The 10 Most Asked Questions about Custom Home Theater
and Custom Home Theater Installation
A Basic Surround Sound Survival Guide

    In an effort to help you the consumer determine what you will need when designing a Home Theater, we have put together the most common questions we get asked from day to day. We want to help you better understand what it takes to put together a complete cinema space in your home. If you have any further questions or need more help please feel free to call us, or email us at info@dyerelectronics.com. We hope this helps.

What is Home Theater? A home theater at its most basic level is a room or space dedicated to reproducing the large cinema space and the movies they display as faithfully as possible. Home Theaters do this by combining Audio and Video gear with your television to recreate the movie experience. All home Theaters must contain at the very least, a display device (television, projection system), components to listen to the content on (speakers, amplifiers, preamplifiers etc.) and something to store and playback the movie or media (DVD player, Digital Satellite system, VCR etc.). A Home Theater must also have a room to go in and a comfortable place to sit. This may vary a lot from theater to theater. The better theaters have purpose-built rooms with tiered seating and specially designed walls to enhance the sound, while at the low end of the spectrum, a home theater can be constructed in a multipurpose room (i.e. a game-room, or Family Room). While the latter is more common, it is not always the best solution, and is often a compromise.

What is surround sound? In order to understand surround sound, we must first look at something that was a fad in the late 60's and early 70's and preceded surround sound, and that is quadraphonic sound. The idea behind "quad" was that 4 speakers of equal size would be placed in the corners of a listening area. Special recordings were made that recorded 4 independent tracks for playback through these systems. The effect was less than perfect and the equipment was fairly expensive. Consequently "quad" went the way of 78 LP's and 8 track tapes. In the late 70's Dolby Laboratories began experimenting with a new way of recording sound for use in movie theaters. This new sound system would use speakers in the theater to give the viewer a more realistic feel, as if he or she where there, inside the movie. One pair of speakers would be to the left and right of the screen and help with movement in the front of the theater. Another speaker would be placed behind, below, or on top of the screen to provide sound for dialogue and is one of the most important speakers in the system. Then a pair would be placed in the rear of the theater to provide effects such as planes flying over or the ricochet of bullets. The overall effect was a feeling of being in the middle of whatever was happening on the screen. Hence the name, "surround sound". This effect proved to be so popular that theaters with these sound systems saw significant increases in ticket purchases. Around this same time, most Americans were discovering a new video format called the VCR. The VCR gave directors and producers the ability to add in the surround tracks to the recording and recreate the surround sound experience at home. It was just a matter of time before the first Dolby Pro-Logic Surround System became available for home use. In a simple Pro-Logic set up there are 5 speakers, one pair on either side of the television, one on the television for dialogue, and a pair at the rear of the room. All of the speakers' work together to provide sound that brings you into the action.

What is pro-logic and what does THX mean? The original system that Dolby Labs invented was Dolby Surround. This system uses only 2 speakers for front information and 2 rear speakers for the effects. This set up had some problems. One of the problems was the amount of noise to the rear channels and bleed over (some of the information that is reserved for the front channels are heard through the rear channels.) To eliminate these problems, Dolby started using a more advanced noise reduction circuit as well as a computer or logic steering system. This steering not only eliminates the bleed over problem, but it also derives a 3rd front channel from the two main front channels. This center channel is usually placed on or near the television set so that dialogue is heard from the screen. THX by Lucasfilms is not encoded on to the media like the Dolby Pro Logic system, which has become the standard in most movie theaters. Instead, THX requires very precisely matched components to increase the effect of the system. To achieve a true THX system, all components (both speakers and electronics) must be approved and licensed by Lucasfilms. The components must also include a few extra THX enhancements to improve the overall surround sound effect:
-- First, they must include additional crossover controls to correctly send the right sound to the right speakers.
-- Second, they must include a process known as de-correlation on the rear speaker processing. This increases the surround effect.
-- Third, they include a process of re-equalization for the front speakers.
This in effect helps match the front speakers so they all sound fairly similar. These enhancements, along with the stringent requirements of THX, make for an overall better experience. THX may be used in conjunction with any encoded surround format such as DTS, Dolby Digital and Dolby Pro Logic.

What is Dolby Digital / AC-3? First, Dolby Digital and AC-3 are exactly the same thing. It is the newest technology to take your surround sound system to the next level. The surround sound speakers are now in stereo and are full range to give better imaging for the rear effect speakers. And the new processor is much better at steering the sound to the left, right, center, subwoofer, and the left and right surround speakers. The only way to take advantage of the new processor is with a laser disc player with an AC-3 output, or a DVD player with a digital output (most do). We highly recommend that at a minimum you prepare for a Dolby Digital system. What is DTS? DTS is another type of encoded surround signal that can be put onto a Laser Disc or DVD. It offers less compression than comparable Dolby Digital recordings, but takes up a lot more room. For this reason, it has been limited in its use. It is recommended to buy a processor and DVD player than can handle the DTS signal. That way if it becomes more popular (or you just want the ultimate in sound quality), you are ready to go.

What size TV do I need? The size television screen you choose will depend on the location in the house and your budget. The range of choices is many, from 27" to 100" diagonal. There are 3 types of television or video monitors. The first and most common is direct view. Direct view televisions range in size from 5" diagonal, all the way up to 40" diagonal. These offer the best in picture performance and versatility in placement. The second type of television is the rear projection monitor. These TV's project the image onto the back side of the screen and offer good picture performance, but normally require very precise set-up. The screen sizes of rear projection televisions range from 40" to 70" diagonal. Again, there are a variety of features and prices available for these TV's. The third type of television is the front projection television. These offer the largest in screen sizes (ranging from 40" to over 100" diagonal) but require very precise set-up and installation. There are normally two pieces to these systems: The main unit or projector is mounted to the ceiling or in some cases is a tabletop unit. The other component of the system is the screen (there are a wide variety of types and sizes). Again, these televisions do offer the largest in screen size, but unfortunately they are also the largest in price (ranging from $3500 to $40,000). So as you can see, there are many options in sizes of televisions and the choice is really an individual one. A Home Theater can be created around almost any size of TV.

If I buy a TV now will it be obsolete when HDTV comes out? For a simple answer, no. The progression of HDTV is going to be very slow and will probably not be fully realized for at least another 5-7 years. Even when HDTV is up at full speed, you will not have to run out and buy a new TV. There will be an adapter to integrate the new technology with your existing TV. However, you should seriously consider buying an HDTV television at this time. The overall resolution of these sets usually exceeds that of comparable non-HDTV sets and the price has come down greatly in the past few years. The added quality and depth of HDTV is breathtaking and it will be the standard to come.

Do I have to have big speakers for home theater? Speaker technology has advanced quite a bit in the last 5 years, especially in the custom installation market. You can now have a complete surround sound system and not have any large speakers visible. In addition, with the new infrared control systems, you don't even have to see the electronic components. The entire system can be flush mounted and concealed to provide total access and clean cosmetics. Most speaker systems do have to be a certain size to accurately reproduce sound, but with careful planning you can have a audiophile-grade system without seeing all the speakers in a room.

What is a center channel speaker? Do I need one? A center channel speaker is the speaker normally located nearest to the television. This speaker provides centered dialogue (so the voices of the actor/actress seem to come from the television), and aids in panning to and from the front channels. It is a misnomer that the center channels provide only dialogue. This speaker is also important in providing dynamic range to the front of the system so that space ships, explosions and racecars sound like real life. The center channel speaker is the single most important speaker when building a surround sound system. Over 52% of the total information in a system comes from this speaker. It must be equal in quality and size to the left and right speakers in your system and must be matched to them in every detail for good panning of sound from left to right and overall fidelity. Do not underestimate the importance of this speaker. The center speaker must also always be on top of (or below) the screen with a direct view monitor, and in a front projection screen arrangement it is a good idea to install the center channel behind the screen and perforate the screen. This will center the action and keep everything in perfect alignment when watching a movie.

What is a subwoofer? Do I need one? A subwoofer is a specialized speaker that provides very low frequency sound to a system. There are two major types of subwoofers, passive and active. A passive subwoofer is a speaker that requires an amplifier and has a passive crossover. This type of "sub" provides good bass performance for the price. Passive subwoofers are the types that are used in the 3 piece speaker systems (one subwoofer and two satellites) that are very popular right now. These are not always the best solution however, because they usually do not produce the entire sound spectrum. The second type of "sub" is the active type. Active subwoofers differ from passive ones in that they have an amplifier. This amplifier can either be a separate chassis, or actually built into the subwoofer's cabinet. Active and passive subwoofers come in a variety of shapes and sizes to fit your room and needs. If you can't feel that T-Rex walking across the room, then a subwoofer may be your solution. If fact you may need two subwoofers. Contact an Audio consultant for further advice.

The questions and answers above are designed to help you achieve a basic idea of what it is required to recreate the movie experience in your home.

We want to help you understand what it takes to create the movie theater experience in your home.
This is just the tip of the iceberg, and as such if you are considering building a home theater or home entertainment system, you should contact an Audio / Video Consultant to help you through all the decisions.

You can also feel free to call us at (512)374-0404 for more information about Home Theater and what's possible in your home.