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Definition: home theater speakers


Audio playback in a home theater uses multiple speakers to provide a more realistic audio environment. The audio quality in a home theater is just as important, if not more so, than the video. People are often more annoyed at momentary blips in the sound than they are in the video.

The Minimum Is a 5.1 System
A basic home theater sound system uses five speakers and a subwoofer. The placement of the subwoofer is not critical because bass frequencies are not directional and can reside almost anywhere in the room. Following are the common speaker placements for surround sound. See 10-foot user interface, surround sound and imaging.
















Auro-3D 9.1 and 10.1
An Auro-3D home theater adds four "height" speakers to the traditional 5.1 layout. One more speaker can be used at the very top producing a 10.1 speaker arrangement (see Auro-3D). (Image courtesy of Auro Technologies.)






Outputs to Surround Speakers
The outputs on this Oppo Blu-ray player are wired to their respective amplifier inputs. FL/FR = front left/right. C = center. SL/SR = surround left/right. SBL/SBR = surround back left/right. SW = subwoofer.