
Home Theater
It had long been the practice of stereo buffs to connect their television to a stereo system. The advantage was the use of the larger speakers and more powerful amplifier of the stereo system. Even though the sound was greatly improved, it was still mono and limited by the broadcast signal.
In the late 1970’s and early 1980’s two new home movie for- mats became widely available to the public: VCR and laser disc.
By 1985, both formats had developed into very high quality audio/video sources. In fact, the sonic performance of some video formats exceeded
Fortunately, Dolby and DTS encoded DVD’s emerged with the same surround sound information encoded on home releases as the theatrical release. Additionally, new
Home theater is a complex purchase and we recommend that you consult your local MartinLogan dealer, as they are well versed in this subject.
Each piece of a surround system can be purchased separately. Take your time and choose high quality components. No one has ever complained that the movie was too real. The following list and descriptions will give you only a brief outline of the responsibilities and demands placed on each speaker.
Front Left and Front Right
If these speakers will be the same two used for your stereo playback, they should be of very high quality and able to play loudly (over 102 dB) and reproduce bass below 80 Hz.
Center Channel
This is the most important speaker in a home theater system, as almost all of the dialogue and a large portion of the front speaker information is reproduced by the center channel. It is important that the center speaker be extremely accurate and matches well with the front left and right speakers, and that it is recommended for use as a center speaker. This is not the place to cut corners.
Surround/Effects Speakers
We recommend that the surround/effects speakers play down to at least 80 Hz. Surround speakers contain the information that makes it appear that planes are flying over your head. Some may suggest that this is the place to save money and purchase small, inexpensive speakers. However, discrete
Subwoofer |
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With any good surround system you will need one or more high- |
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quality subwoofers (the .1 in a 5.1, 6.1, or 7.1 channel surround |
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system). Most movie soundtracks contain large amounts of bass |
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information as part of the special effects. Good subwoofers will |
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provide a foundation for the rest of the system. | English |
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Figure 21. A typical 5.1-channel home theater setup.
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