The Right Way To Set Up Your Sound System For Movies
Getting the sound just right for your movies at home can be more than a little challenging. As a basic point of reference, if you don't have a subwoofer as part of your home audio system yet, you're missing out on a ton of sound details the filmmakers worked hard to bring to your ears.
It may sound like an odd claim, but it's a fact. The human brain marries image to sound in a profoundly intuitively way, and your body will react to visual events that are accompanied by coordinated sound much more intensely than without it. Until recently, few people thought it important to even bother with sound design at home, but HD systems have changed all that.
If you have set aside a particular room in your house for watching movies, and really, you should, then a little sound design will go a long way to achieving the cinematic quality most of us crave. Let's look at how we can do this easily and quickly.
As an upfront statement, we can simply state that as far as sound quality goes, location is everything, assuming of course that you have a quality home audio system to begin with. If you need ideas for home audio components or complete systems, you might want to look brand names such Sony, Vizio, Polk Audio and JBL.
Back to the location, or placement, of the speaker set in your home. As you think about where to place the mid and high frequency speakers and the subwoofer, keep in mind that sound in films is designed to sculpt space. The film's sound mixer is acutely aware of the placement and movement of objects and people in the frame, and he or she will try to enhance these things so that the viewer experiences them as if he were there in real life.
In determining the best placement for your audio gear, always use your subwoofer as the main hub, placing it in as frontal a position as you can. Your high frequency speakers should then go to sides as far apart as possible, and your surround speakers high and back so that your final formation is that of a square.
This basic setup can be easily customized by altering the distance between speakers. For example, placing the surround speakers a little closer together, you'll hear and feel the scenes in a movie very differently. A good instance of this would be when a boat roars past you in chase scene, the difference in space between speakers will exaggerate the distance the boat travels.
Another important element are the actual settings of your audio system. Although Hollywood uses a kind of universal standard in frequency ranges, the truth is every film is different. Never be scared to adjust your settings for a particular movie, with a particular emphasis on your subwoofer. A truly great home movie experience requires a little bit of care and attention, but the payoff is worth every minute.
It may sound like an odd claim, but it's a fact. The human brain marries image to sound in a profoundly intuitively way, and your body will react to visual events that are accompanied by coordinated sound much more intensely than without it. Until recently, few people thought it important to even bother with sound design at home, but HD systems have changed all that.
If you have set aside a particular room in your house for watching movies, and really, you should, then a little sound design will go a long way to achieving the cinematic quality most of us crave. Let's look at how we can do this easily and quickly.
As an upfront statement, we can simply state that as far as sound quality goes, location is everything, assuming of course that you have a quality home audio system to begin with. If you need ideas for home audio components or complete systems, you might want to look brand names such Sony, Vizio, Polk Audio and JBL.
Back to the location, or placement, of the speaker set in your home. As you think about where to place the mid and high frequency speakers and the subwoofer, keep in mind that sound in films is designed to sculpt space. The film's sound mixer is acutely aware of the placement and movement of objects and people in the frame, and he or she will try to enhance these things so that the viewer experiences them as if he were there in real life.
In determining the best placement for your audio gear, always use your subwoofer as the main hub, placing it in as frontal a position as you can. Your high frequency speakers should then go to sides as far apart as possible, and your surround speakers high and back so that your final formation is that of a square.
This basic setup can be easily customized by altering the distance between speakers. For example, placing the surround speakers a little closer together, you'll hear and feel the scenes in a movie very differently. A good instance of this would be when a boat roars past you in chase scene, the difference in space between speakers will exaggerate the distance the boat travels.
Another important element are the actual settings of your audio system. Although Hollywood uses a kind of universal standard in frequency ranges, the truth is every film is different. Never be scared to adjust your settings for a particular movie, with a particular emphasis on your subwoofer. A truly great home movie experience requires a little bit of care and attention, but the payoff is worth every minute.
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For more great audio tips from this author, be sure to check out his detailed Polk Audio PWS505 review and Vizio vsb200 review