SEE ALSO: ENJOY YOUR WHOLE HOUSE AUDIO FOR EVERY OCCASION
Proper Speaker Placement
An excellent surround sound setup all comes down to where you’ve actually placed your speakers around your designated space. A typical surround sound layout would be a 5.1 or a 7.1 setup. The “5” or the “7” highlights the number of surround speakers you feature – in five-channel systems, three speakers are at the front facing the audience, with two at the back behind everyone. Seven-channel systems also include two side speakers. The “.1” represents an included subwoofer.
With this layout, you can feel enveloped in an immersive listening experience. If you want to go a step beyond a standard surround sound system, you also can include overhead speakers for a genuinely three-dimensional listening experience. We recommend including either two or four overhead speakers, in this scenario.
Select the Right Speakers
Your sound performance can only go as far as the quality of your speakers can. That’s why it’s best to invest in high-end, high-performance speakers that deliver top-notch audio at all times.
Depending on what you want for your space’s interior design, you can choose from various speakers that best fit your room’s needs. Standing loudspeakers, for example, have a powerful effect on an audience, produce a high-fidelity sound performance, and also provide an elegant, theatrical display in a dedicated home cinema.
If you want less obtrusive audio equipment, then bookshelf speakers can fit nicely on top of or near furniture – blending in seamlessly with your living or media room. Satellite speakers also can be mounted to your walls or ceilings.
But let’s say you don’t want to see where your surround sound is coming from – that’s where architectural speakers come into play. In-wall and in-ceiling speakers go entirely undetected and leave zero traces that they’re there except for a small, barely noticeable sound panel over their installations.
Does Your System Support Dolby Atmos?
Dolby Atmos is unlike any other surround sound format. You’ll never experience a more immersive viewing. This is because Atmos is an audio format that is object-based; meaning that sound isn’t confined to channels and instead can naturally flow throughout your surround sound system.
So, if you want a speaker system to support Dolby Atmos, you’ll have to prepare by finding the right speakers and adding more to create a newer type of setup. While a typical 5.1 or 7.1 layout is standard for surround sound, Atmos needs a speaker configuration with overhead speakers, as well.
Most importantly, though, you also will need a surround sound processor that can transmit Atmos to your speaker system. If you use a standard surround sound processor that cannot support Atmos, you won’t be able to experience the truly three-dimensional listening experience that Atmos delivers.
Optimize Your Surround Sound
The final tip for bringing the ultimate surround sound system to your home is knowing when to use it. When you choose movies and TV shows that are produced in a surround sound format, you get to enjoy your speakers and set up the way they’re intended to be enjoyed.
If you own a Dolby Atmos surround sound system, make sure that you are purchasing Blu-ray discs or video games that are produced in Atmos. Likewise, when you are streaming from Netflix, for example, check the surround sound format of the film or show you are about to watch before you click the “Play” button.
Our team at Digitech Custom is here to help you build the ideal surround sound system at your Indianapolis or Central Indiana home.
Want to learn more about our home audio installation services? Feel free to give us a call or contact us here to schedule a no-obligation consultation with our team. We’d love to hear from you!
