5.1 Speakers

While appreciating a music recording or the soundtrack of a movie to the fullest, the speakers play a very important role. Sound is mainly composed of treble and bass components, with the treble range being the higher frequencies and the bass range being the lower baser sounds. In most speaker systems, the higher frequencies are emitted by the tweeters in the speakers while the lower frequencies emerge from the large cones. The 5.1 speaker system provides one of the best surround sound effects possible with technological innovations in sound engineering. 5.1 speakers imply the usage of a total of six speakers; three speakers in front facing centre of the room, two speakers at the rear along the side wall and one sub-woofer that can be placed anywhere.

Generally, the higher frequencies are sent to the first five speakers and the lower frequencies are sent to the woofer. The subwoofer emits the ’bass boom’ that gives a thumping rhythm to rock and dance music. Thus, the sound output should be divided into the relevant six distinct channels. A big advantage of the 5.1 system when listening to music is the clear separation between the bass and the treble sounds with negligible distortion. With this kind of system, virtually every instrument in a concert can be distinguished and the singer’s voice stands out clear and clean. Dolby Digital and DTS are sound playback systems that incorporate the six channel arrangement.

5.1 speakers can be connected to compatible personal computers, televisions and music systems. While popular in movie theatre and video game arcades, 5.1 speakers are compatible with home theatre systems as well.