
HOME
THEATER
It
had long been
the
practice of stereo
buffs
to
connect their
television
to
a stereo
system.
The
advantage was
the
use
of the larger speakers and more powerful amplifier of the
stereo
system.
Even
though
the
sound
was greatly improved,
it
was
still
mono and limited by
the
broadcast signal.
In
the late
1970's
and
early
1980's
two
new
home
movie formats became
widely
available
to the public:
VCR
and laser disc.
By
1985,
both
formats
had developed into very high quality
audio/video
sources.
In
fact,
the
sonic performance
of
some
video
formats exceeded audio-only formats.
Now,
with
theater-quality sound available at home,
the
only element
missing
was
the "surround sound" presentation found
in
movie
houses.
Fortunately,
Dolby
and
DTS
encoded
DVD's emerged
with the same surround sound information encoded on
home releases
as
the theatrical release.
Additionally,
new high-resolution home-viewing formats
such
as
Blu-ray
as
well
as
high-definition content provided via cable or
satellite have evolved which include multi-channel encod-
ed
audio
that
is
virtually master tape quality. All that
is
required
to
retrieve
this
information
is
a decoder and addi-
tional speakers and amps
to
reproduce
it.
Home theater
is
a complex purchase and
we
recommend
that you consult your local
Martinlogan
dealer, as they
are well versed
in
this
subject.
Each
piece of a surround
system
can be purchased sepa-
rately. Take your time and buy quality.
No
one
has
ever
complained that
the
movie was too real.
The
following
list
and descriptions will give you only a brief outline of the
responsibilities and demands placed on each speaker.
Front Left
and
Front Right
If
these
speakers will
be
the
same two
used
for your stereo
playback,
they
should
be
of very
high
quality and able
to
play
loudly
(over
102
dB)
and reproduce
bass
below
80Hz.
Center Channel
This
is
the most important speaker
in
a home theater
system, as almost all of the
dialogue
and
a large por-
tion of the front speaker information
is
reproduced by
the
center channel.
It
is
important
that the center speaker
be
extremely
accurate
and
mate
well
with
the front
14
Home Theater
speaker, and that
it
is
recommended for
use
as
a center
speaker.
This
is
not
the
place
to
cut corners.
Surround Speakers
We
recommend (along with
the
film industry) that
the
sur-
round speakers play
down
to
at
least
80
Hz.
Surround
speakers contain the information that
makes
it
appear
that
planes are flying over your head. Some may suggest that
this
is
the
place
to
save money and purchase small, inex-
pensive speakers.
If
you choose
to
do
so, be prepared
to
upgrade
in
the future as discrete multi-channel
digital
encoding
is
proliferating rapidly and the demands
on
sur-
round speakers have increased.
Subwoofer
With
any
good
surround system you
will
need one or
more high-quality subwoofers
(the
.1
in
a 5.1,
6.1,
or 7.1
channel surround
system).
Most
movie soundtracks contain
large amounts
of
bass information
as
part of the special
effects.
Good
subwoofers will provide a foundation for
the
rest
of
the
system.
D D
Figure
12.
Dynamo subwoofers
as
the
LFE
(effects) channels,
Martinlogon
speakers as front, center, and surround (effects) channels