Surround Sound: The Missing Link
Released: 22 September 2011
By: Stephen Scott
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Adam Turner recently wrote a fantastic article:
"Surround sound - the holy grail of home entertainment?" which was published in Fairfax's Digital Life section. Have a read - it's utterly refreshing to hear about a gadget-guru's approach to surround sound - and the fact that his sound system is down-to-earth and not an unattainable mega-bucks ear-bleeder.
As Adam says, "When it comes to home entertainment most people seem to treat surround sound as an afterthought, if they bother with it at all. Of all my friends with large, widescreen televisions, very few have a surround sound system or even stereo speakers to boost the sound. I guess it’s because surround sound seems like more of a luxury. Unlike a big picture, it’s harder to appreciate what you’re missing when you don’t have surround sound."
While it's true that a large majority of Australians have flat panel TVs (thanks to the massive price drops over the last five years), the next step of HD sound either hasn't occurred to them, or appears to be out of reach.
A shame in either case, for as we audio-visual addicts know, you
can have your cake and eat it too.
It was wonderful to see so many positive comments made on Adam's article, with great wisdom being shared. Soundman had it right by offering "the best speakers are the ones which sound good to you". We couldn't agree more. You don't have to spend a fortune to have an incredible sound system.
So here's our response to Adam's article.
If you are currently looking at taking the step up from in-built television speakers to a home sound set-up, hopefully you'll pick up a couple of tips to help you in your noble quest ...
Don't be stuck on a brand. We've heard speakers that are far superior to those that cost ten times as much - yet they're smaller in size and don't have a mainstream brand name (Dynaudio and Epos are two great examples).
Don't grab the "bargain" online that you haven't heard – if you can’t make it to their physical store, call the Hi-Fi expert and find out if the speakers will match your needs (room type, amp / speaker combination, the type of music and movies you watch and listen to, etc). Denod1958 said it best: "go to a local hi-fi specialist and audition as many speaker types & brands as you can". It's worth investing the time - you'll be living with them, so why not love the sound. It's not a bargain if it's useless.
Be open to different options. There's more to audio today than the traditional box - in-wall speakers are very popular with a lot of our customers who are renovating / building because you never see them. The sound quality is superb, and they make a great talking point at parties!
Don't discount small speakers until you've heard them all. The technology and design aesthetics are improving in this field every year. Mordaunt Short Alumni's not only deliver a fantastic sound, but are so small they practically disappear.
A number of comments mentioned how their surround systems weren't up to scratch. There's a number of ways to turn these frowns upside down.
Look at where your speakers are positioned. Placement in room is critical - from the size of the speakers to where the speakers are placed and what direction they are pointing in. You can turn an average speaker into a beautiful sounding one by playing around a little bit.
Those whose centre systems aren’t up to scratch by delivering poor dialogue (Chumpy & Johnson), a specialist should be able to sort out the centre channel issue for you – have you calibrated your system correctly / have you check the source button settings? (A lot of AV systems these days take the guesswork out of this problem with automatic room calibration.)
Also crucial is matching the tone of your speakers. Unless they are from a specific range, they won't be tonally balanced. This will create an imperfect soundstage that will require a lot of tweaking via your AV Receiver / amplifier. If you're buying them ad hoc to build a system, then it's best to find a set of tower speakers you love, and then complete the set from that range.
And for those who think a surround sound will blast their neighbours off the planet need to consider how loud they're playing their systems. The wonderful thing about 5.1 & 7.1 systems is that you can keep them at a moderate volume and still hear everything - because you're surrounded by the sound (see what I did there?).
Finally, we have to disagree with Svetlana's comments regarding budget (she'd rather be listening to a stereo setup made up of a $5,000 amplifier and a $5,000 pair of speakers over a 5.1 system costing the same). While I'm obviously using products from our store to prove the point, you could look at most Hi-Fi specialists and come to the same result: you can buy a fantastic 7.1 Surround Sound speaker pack for less than $2,000. Add a quality AV Receiver for $2,500 and you've got top-of-the-line sound for less than half the $10,000 mentioned.
So go ahead. Take the plunge and start building your own surround sound system and discover the 50% of the audio visual experience you've been missing.
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