Surround Sound Speakers -How Many are Enough?
When looking at new surround sound speakers or a home theater purchase you are immediately faced with one looming question… How many channels do I need and or want? The easy answer to this is simple… 5.1 channels are more than enough to do the job well. Five channels are also a basic industry standard for the mastering studios. Not all DVD and Blue-Ray discs are recorded in 6.1 or 7.1 surround. But they are almost always at least recorded as 5.1. So for those consumers who do have 7.1 channels- on many discs the extra 2 channels will be wasted. 3 channels in front:Left, center, and right; Two channels for the rear: left rear and right rear. Plus the .1 is for the sub-woofer. For nearly ALL home theater surround sound speaker setups- this is more than you will ever need. Why, because it makes no sense when looking at a display or TV in front, to have more speakers behind than in front. I have not seen many theaters with 4 speakers in front, have you? Also, with any quality speaker system you will experience what is called “imaging”. Imaging fools you into thinking that there is a speaker where none exists. Stereo can work very well tooHave you ever noticed that on a nice stereo system there are only two speakers, but a very solid sensation that the voice singing is coming from the middle- between the speakers? Stereo has no center channel, yet with the lights off you could be sure that a center channel was playing. I have had guests at my house looking on my stereo equipment rack for the center channel that they were sure was hidden somewhere. All we were playing at the time was two channel music. Five channels for great surround soundIn the same way surround speakers, if doing their job fairly well -will throw images away from the speakers. So, at the very most, 6.1 surround makes sense. But really 5.1 is a better option. Why? Because it would be beneficial to spend more money on a set of surround sound speakers and get higher quality than to have 3 or 4 lesser quality speakers behind you. Go with 5.1 surround spend the extra money you saved on higher quality speakers or a receiver and move on knowing you did the right thing. If you also need help setting up the components for your
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Customer Testimonials:
"Peter, I just wanted to drop you a quick note and say how impressed I am with these speakers. They are EXACTLY what I was looking for..very very small with big sound.
My wife loves them as well. They look great, and you hardly notice them at all sitting on the shelf. They integrate perfectly as surrounds. I have them crossed over at 150 as you recommended...simply fantastic. I only have about 15 hours on them so far, so I know they will only get better. You really have something here. Kelly ~ Montana USA
"I found these speakers by accident and after reading all the available info and after several emails back and forth with the company owner I decided I had nothing to lose, so I ordered a set of 5 mini cube speakers.
Peter was very helpful and patient and always responded to my emails within hours.
I have had the speakers set up for a couple of days and they sound great; they are everything described on the web site.
The sound from these small speakers truly is awesome.
I replaced a set of very high quality but also very large speakers and have not been disappointed... and the wife loves not having four large speakers in the living room.
The sound from these speakers really does fill the entire house, I was concerned about the small size of the speakers due to the fact I like to listen to music and movies at volumes most would consider loud.
These speakers are more than capable of playing at volume levels louder than I ever need while also maintaining very high quality sound. ~by; William (Corinth,TX)
"I ordered these speakers in the hope of bringing some life to my entertainment system... I didn’t think it would bring room filling sound to my entire house. These speakers not only fill my den with crystal clear sound, but radiate great sound throughout the house. Thanks for such a great product!" Celia ~Malasia IP#110.159.58.99
"these speakers breathed new life back into my music, I had no idea such small surround sound speakers could perform so well." John from US IP# 24.177.193.45
"how you got so much performance out of these speakers I have no idea -Great product!" Andrew from Denmark IP# 130.225.22.254
"nice speakers, nice finish, blended in with my room well and the wife is happy too. Great sound presentation! Now I just wish you guys made a subwoofer." Kyle from US IP# 98.233.53.244
"These surround sound speakers are amazing! After running them in for a couple days, I decided to play some tunes, and they never once sounded distorted or strained...
While I know they should be paired with a good sub-woofer bass system, I think they sound good enough that I can wait until I have the money to buy a really nice sub." Fred US IP#76.208.13.182
"Wow, what a great set of speakers. I really understand what you mean by a large sound-stage." Sandy from US IP# 137.100.121.30
"Recently I came to realize that my HDTV was better than my sound system... So, I decided to piece together a better sound system. Running across your site (and these speakers) was the best thing that has happened to my home theater.
My current system is; an older receiver, a home theater PC with a blue-ray player drive, and one pair of your Mini-Cubes. (for now; I plan to buy 3 more speakers soon)" Kevin US IP#98.179.199.26
"Purchasing a new set of surround sound speakers was a must for me. My old system looked awful and sounded even worse. The quality and look of your Mini-Cube speaker were a perfect fit.
Once I reviewed the ratings and tests I knew they would be perfect. I will be sure to look for more information and products from you. I can't believe the performance of these surround sound speakers for the modest price. I would recommend these speakers to anyone!" Mike US IP#172.16.2.142
"The overall quality and dynamic capacity of these speakers really took me by surprise. Their imaging is distinct, tonality is crystal clear, and oh yeah... they pump out some serious volume!
I feel like I have stolen speakers that I can't afford. People that spend more are Suckers!!" Micah US #Ohio