What is Home Audio?

One of the fastest growing categories in home entertainment is the home audio industry. For those people who have been sleeping under a rock for the last ten years, home audio has grown to the point where it is an absolute monster in this industry. When most people talk about a home audio system, they are going to discuss an entire home theater system. For the most part, this means a lot of complicated systems to go along with a really nice multi-channel surround sound system. You cannot really go into a big store and look for home audio in this day and age without also looking for a home theater system. They go hand in hand, especially as far as cost control is concerned.

You might be asking yourself, what all do I need in order to have a competitive home theater system? What will make me “legit” as far as that is concerned? You must, first and foremost, have Dolby Digital sound. This is actually the least thing that you can have and still be able to call yourself a connoisseur of home audio. When you have Dolby Digital, you are going to basically have a six speaker system. This will give you five full speakers that have big time capability as well as a big subwoofer to provide the bass or “rumble” that is characteristic of a home theater system.

This is not to say that there are not some older systems that are out there on the market. As with any industry, there is going to be a lot of competition. It just happens, in this case, that Dolby Digital has completely dominated the market. If you are interested in knowing about another type of home theater, then consider DTS. This is a home theater that has a nice high resolution sound to it. The majority of movies these days will feature Dolby Digital sound, but you will still find some that have a DTS component, as well. They have tried to match Dolby in their sound and they have even added the back speakers to the process, as well.

So how do you set up your Dolby Digital sound once you have all of the necessary parts? You will want to put three speakers at the front of your room. These should be put so that they project sound down to the audience. As common sense would dictate to you, there should be one speaker on the right, one in the center, and one on the left. This should be a pretty basic idea for any person who has ever dealt with sound before. Even the old two-channel systems had a right and left speaker that you had to install. You will then place the back speakers to the left and the right of the audience. The final piece of the puzzle is the sub woofer, which should be located somewhere behind the audience. This will complete the entire ensemble and make sure that you have everything you need in order to provide a nice experience for your viewers.