Movies; which speakers are best?

When watching a movie at home your most important speakers are the center channel, subwoofer and to a much lesser degree the main speakers and surround sound speakers. Thru rigorous testing we have found that having large main speakers will not really be necessary when watching movies. For music, however bigger is better.

The single most important speaker for movies is the center channel. This is because 70 to 80 percent of all the sound in a movie is designed to come out of the center channel. This speaker is for dialogue and action to be recreated directly in front of you. The subwoofer is the 2nd most important speaker for movies. This speaker will create all the explosive sound effects and rumble that you should hear and feel. Now that we use smaller speakers (satellites mainly) we need a good powerful subwoofer even more than before since these smaller speakers are unable to handle bass. For even better effects consider this article written earlier this year.

The rear speakers and side speakers, if you are lucky enough to have a 7.1 channel receiver, are important for all the action not focused in front of you. The main speakers (front left and right) are surprisingly not as important as you might think. Granted any surround sound setup without all the pieces (speakers) will be sub-par so these are still needed. However, with movies if the main speakers are 12’s, 10’s, 8’s or even really good 6’s or 5 1/4’s there really is no dramatic difference. In fact the smaller the speaker the quicker it is at recreating the sound to be heard. Also, the larger the speaker the slower it is at re-creating the effects found in fast moving action films. For this reason, Premium Audio suggests having a separate music setup from movies.

For movies, we recommend the main speakers not being larger than 6 1/2’s for most setups. Not to say that you cannot use bigger speakers when properly equipped with a powerful enough receiver.

Satellite and bookshelf speakers have come a long way for movies. Premium Audio recommends for optimal surround sound nothing larger than 6 1/2’s for each speaker (except the subwoofer or subwoofers) for surround sound setups. This is so you get the best balance between clean clear highs, good mid-range and quick movement of sound all around you when enjoying a film.

Of course, not everyone has the room for even medium sized speakers so we also offer smaller speakers commonly referred to as “satellites.” Satellite speakers do not use anything larger than 4″ woofers. This means you can really keep down your expenses and get a less powerful receiver and spend your money mostly on a good subwoofer and either television or projector. If you do not want to pick and choose your setup, we offer Home Theater in a Box solutions or (HTIB). With this setup everything matches (color, style, and voice matching). Just connect a few wires and you are ready to go! Home Theatre in a Box setups are normally for bedrooms, but can be used in any room you see fit.

Originally published 8/30/15 on our old site Copyright Premium Audio