HOME THEATER

To enjoy the surround sound experience of a movie theater in your home, you’ll need a home theater receiver and at least six speakers (including a powered subwoofer). In this article, we’ll give you some rules of thumb on how to assemble a well-matched surround speaker system. Tip #1: It’s OK to break the rules. If the ideal solution for sound quality doesn’t suit your décor, no problem. Some situations call for creative compromises.

A lot of people think good sound is good sound, but music and movies have very different requirements. Starting with home theater, remember that today's films have nearly unlimited soft-to-loud dynamic range; dialogue is mixed to the center channel; surround effects may be ambient or point-sourced; and deep bass demands can be extreme. Just about every feature film released over the last 20 years has a multichannel soundtrack.