Helping To Unravel The Techno Geek Speak Of Surround Sound Systems

Just in case you've been reading around andincludes 6 speakers rather than five. The 1 in the
researching the many terms and topics thatname refers to the frequency of the subwoofer
concern surround sound and the many surround(or Low Frequency Effects-LFE), which is .1.
sound systems on the market today, I thought itDespite the existence of better systems on the
might be a good idea to explain some of themarket today, most movies are optimized for
terminology that is floating around.this particular set up so this will be of the most
First of all there are many initials names andvalue to you with the current products on the
numbers floating around when it comes tomarket rather than spending more for systems
surround sound technology and equipment, it's nothat the DVD makes haven't yet caught up with.
wonder that many of us mere mortal consumersDTS ES refers to a format commonly referred
are more than a little confused by it all. Hopefullyto as 6.1. In this format there is one additional
the information you find below will prove helpfulspeaker moved to the center rear of the
as you weave through the wired jungles ofconfiguration and the two-rear left and right
modern sound technology.speakers are moved forward. And THX EX 7.1 is
The first and probably most common thing youwhat happens when you add yet another
will see in these circles is Dolby Digital. While therespeaker.
are many complicated definitions of this term theThere aren't too many films at the moment that
one that will matter most to you, as a consumeruse this particular format some notable
is that right now it is the leading format on theexceptions would be the Star Wars movies. This
market when it comes to processing the digitalmeans that movies haven't really caught up to
data that your system will need to process.the technology of either of these systems but
There are better brands such as DTS when itthey are on the market and some people simply
comes to musical sound for this function but themust have them. I recommend going with a
vast majority of television broadcasts and DVDssuperior 5.1 channel surround sound system for
are optimized for Dolby.the time being and adding speakers when there
Speaking of DTS, at the moment they areare more reasons to do so.
Dolby's primary competition. While most itemsThis list is by no means exhaustive but will give
you find on the market such as DVDs areyou a basic overview of the information that is
viewable in both DTS and Dolby you need torelevant to you as you look into the various
make sure that they system you purchasesurround sound systems on the market today.
whether Dolby or DTS can read both formats forYou shouldn't have to weed through volumes of
those times when your favorite flick just mightconfusing terminology in order to find out that the
not be enhanced for both.system you are interested in actually has 6
Now perhaps the most confusing of terms whenspeakers rather than 5.
it comes to surround sound systems would be 5.1.My hope is that you can go in armed with basic
It looks so innocent just sitting there but mostknowledge that will help you make an informed
people are ready to pull out their hair when theybuying decision.
realize that it really stands for a system that