The procedure of installing multi-channel audio speakers in home theater products is rather tedious and suppliers have invented new products and technologies such as wireless surround sound speakers or surround sound wireless headphones recently to help simplify the setup. I am going to look at a number of of the latest technologies which were designed to make setting up home theater systems a snap. I will point out what to look out for when making your buying decision.
The majority of recent TVs will be installed as a multi-channel audio system. As historically TVs would come with built-in stereo speakers, nowadays a number of external loudspeakers are used to allow the viewer experience surround sound. In case of 5.1 surround, 6 speakers are used: center, left and right front, left and right rear and a subwoofer. Newer 7.1 systems require a total number of 8 speakers by adding 2 extra side speakers.
For that reason, home theater setups have become relatively complex. Running cables to remote speakers also is often undesirable because of aesthetic reasons. Part manufacturers have created various technologies to simplify the setup.
Virtual surround avoids the remote speakers and simplifies the setup and also avoids long speaker cord runs. Then again, it also has a disadvantage. The form of each human's ear is a little different. As a result everybody processes sound differently. Since the signal processing is based on a standard human ear model, virtual surround will not work equally well for every person dependant upon how much the viewer differs from the standard model.
Wireless surround sound products are one more method for simplifying home speaker installations and normally come with a transmitter component that connects to the source and in addition wireless amplifiers which will connect to the remote loudspeakers. This transmitter will normally have line-level as well as amplified speaker inputs. Ideally it should come with a volume control to adjust it to the audio source.
A few wireless systems come with wireless amplifiers that connect to two loudspeakers. This still requires wire runs between the two loudspeakers. Other products come with separate wireless amplifiers for each loudspeaker. Entry-level wireless systems employ FM transmission or audio compression that will deteriorate the sound quality to some extent. More advanced wireless systems use uncompressed digital audio broadcast. To make certain that all loudspeakers are in sync in a multi-channel application, ensure that you choose a wireless system that has an audio latency of just a few milliseconds at most. If the latency is higher than 10 ms then there will be an echo effect which will deteriorate the surround sound. Most wireless products work in the 900 MHz and 2.4 GHz frequency bands. Some products use the less crowded 5.8 GHz frequency band and therefore have less competition from other wireless devices.
A third technology employs side-reflecting speakers. This method is called sound bars. In this case the sound for the remote speakers will be broadcast by separate speakers positioned at the front at an angle and reflected by walls as to appear to be coming from besides or behind the viewer. The effect largely is dependent upon the shape of the room and interior design and not work well in many real-world scenarios as a result of different room shapes and obstacles in the room.
The majority of recent TVs will be installed as a multi-channel audio system. As historically TVs would come with built-in stereo speakers, nowadays a number of external loudspeakers are used to allow the viewer experience surround sound. In case of 5.1 surround, 6 speakers are used: center, left and right front, left and right rear and a subwoofer. Newer 7.1 systems require a total number of 8 speakers by adding 2 extra side speakers.
For that reason, home theater setups have become relatively complex. Running cables to remote speakers also is often undesirable because of aesthetic reasons. Part manufacturers have created various technologies to simplify the setup.
Virtual surround avoids the remote speakers and simplifies the setup and also avoids long speaker cord runs. Then again, it also has a disadvantage. The form of each human's ear is a little different. As a result everybody processes sound differently. Since the signal processing is based on a standard human ear model, virtual surround will not work equally well for every person dependant upon how much the viewer differs from the standard model.
Wireless surround sound products are one more method for simplifying home speaker installations and normally come with a transmitter component that connects to the source and in addition wireless amplifiers which will connect to the remote loudspeakers. This transmitter will normally have line-level as well as amplified speaker inputs. Ideally it should come with a volume control to adjust it to the audio source.
A few wireless systems come with wireless amplifiers that connect to two loudspeakers. This still requires wire runs between the two loudspeakers. Other products come with separate wireless amplifiers for each loudspeaker. Entry-level wireless systems employ FM transmission or audio compression that will deteriorate the sound quality to some extent. More advanced wireless systems use uncompressed digital audio broadcast. To make certain that all loudspeakers are in sync in a multi-channel application, ensure that you choose a wireless system that has an audio latency of just a few milliseconds at most. If the latency is higher than 10 ms then there will be an echo effect which will deteriorate the surround sound. Most wireless products work in the 900 MHz and 2.4 GHz frequency bands. Some products use the less crowded 5.8 GHz frequency band and therefore have less competition from other wireless devices.
A third technology employs side-reflecting speakers. This method is called sound bars. In this case the sound for the remote speakers will be broadcast by separate speakers positioned at the front at an angle and reflected by walls as to appear to be coming from besides or behind the viewer. The effect largely is dependent upon the shape of the room and interior design and not work well in many real-world scenarios as a result of different room shapes and obstacles in the room.
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