Before surround sound existed audio was played in a monaural (mono for short) format. Mono sound is only played through a single speaker, as a single audio track, As advancements were made with audio, sound was split into left and right audio channels. The split made it possible for audio pans which gave audio its stereo effect. Surround sound took audio one step further by dividing the sound up into 5.1 channels. The five channels are made up of a center, front left, front right, rear left and rear right channels. The.1 refers to a subwoofer that handles the lower frequencies of all the audio channels. By allowing sound to be paned from one channel to another, the audio appears to be moving around or surrounding the listener. Surround sound now allows movies goers and home theater enthusiasts to have far more involved movie watching experience.

HOW TO SET UP YOUR SURROUND SOUND

There are many ways to set up your surround sound. One of the most common ways to set up your speakers, is you set your center speaker directly in front where you it. The front speakers than would be placed 20 to 40 degrees from center speakers aimed back towards the seating. Finally, the two surround speakers should be set 90 to 110 degrees behind the seating. All three front speakers should be placed just above ear level.