors have recently released new devices and technologies. These products were designed to help simplify the setup of home theater kits.

The first method is called virtual surround sound. This approach will take the audio components which would typically be sent by the remote speakers. It then utilizes signal processing to those components and inserts special cues and phase delays. Next these components are mixed with the front speaker sound. The signal processing is engineered according to how the human hearing determines the location of a sound. The audio signal is then broadcast through the front loudspeakers. The viewer is in effect tricked into assuming the sound is originating from a location other than the front speakers.

Virtual surround eliminates the remote loudspeakers and simplifies the setup and also avoids long speaker cord runs. On the other hand, it also has a drawback. The shape of each human's ear is somewhat dissimilar. As a result everybody processes sound differently. The signal processing of these virtual surround systems is based on a standard model which was measured with a standard ear. However, virtual surround will not function equally well for every human.

An alternative method for simplifying home theater installations and eliminating long speaker cable runs is to employ wireless surround sound kits or wireless loudspeakers. A wireless solution will usually include a transmitter component that connects to the TV or source in addition to wireless amplifiers that will be connected to the remote loudspeakers. This transmitter will typically come with line-level in addition to amplified speaker inputs. Ideally it should come with a volume control to adjust it to the audio source.

A number of wireless speaker products are designed to connect 2 loudspeakers per wireless amplifier. A better solution would have a wireless amplifier for every remote loudspeaker to eliminate the cord runs between each of the 2 remote speakers. The most advanced wireless products use digital transmission to avoid signal degradation. To make sure that all loudspeakers are in sync in a multi-channel application, make certain that you choose a wireless system that has an audio latency of just a few milliseconds at most. Otherwise there will be a noticeable echo type effect. Most wireless gadgets operate in the 900 MHz and 2.4 GHz frequency bands. A number of products use the less crowded 5.8 GHz frequency band and as a result have less competition from other wireless gadgets.

An alternative method, which is often named sound bars utilizes side-reflecting speakers. The sound that would ordinarily be broadcast by the remote loudspeakers is instead broadcast by loudspeakers at the front. These front loudspeakers broadcast the audio at an angle. Then the audio is reflected by the side and rear walls and appears to be coming from besides or behind the viewer. The result heavily is dependent upon the interior, especially the shape of the room and the decoration. It will work well for square rooms with no obstacles and sound reflecting walls. However, realistic scenarios frequently will differ from this ideal and reduce the result of this solution.


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