Home Theater Speakers

Regardless of the size or type of home theater system you might be interested in, the home theater speakers are one of the most important components. Of course any speakers will need appropriate power provided by a video receiver or amplifier, but the audio speakers will make or break your home theater experience.

Most home theater systems will have at least five speakers and some have seven. These are referred to as a 5.1 and 7.1 surround sound speaker systems. The first speaker or center channel speaker should be installed or placed right above or below your video screen or TV. You should also have a powered subwoofer in your system. The bass subwoofer can be installed anywhere since it omni directional and fills the room with bass frequencies.

The 5.1 speaker systems will have two side speakers which should be placed to the right and left of the video screen, and well as two speakers that go in the back of the room. The smaller speakers that go in the back of the room are important parts of home theater systems. This is where you will hear much of the background noises and voices that make this type of system unique from what you are normally used to hearing when watching television and movies at home. The 7.1 speaker system will have an additional pair of speakers about mid way or at an equal distance from the video screen as your seating area. This additional pair of speakers add even more realism to the theater experience.

When we think of basic home theater speakers most of us imagine the smaller satellite style speakers. While these will work adequately in most circumstances, you can create a better sounding system by being a bit creative. You can easily substitute the basic surround sound speakers in the front right and left channel with full size tower or floor mount speakers. This will contribute to a much "richer" sounding home theater speaker system. In fact, you can go so far as to create your own home theater system by using standard full range book shelf speakers in the rear channel positions in addition to your tower speakers up front. Center channel speakers can be purchased separately as well as subwoofers. So you should never feel limited to the standard home theater speakers included in 5.1 or 7.1 surround sound system packages.