"Home theater" is the combination of a good television with a good sound system. Home theater systems can include a television combined with a system of multiple speakers set up throughout the viewing room. Although "surround sound" can refer to all the speakers in a system, it usually refers to the rear speakers, which create ambient sound.
Instructions
1. Check the manual for your receiver or outboard surround sound processor to determine whether you need full-range or limited-frequency speakers.
2. Check to see whether the surround channels are discrete and mono or whether they are stereo.
3. Read reviews in home theater magazines, on the Audio Review Web site and elsewhere on the Internet to further narrow your search.
4. Visit a store that has a home-theater demonstration room.
5. Ask the sales representative to demonstrate a system using a DVD movie.
6. Listen for overall effect first, and then concentrate on the accuracy of the surround speakers.
7. Compare up to three different pairs of speakers.
8. Make sure the sales representative demonstrates each pair of speakers at equal volumes.
9. Buy the speakers that provide the right effects without calling attention to themselves.
Tags: Home theater, sales representative