Looking for a better home entertainment experience? Upgrading the sound quality of your music, movies and TV is one of the best investments you can make. When looking for the right speakers for you, consider the benefits of a 5.2 or 7.2 home theater system.
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What Do These Numbers Mean?
If this is your first time looking at home theater systems, some of the jargon can seem intimidating. Luckily, it’s easy to understand once you break the code. The numbers break down into how many speaker channels and subwoofers you have. In a 5.1 system, for instance, you’d have front right and left speakers a center channel, a pair of surround channels and one subwoofer. With 7.1, each surround speaker is broken into two channels, giving you surround and rear, but you only have one subwoofer. The numbers 5.2 and 7.2 refer to systems with all of those channels, plus two subwoofers.
Five and Seven Speakers Are Better
Do you really need all of these additions? What about what you get out of the box when you buy a stereo or TV?
Your television, of course, comes with its own internal speakers. But we don’t have to tell you that the quality is nothing compared to what you’d get with a high quality external system.
A sound bar is a step up. And, it is the cheapest way to get better sound than what your TV comes with out of the box. A sound bar is exactly what it sounds like: a bar that goes on the stand in front of your TV that releases sound into the room.
However, the bar has a lot of limitations.
Some designs are likely to block your TV’s remote sensor; this means that you’ll have to stand up and fiddle with angles to change the channel on your TV.
Additionally, the sound bar itself will probably not come with a remote. You’ll have to program it to accept commands from the remote that goes with your TV. While this sounds workable in theory, in practice, the bar often doesn’t behave the way that you want.
The other significant issue is the sound quality. While a step up from built-in TV sound, the size of soundbar cabinets prevents the inclusion of larger drivers and better amplifiers. Soundbars are often described as having a small and tiny sound. Finally, a sound bar simply cannot provide the immersive experience that a true five or seven channel system can. All of the sound is emanating from the front of the room.
With a five or seven channel system, you get true surround sound. The sound signal is divided into either five or seven channels so that each zone is well represented.
As for whether 5.2 or 7.2 is the better choice, this is down to the individual and the space you are using. Five channel systems have been the basic solution for surround sound for many years. They deliver all the necessary channels to provide a true surround sound setup.
In a small room, a five channel system is perfectly adequate and you probably will not get a better surround sound experience by moving to seven. However, in larger spaces, the two extra channels can be highly beneficial.
Why Two Subwoofers?
Many surround sound systems offer 5.1 or 7.1 sound, with a single subwoofer powering the bass. In most rooms, sound waves do not move smoothly. They resonate, with sound waves building up in some areas. This can lead to a situation where the bass is loud and overpowering in some areas, but too light in others.
You can experiment with subwoofer placement in the room, but it can be difficult to find the sweet spot where the bass is perfect throughout the room without a lot of peaks and dips in sound.
Using a pair of subwoofers can eliminate this problem since the bass is coming from more than one area. This makes the bass sound quality better and eliminates the issues with sound resonances throughout the room. The result is a fuller, more even sound.
When you invest in a quality 5.2 or 7.2 surround system, you are improving the quality of your everyday listening experience, whether you are watching movies, checking out a new album or settling in for your favorite games or shows.
At Fluance, we are passionate about high quality sound. Learn more about our home theater systems here.
Signature Series Hi-Fi 5.0 Home Theater Speaker System With Bipolar Speakers
From the powerful woofers, to the ultra-high end tweeters, to the premium midrange drivers, this speaker system is the result of years of meticulous engineering.
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