Surround Sound System and Its Components

We often hear the term surround sound system. This is especially true today because of its widespread use that includes its installation at home. Surround sound systems are a great way to enhance your home life such as watching TV, movies, listening to your playlist, or even in playing video games. These are just some of the many things we do to relax and escape the stresses in life. Imagine if all these activities are enhanced to maximum experience and comfort.  Wouldn’t that be amazing? However, there are many things that we need to know regarding these surround sound systems. To those who are not familiar with these devices, gathering basic information can prove to be rather daunting.

What is a surround sound system? It is basically technology where the sound coming out from your computer, television or other audio source devices are being split up and channeled through a number of speakers placed strategically around the room, surrounding the center of the audience. Because the speakers surrounds the listener, this set-up creates the sort of sound that we often hear in cinemas. The quality of the sound is enhanced so that when you are watching a movie, it feels like you are really in the scene. In contrast to stereos, which were the standard before and which uses only 2 speakers, a surround sound system uses at least 5 to 7 speakers positioned around the listener.

Other terminology often associated with surround sound systems is the term ‘multi-channel sound’. This term actually means that the sound coming out from source devices is split up and is being delivered through multiple audio channels or multiple speakers. The multiple speakers are then arranged from multiple positions. The sound that comes out from these speakers will then come in from different directions to the listener, thus improving the quality of the audio experience one can get.

In discussing the set-ups of these surround sound systems, it is important to note that there are different components that are used so that the system is effective in serving its purpose. One of the main components of a home theatre system is the source device. This refers to all those devices where the sound is coming from. They can be televisions, DVD players, iPods, game consoles, computers, and many more. The next component is the receiver or the amplifier. These components are the main processors of the sound. From the source device, these devices then receive the sound and channels them through the many speakers used in the system. Thus, one can say that they are the control center of the surround sound systems. Lastly, we have the output devices as part of the major components of the surround sound system. These devices pertain to the speakers placed around the center of the listener.

There are different configurations of speakers that are being used today. The most common is the 5.1 surround sound where 5 speakers are being used as well as 1 subwoofer.

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Zi Neng Ling