Archive for the ‘Surround Sound’ Category

Is Your Home Theater Hard To Use?

Thursday, April 12th, 2012

Remember when all you did to watch TV was turn it on and change the channels?  Now, many suffer from too many remotes, too many buttons, and too many steps.  Spouses at work are getting calls from spouses at home who can’t get the TV going.  Want TV to be as easy as it ever was?

Well, there are two things you can do.  One, you can make your TV “system” a simple one.  Get rid of the DVD player, VCR, video game, iPod, Netflix player, AppleTV, and surround sound stereo.  You should now be left with a cable box–or antenna–and a TV.  If there is still something else attached get rid of it.  Congratulations.  You can now pick up one remote only and you’re good to go.  That’s one solution.

Or, you can keep all of your TV “add-ons” and, with the right TV, the right add-ons, and an automated remote control, you can have things as simple as they ever were.  Now, I won’t lie to you.  It takes careful component selection and savvy programming of the remote to live this life of electronic bliss.  Most of the time, this means paying a professional.  But, a professional what?  Lots of people sell this stuff.  What you want is an expert in “system automation,” automated control,” or “home automation.”

In its ideal form, system automation means one button-press for whatever it is you want to do: watch TV, listen to music, stream a movie, play a game.  For those who want more than just their audio and video to be so simple, system automation puts the user one-button press away from lights off, lights on, lights dimmed, shades up, shades down, shades half-way, security system armed, security system disarmed.

The controllers range in style from the common hand-held remote, to wall-mounted touch screen controls.   The best controllers don’t need to be pointed, are fast, reliable, and allow your gear to be hidden out of sight.  You can expect to pay anywhere from under $1000 to $10,000 for a quality controller—and the hidden gear that comes with it–installed.  Generally speaking, the more things that need to be controlled the greater the price.  And, generally speaking, the larger the controller the greater the price.  At the most luxurious level, we’re talking about touch screen panels throughout the house that access the internet, that access security cameras, that access music and movies, and that double as TVs or computer screens.

Often, even if you already have audio and video equipment that wasn’t chosen with the goal of one-touch automation, the right control system can make operating that home-theater a whole lot easier—if not “one-touch” easy.  We’re talking the difference between enjoying that surround sound system you spent all that money on, or just not bothering.  Imagine being able to plop down on your couch and touch a button and just have it work.

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Better Sound Through Computing, for Audiophile Masochists

Friday, March 9th, 2012

People who make stereo and home theater fidelity their hobby are rare.  I’m talking about the person who subscribes to the equipment review publications and who has, at any given moment, equipment upgrade plans.  This person is what’s known as an audiophile.  (You may be surprised to know that custom installation a/v companies rarely see these people.  As a matter of fact, a cliche in the business is the prospect who tells the system designer that he or she isn’t an “audiophile” or “stereophile.”  Almost all prospects say that.)  Rarer still is the computer audiophile.  This person pursues the best sound by processing the audio through a computer.  Computeraudiophile.com caters to this person.  Media Center 17, published by J River, is software that caters to this person.  And, let me tell you, when that computer audiophile gets the urge to tweak, Media Center 17 is paradise!  I just spent two solid days with it.  I can’t wait to get back to it.

Media Center 17 is software that manages audio, video, and image files.  The audio portion is the only one I’ve explored.  With Media Center 17, audiophiles get to use 192/24 resolution (i.e. studio quality) music files, higher resolutions should those ever come, and all the usual lower resolutions (e.g. MP3 resolutions).  There’s upsampling, of course.  There’s equalization;  users can choose any frequency range (e.g. 40hz, 40hz to 60hz, 10khz, etc.) and make it as loud or soft as they like.  Both stereo and multichannel playback are accomodated.  My Radio Shack sound level meter in hand, I’ve been playing different frequency tones (http://www.amazon.com/Audio-Test-Tones/dp/B007H9H6JA)  and measuring their  loudness at my listening position.  Then, I’ve been adjusting the Media Center 17 equalizer so that all frequencies are of equal loudness (i.e. so that the frequency response is “flat”).  I’ve also been using adjusting the equalizer just to hear the effect.  It’s fascinating to hear how bringing 125hz up or down affects the sound of this or that instrument.  Of course, as with any audiophile. I’m mainly after this to see if I can achieve better overall sound.

Computers are a headache.  So, of course, using software to play, to manage, and to adjust one’s music files is not for the typical listener.  A computer-based media management tool this versatile is for enthusiasts who can handle pain.   An A/V system that is manually controlled via a keyboard and mouse is the antithesis of an a/v system that has been automated via a programmed remote (see http://www.dhaudioandhometheater.com/blog/2011/09/20/is-your-home-theater-hard-to-use/).   With the former, you may not be able to listen to music tonight.  With the latter, you press the button that says “Music” and you’re all set.  Like some kind of audiophile masochist, I’ve suffered with Media Center 17.  For starters, there’s an open laptop on my equipment cabinet and I’m sitting on an ottoman next to it to play my music.  I’m not sitting in the ”sweet spot” in my ergonomically excellent Ekornes chair.  The cables connecting both my external hard-drive–where music files live–and the stereo, to my computer, won’t permit it.  Control via an iPhone app, so I can sit in my comfy chair, hasn’t cut it.  Some iPhone apps I couldn’t get to work, others don’t offer complete control.   Media Center 17 freezes often.  There is no one to call, just email support and user groups.   Finding out how to do something is painstaking.  Mistakes come easy.  I accidentally removed a key element of the software and could get it back only by downloading the software again.

Did I mention that I can’t wait to get back to playing with it some more?  J  River kindly offers a one-month free trial with full system features.  At $50, if this is your thing, it’s a bargain.   http://www.jriver.com/

 

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Posted in Audio Formats, Automation, Home Automation, Internet Music, music apps, Music Server, Stereo, Surround Sound, Uncategorized | No Comments »

Smartphones Make Home Theater Easy Now, But It’ll Get Better

Wednesday, December 28th, 2011

Whether the idea scares you or not–some don’t like relying on one device to do too much–your smartphone may soon be your automated controller.  An automated controller is what makes audio/video systems easy.  You want to watch TV?  You press a button on an automated controller that says “TV.”  The controller, or “remote,” then tells the TV to turn on, tells it what input to go to, tells the cable box to come on, tells the stereo to turn on, and tells the stereo what input to turn to and what sound mode (e.g. Dolby Digital, Dolby Pro Logic II, Stereo) to be in.  The remote also knows that when you then press “7,” it’s to tell the cable box to go to the high-definition version of channel 7 (i.e. you’re not telling the DVD player to go to chapter 7).  Similarly, if you want to watch a DVD, you push the button that says “DVD.”  If you want to listen to Sirius, you push the button that says “Sirius,” and similarly for your other audio and video sources.  And, you don’t have to aim automated controllers–the better ones, anyway–at the TV or at the other equipment.  It’s truly user friendly a/v–the way electronics that are designed for people should be.

For a few years now, our smartphones have been effectively letting us choose songs, and make playlists, for listening to on our stereos.  These apps allow one to pick songs and to make playlists from the music on our computer and from the music offered by the likes of Rhapsody, MOG, or Spotify (i.e. internet-based companies that offer just about any song or album).  These smartphone apps also allow us to listen to internet-based radio such as AM/FM stations (i.e. the stations on your table radio, but all of them and all crystal clear), and internet-only music stations (Apple has some, Logitech has some), and Pandora, a service that serves up songs it thinks you’ll like based on songs you type into it.  It’s mind boggling to be sitting in a recliner, smartphone in hand, choosing among all the worlds’ commercially recorded music to playback through the stereo.  Now is a golden age for the music lover.

Getting back to our smartphones, what haven’t been widely available are apps for our smartphones that will let us control our a/v receivers (e.g. to choose CD or radio or DVD or to change the volume).  Some manufacturers have started offering such apps–Denon and Onkyo come to mind.  (Denon, I know, also has an app for control of a DVD player.)  What also hasn’t been available are apps for TV control, like changing inputs and controlling volume and changing channels and controlling the internet-based content (e.g. movies from Netflix, YouTube, etc.).  Samsung has started to do this, though this is very new.  (Heed the warning that the cutting edge is the bleeding edge, and you’ll be happier.)  And, also in its infancy, is controlling one’s cable box with an app.  Comcast has started down this path, purporting to have an app that acts as the remote control.

Still, it seems reasonable to think that not only will these apps grow in number, they’ll rapidly get to the point where they work well.  Of course, once they work well, it will not be enough for a user-friendly experience.  You will still have to run an app for the cable box and another for the TV and another for the DVD player and another for the stereo.  That’s a lot of page flipping to do on a smart phone and things will get confusing quick.  This is the problem with the standard type of universal remote.  Sure, it may be able to control all your devices, but you have to know all the right buttons to push.  It’s a far cry from the one-touch ease of the automated controller, where you push the ”TV” button, if you want to watch TV, and then everything that needs to happen to your a/v system happens automatically.

So, what many predict will happen for smartphones is that they will become like today’s automated controller.  That is, there will be an app for your smartphone that controls all of your home theater system.  You will not have to switch to Comcast’s app for the cable box and switch to Denon’s app for the receiver and DVD player and switch to Samsung’s app for the TV.   Instead, one app will handle the DVD player, the cable box, the a/v receiver, and the TV.  I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s a safe, reliable, user-friendly experience in as little as 2 years.  That will be cool!

For now, the automated controller is still the ticket, while many have a toe-in-the-water when it comes to controlling their home theaters with their smart phones.  In particular, what many users find very much to their liking, is to augment the automated remote with an app on their phone for selecting network-based music.  It’s just a two-step process.  First, they press a button on the automated remote that says “Network Music.”  Second, they pick up their iPhone or their Android or whatever smartphone they’ve got.  Now, smartphone in hand, app loaded, they’re in the driver’s seat to access the worlds’ commercial recordings.  No one I know who has done this is all that concerned about how soon the smartphone will be able to do it all.  The current combination of automated remote and smartphone is that good.  And, many are comforted by the fact that the automated remote will work just fine even when their network is down.  App based control?  Not so much.

 

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Posted in Automation, ethernet control, Home Automation, Internet Music, music apps, Music Server, Radio, Stereo, Surround Sound | No Comments »

TV and Sound System Installation

Monday, September 19th, 2011

The easiest way to get the right TV and music system installation is to speak with a qualified system designer well before you buy anything.  Most people don’t realize the planning that should go into setting up a TV or music system.  Even a system as simple as a TV on the wall with a cable box can be installed cheaper, and perform better, with the proper planning.  Without proper planning, coaxial cables, data cables, speaker cables, and line-level cables are often run to the wrong place or left out entirely.  A home cannot be pre-wired correctly, and at minimum cost, without the homeowner’s anticipated needs being taken into account.  If construction is already going on in the home, it’s advantageous to have that conversation with an a/v designer at least one month before the work is finished.  This way, your audio/video outfit can wire while your place is torn apart, rather than have to make fresh holes which you’ll have to fix!

Lots of homeowners don’t like to have this conversation with an audio/video specialist.  They may think that the gear they buy will automatically do what they need, because their needs are simple.  They say they wouldn’t know what to talk about with a system designer.  They say, in their own way, that they’re not audiophiles or videophiles.  But, there is no correlation between the need for planning and one’s passion for, or knowledge of, things audio or video.  Rather, planning is required to correctly execute certain types of installations and to fulfill certain user needs.

Again, it’s not about how much the end-user loves music or movies.  Indeed, a real hi-fi freak may need no planning, because his interest is in state of the art equipment sitting in an open rack—the better to regularly move gear around.  An example is the enthusiast who constantly tinkers and “upgrades.”  There is no wiring behind walls for this guy, there is no wall mounted TV, and there is no equipment hidden in a closet or cabinet—three criteria that pretty much guarantee you need advanced expert planning.  On the other hand, the couple who want things looking neat and tidy, who might have some background music playing when company is over, who want to be able to plop down on the couch and watch TV at night without needing an engineering degree:  these are the ones for whom planning is critical.

Thinking that your needs are simple, and so not planning properly, will hurt you every time.  People who say their needs are simple often want the following system features. These features all require particular wiring, and additional equipment that is easily missed.

Features that necessitate an a/v plan before you wire:

  1. Ability to listen to TV through the TV speakers only, but also the ability to listen through the stereo or surround sound system.  For instance, some homeowners want the nightly news played through the TV speakers, and they want the HBO movie, or the 60’s music channel, played through the surround sound speakers.
  2. Ability to have music from one centralized audio system play in more than one room (i.e. a multi-room music system).  People will have their electrician or their builder handle this wiring without the audio/video system figured out in advance.  The resulting wiring is usually wrong.  Even a home theater expert would need a proper system design if he’s going to get the wiring right, and this design requires planning between the a/v designer and the client.
  3. Ability, in a multi-room music system, to play one thing outside—say the iPod—while cable TV is being watched in the Family Room.
  4. Ability, in a multi-room music system, to control volume from whatever room you’re listening in.
  5. Ability to hide the equipment from sight.
  6. Ability to see the TV from different angles.
  7. Ability, in a multi-room music system, to change radio stations, or songs on an iPod, or tracks on a CD (i.e. control beyond simply changing volume), from rooms other than the one the music system is in.

Lots of homeowners don’t like to have the planning conversation with a system designer because they want to buy at cheaper prices than the designer sells at.  This is missing the point, which is to not be penny wise and pound foolish.  Besides, it’s the good system designer who often saves people money by keeping them from more expensive equipment that they will not appreciate.  Indeed, as the TV market now stands, and has stood since the advent of flat panel TV’s, the TV that would make any given consumer most happy—even if any TV could be had for free—is almost never the most expensive one.   This is often the case for sound systems, as well.

Do yourself a favor, and reach out to your local audio and video specialist.  In addition to getting more for your dollar, or even spending less, the experience is usually more positive than when dealing with the big box retailers.  Consultations are often in-home, providing you with the undivided attention of the system designer.  Typically, when you need something else after the sale (e.g. more equipment, upgrade, service), you have the pleasure of dealing with an organization that remembers you.

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Careful With That Cable, Eugene.

Wednesday, June 30th, 2010

HDMI cables promise so much.  Instead of 3 component video cables and audio cables running to your a/v receiver or to your high definition TV, one HDMI cable will do.  Instead of a 1080i image resolution limit, as with component video, HDMI was designed for 1080P and higher.  Instead of 6 audio channels at lower-than-CD resolution, HDMI gives them at greater-than-CD resolution.  Instead of having to run a separate ethernet cable, future HDMI enabled devices will be networked via the same HDMI cable that carries audio and video.  And, the copy protection that Hollywood enjoys courtesy of the HDMI interface, the entire reason HDMI came about in the first place, is no doubt why the studios are willing to give us movies in high-definition.  They weren’t going to let high definition DVD (e.g. Blu-ray) happen via the component video outputs. Component video didn’t provide a satisfactory copy protection solution.

Yet, anyone who makes his living designing or installing audio/video systems knows that HDMI can add days of unpaid installation time, can cause massive frustration, and can leave customers wondering about who they hired and the wisdom of their a/v investment.  In a massively frustrating and seemingly unknowable way, HDMI often doesn’t work!

Consider what goes wrong with HDMI cables; problems which, by the way, our old component video and audio cables don’t have.  Cable boxes don’t display on TVs when HDMI is used to directly link the two.  Video doesn’t show up on TV screens when HDMI is run through a switcher (e.g. an A/V receiver) on its way to the TV.  Or, consider this teaser, which cost me personally about 8 hours of troubleshooting.  A cable box runs HDMI to a receiver, as does a Blu-ray player. Then, from the receiver, HDMI is run to the TV.   If the customer wants to watch the cable box, the only way is to first bring up the picture from the DVD player!  The knowledgeable folks at Denon recently informed me that this is a known problem.

It’s a rare installer of HDMI who hasn’t had these problems.  Of course, he checks the source component, checks the switcher, checks the display device, and he checks the cable and they all check out fine when used with other associated equipment!  It’s certain combinations of equipment—for the most part unknowable until you try them—that don’t work!  As I was recently informed while attending the above referenced Denon training, a lot of this has to do with poorly manufactured HDMI cables.  They’re not made to the standards that they need to be and, as of now, there is almost no way for the buyer to know.  (Kudos to DPL Labs (www.dpllabs.com) for establishing HDMI ratings for HDMI enabled equipment and for HDMI cables.  Consumers need more manufacturers to sign on to this program.)

Aside from needing quality cables, consumers often need firmware updates to get HDMI to work.  I’ve seen such an update work for a Time Warner cable box.  That customer was lucky Time Warner had an update available.  Just this week I saw a homeowner pay out an additional $580 for a component video and analog audio solution because the necessary firmware update, to get HDMI to work between his Fios box and his TV, isn’t yet available.  The customer is out $580 while the installer spent 8 hours of unpaid labor trying an HDMI amplifier, failed firmware updates, the suggestions of three tech support departments, and various other solutions since repressed by his tormented mind.

But wait—it gets better.  Indications are that component video outputs—which reliably give high-definition (i.e. 1080i) resolution—are being phased out.  This means you may not see them anymore on DVD players or cable boxes or satellite boxes or on A/V receivers.  Furthermore, even if they are present on future products, they will not output HD signals!  And, if you do install HDMI cable and if it does work now, it’s likely still not the kind of HDMI cable that you need to pass full resolution 3D video—OK, you may not care—or that you need to carry the Internet.  I know of only one vendor of such cable.  For those of you pre-wiring your walls, one solution to all this mess is to make sure your a/v designer specs high quality data cable to handle your high resolution audio and video needs, as well as your networking needs.

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“You’ll put those speakers in here over my dead body!”

Monday, September 14th, 2009

For about 90% of the custom installations I’ve seen, hiding the gear is the name of the game. When you think about it, one of the reasons flat TVs are so popular is because they’re “hiding” that deep TV tube we all used to put up with.  Similarly, most people would like the cable box, DVD player, A/V receiver, and whatever else, hidden.  Oh sure, there’s the exception.  There are the folks who want to enjoy the pretty lights on their A/V receiver, or those who want to savor the fine finish on their speakers.  But, in the custom installation marketplace, these people are rare.  So, for those of you in the vast majority, following are some solutions for making all that gear disappear from view.

 

stereo
This traditional set-up, with speakers out in the open and a deep TV, is not for everyone.

 

Hiding Components (e.g. DVD players, CD players, radio tuners, amplifiers, A/V receivers, cable boxes, etc.)

A common solution is to hide the components in a cabinet with doors.

 

cabinetwithdoors

 

Some users will avoid this because they’re worried that their remotes will no longer work.  But, remote operation is maintained with remote repeater systems, starting at around $300.

Closets or basements may also be used to hide gear.  Just remember, if you have to load it (e.g. DVD player) or read it (e.g. Sirius tuner) then provide a convenient location.  This might mean a putting a DVD player close to the TV but hiding a receiver in a nearby closet.

 

Siriushometuner
Many tuners will display station numbers and song information, and so should be placed where they can be seen.

 

Hiding Speakers

Between the listener and the loudspeakers there should be nothing.  Within the confines of that one rule, you have a huge number of placement options.  For those who want absolutely no visibility, speakers that are designed to live behind paint or wallpaper are the solution.  (www.stealthacoustics.com) More often, homeowners are happy enough with flush mounted speakers in their walls or ceilings.  These come with white grills that may be painted or stained.

 

In-ceiling speaker with frame.
In-ceiling speaker with frame.

 

Some grills are even frameless, for an extremely clean look.  (www.sonance.com)

 

Frameless in-ceiling speaker.
Frameless in-ceiling speaker.

 

System designers will often use ceiling speakers that are the same size as the ceiling can lights, for a symmetrical, orderly look to the ceiling.  Still other speakers look like works of art, so they may be “hidden” in plain sight.

 

gallofloorstanding
http://www.roundsound.com/reference-strada.htm

 

Other speakers look like planters.

 

MadisonFieldingplanter
http://www.planterspeakers.com/

 

And still other speakers are recessed into furniture, shelves, or walls, and covered with acoustically transparent fabric.

 

On-wall speakers with color matched fabric.
On-wall speakers with color matched fabric.
On-wall shelf with built-in speakers.
On-wall shelf with built-in speakers.
Built-in speakers beneath art. The art is made of braids and is hiding a projection screen. Cabinet by www.rngcabinetshop.com
Built-in speakers beneath art. The art is made of braids and is hiding a projection screen. Cabinet by www.rngcabinetshop.com

 

Subwoofers are made that go in floors, walls, and ceilings.  However, the best performing subwoofers sit out on the floor.  This can make some people unhappy.  Once again, a good carpenter can come to the rescue.

subwooferwithcustomcover

Custom cabinet concealing a subwoofer.

 

TVs, Projectors, Screens

Cabinets with doors or with built-in lifts have long been popular for concealing TVs.

 

 

TV lift in a cabinet.
TV lift in a cabinet.

 

 

And, if you’ve got the room above your ceiling, you can put your TV or your projector on a lift.

 

 

Ceiling TV lift.
Ceiling TV lift.

 

TV’s may also be hidden on pop-up lifts that live under your bed.

 

TV lift under bed.
TV lift under bed. www.mk1studio.com

 

Mirrors or paintings may also be used to hide TVs.

 

TV/Mirror
TV/Mirror. www.ad-notam.com

 

This bathroom mirror (above) conceals the TV when the TV is off.

The TV (below) gets concealed by a motorized painting.  Or, paintings may be put on hinges and swung out of the way for viewing.

 

 

Three consecutive photos show how the painting drops down to hide the TV screen.
Three consecutive photos show how the painting drops down to hide the TV screen.

 

Projector screens might be hidden behind walls or above the ceiling (see below).

 

Screens may be recessed into ceilings.
Screens may be recessed into ceilings.

 

Often, screen casings will be mounted to the wall or ceiling but be concealed behind some decorative fabric suspended from the ceiling.

REMOTE CONTROLS

As long as they remain hand-operated, remote controls must be out in the open because they need to be touched.   There is no real hiding this part of your system.  But, the programmable remote controls enable one to hide many other things.  For instance, instead of several remotes sitting on the coffee table, there can be one programmable remote. You can hide the other remotes in a drawer.

 

UniversalRemote
Universal Remote Control

 

Instead of a bank of light switches and a security system keypad and an audio system keypad, there can be one in-wall touch screen controller that acts as all of those things.

 

This wall is cluttered with switches and controls.
This wall is cluttered with switches and controls.

 

One automated touchscreen controller can replace a host of unsightly controls.
One touchscreen controller can replace a host of buttons and knobs.

 

Then, those devices that would have been making your walls ugly may get hidden in a closet wall.

As you can imagine, a lot of planning is required to implement the above solutions effectively.  Contact your local audio/visual specialist (www.dhaudioandhometheater.com) for help.  ■

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Surround Sound or Stereo?

Tuesday, July 14th, 2009

Often I’ll meet clients who say that they want surround sound.  After probing further I realize that they don’t know what surround sound is.  Fair enough. Surround sound is simply what’s been sold to them.  They get bombarded with advertising touting surround sound, and it gets promoted very well in the movie theaters right before the picture starts.  You may have seen this.  THX, a company involved in establishing surround sound standards, runs strikingly bold and clear sound clips coming from all around the theater, or maybe just to the side or just behind you.  There is an organ like sound that ramps up in volume and contains a low rumble, there is the sound of glass breaking, and the one I find most impressive, the baby crying.  The first time I heard it I thought that there was a real baby in the movie theater.  Anyway, it’s only natural that clients assume surround sound is what they’ll be buying.  Stereo is their other option, and so I explain that as well.

Surround sound is designed to provide a sound-field in front of you, to your sides, and behind you.  It can also recreate a sound above you.  (This is used to creepy effect in the movie, The Others, where footsteps can be heard as if coming from the room above you.)   Most all modern movie soundtracks are recorded for surround sound.  Very little music is recorded in surround sound.

Typically, a surround sound system uses five speakers and a subwoofer, and when the room is long, seven speakers and a subwoofer.  Three speakers are installed along the wall with the TV–this wall is referred to as the front wall. These include a center speaker, which is above or below the screen, and then a speaker to the left (i.e. the viewer’s left) and a speaker to the right of the screen.   One or two pair of speakers are installed along the side and/or rear walls.  The goal of surrounding you with sound in all directions is to immerse you in the sonic environment that is suggested by what you’re seeing on the screen.  That is, if a character shoots an arrow into the camera, the whooshing sound of the arrow traveling towards the camera and then continuing behind the camera will be handled by the surround system. To the listener, it sounds like the arrow travels from the front of the room to the rear of the room.  Such blatant use of surround sound happens frequently in action movies, while in dramas its application is subtle.  For a scene of a couple strolling through a city park, for instance, the surround system might play traffic and bird noises in the surround speakers (i.e. side wall and rear wall speakers), again to immerse you in the sonic environment that is suggested by the film’s scene.  If explosions (i.e. action movie) or bird chirps (i.e. drama) happening behind you sounds fun, surround sound may be for you.  Most avid action movie fans get surround sound.

The alternative to surround sound is stereo sound.  Stereo systems require a front left and front right speaker.  Stereo creates a sound-field that, more or less, is shaped like a performance stage that is situated in front of you–as if you’re sitting in a stage theater.  (Surround sound recreates this same performance stage, but it adds the ability to place sounds to the sides and behind the listener.) The front edge of the stereo soundstage corresponds to an imaginary line drawn between the fronts of your two speakers.  The left side of the stage corresponds to an imaginary line drawn from the left side of your left speaker straight back through your front wall. The right side of the imaginary stage corresponds to an imaginary line drawn from the right side of your right speaker straight back through your front wall.

For a listener sitting equidistant between the left and right speakers, and at least as far away from the speakers as the speakers are from each other, a three-dimensional sound-field is reproduced.   That is, sounds are recreated pretty much anywhere within the boundaries of the imaginary stage.  The voice of an actress standing in the center of the screen will sound as if it’s coming from right between your speakers.  If she should step ten feet straight back and three feet to the left then her voice will sound like it’s ten feet behind your speakers—yes, even if your front wall is only 3 feet behind the speakers—and three feet left of center.

Now, for listeners not seated equidistant from the left and right speakers, sounds still seem to come from this imaginary stage area, but the sounds’ locations are skewed towards whichever speaker is closer.  These locations are not the ones the recording engineer intended.  Think again about the actor speaking from center-stage.  The listener who is seated equidistant between the speakers will hear that voice coming from center stage—as intended.  Listeners seated closer to the right speaker will hear that actors voice coming from somewhere to right of where the actor is standing.  Truth be told, only audiophiles care about this sort of spatial accuracy.

Most people could have their speakers on the left wall and their TV in front of them and it wouldn’t detract from their enjoyment.  At drive-in movie theaters the speaker is hung on the car window and the screen is a couple of hundred feet in front of the windshield.  It sounds weird for about the first minute—if that—and then the viewer’s brain puts the sound where the visual is.  Our brains are good that way.

By the way, if you’re one of the few who do care about spatial location then you’ll want to be sure and have a listening spot that is precisely located—even for a surround sound system.  Ask your system designer to find that spot for you if you’re not sure.  Interestingly, when in this spot, a stereo system will place surround effects (e.g. as in action movies) behind you.

OK, so there you have an explanation of surround sound and stereo sound. These systems are all about manipulating where we perceive the sound coming from.  These systems have nothing to do with the inherent realism of the sound.  (i.e. whether a violin sounds like a violin or a voice like a voice).   A system’s ability to properly place sound is not important to most people in the market for home theater.  Here are some facts that they do find interesting.

Given a particular budget, the stereo system will be higher quality than the surround sound system.*  We’re talking about bass that is deeper and more articulate, the ability for the system to sound clear at low and high volumes, and the ability of the system to recreate the musical dynamics faithfully (i.e. let the sound rise and fall in volume in proper proportion, rather than in a compressed fashion).  That the stereo should sound better than the comparably priced surround system is opposite what many consumers think.

For one, it’s assumed that surround sound is inherently superior to stereo sound.  This assumption is natural, because surround sound has more speakers and more is assumed to be better.  And, in fairness, more is better, in theory.  But, remember the condition about the fixed budget. If you have $500 to spend on stereo speakers, you are spending $250 per speaker.  If you have $500 to spend on surround speakers, you have $100 to spend on each speaker.  Which speaker do you think stands to be better, the one that cost $250 or the one that cost $100?

Now, one might argue that surrounding the listener with five $100 speakers makes up for the fact that they are inferior to the two $250 speakers, which are only in front of the listener.  One might argue that while the $100 speaker doesn’t recreate as natural sounding a human voice as the $250 speaker, the fact that there is a rear speaker at all, one that can create the illusion of the voice coming from behind you as the director of that haunted house movie wanted, makes the five $100 speaker system better than the two $250 speaker system.  That’s a valid point of view, at least for such movies (e.g. thrillers, action movies).

For music playback, not so much.  Nearly all music is recorded for playback in stereo (i.e. with a front left and a front right speaker only).  For dramas, not so much either, as the surround speakers (i.e. the ones on our side and rear walls) are going to be playing ambient noises only.  Unless you value those ambient noises more than the absolute true-to-life fidelity of the sound in general, you’d want the two $250 speakers over the five $100 speakers.

This particular equipment difference, that of two speakers for a stereo system versus five for a surround system, isn’t the only difference.  Your dollar is also getting spread thinner in the surround sound system because you have to buy amplification for five speakers instead of amplification for two speakers.  Again, given the arbitrary amount of $500 for amplification—amplification is often addressed when one buys the audio/video receiver, for instance—which amplifier do you think will be higher quality, the amplifier that has to power five speakers or the one that has to power two speakers?  In the case of the surround system, we have $100 of amplification for each speaker.  In the case of the stereo system we have $250 of amplification for each speaker.  Chances are, that stereo amplifier is going to sound better than that surround sound amplifier.

Oh yes, the surround sound system requires that your budget be spread thinner still, as it requires a surround sound decoder—again, this is being paid for when you buy the audio/video receiver.  There is no such expense in the stereo system.  In the stereo system these dollars are therefore available for better speakers, amplification, DVD player, etc.

Also, the labor cost of installing a surround sound speaker system is at least 2.5x greater than it is for installing a stereo system.  Five speakers are 2.5x greater in number than two speakers.  Also, you have to pay an installer to calibrate a surround sound decoder.  There is no surround sound decoder in a stereo system.

After I explain the pros and cons of stereo and surround, I’d say about one-half of the people who come to me thinking that they’re going to be buying a surround sound system wind up buying a stereo.  Either way, the goal is to make sure that you’re spending your own dollars to your best advantage.  An audio/video company with experienced system designers can help you do this.

*One area where stereo’s superiority is called into question is in the area of dialog intelligibility.   While I have personally have not had a problem in this area, some believe that when a 5.1 sound track (i.e. most modern movies on DVD) is played back through stereo speakers, dialog intelligibility suffers as compared to when a center speaker is used.  For those so concerned, but who still want quality sound over surround sound, a solution is to invest in the surround sound receiver, but buy only a left, center, and right speaker (i.e. no rear speakers).

I suspect that this issue is more likely to arise when the soundtrack contains sound happening simulaneously with the dialog.  Action movies fit this bill, which could be why I don’t have this problem.  If you’re an action movie fan, you probably want surround sound anyway.

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