Home Theater
Embracing the Wall of Surround Sound
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 Placing your speakers makes
all the difference, so check on the
best setup before you do anything |
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January 16, 2004
If you've hooked it up and are ready to be surrounded, or you're still trying to figure out where to put all the speakers, keep some of these tips in mind:
Step one is to visit to Dolby's website, and the tutorial entitled — what else? — Setting Up Your Home Theater. Basic tips on speaker layout will orient you to this new world of theater-like sound, and let you know if you're going to have to rearrange the furniture.
The dicey subject of speaker placement has been known to lead to marital discord. If your significant other is troubled by your desire to place two speakers behind the couch after you've already set up three around the TV, stay calm. Consider in-wall wiring, or speakers that at least match the furniture. One Dolby executive suggests (with a straight face) stashing the rear speakers in the entertainment center with lots of wire slack, so that you can pull them out in time to enjoy a movie, then hide them again when it's over.
Once you're set up, take a look at your satellite or digital cable set-top box. Many have digital audio outputs that might match inputs on your surround-sound receiver or home-theater-in-a-box. Connect with an appropriate cable (try Radio Shack), and you will discover that certain TV shows actually broadcast in Dolby Digital 5.1 surround sound. Check Dolby.com for a list of shows. Older shows including The Simpsons, along with many VHS tapes, display a logo that say "Dolby Surround." To hear these, first make sure you've connected your cable box or VCR to your receiver or home-theater-in-a-box (a simple stereo connection will do). Then, when you hear the sound, locate the sound system‘s "Dolby ProLogic" or "Dolby ProLogic II" feature. This will separate the older audio tracks from stereo into unexpectedly pleasant surround. The same feature can also make CDs sound great.
One perk of surround-sound is the ability to enjoy DVD-Audio discs. Unlike Super Audio CDs, which require a special player for surround sound, DVD-A discs will work in any DVD player. Most Best Buy locations have a rack — often between the CDs and DVDs — with lots of DVD-Audio discs. Our current favorite: a mind-boggling surround-sound mix of The Flaming Lips' Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots.
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