So let’s return to examining stereo speakers. If you already have a pair that you are happy with, great. If you are starting fresh, then you must make the decision of what speaker type will be suit your room. And remember, you are not compromising sound quality if you opt for smaller speakers. If the system is set up correctly it will sound great either way.
When listening to music, your left and right speakers handle 100% of the sound that you hear. When watching a movie in surround sound, that figure drops closer to 25%. The whopping majority of sound in a movie is reproduced by the "center channel." The center channel is the speaker directly above or below the television (and behind the screen in an actual theater). This one speaker handles nearly all of the dialogue in a mix as well as the lion's share of sound effects. In a movie theater you might see dozens of speakers running along the walls, but these surround speakers account for less than 10% of what you hear. So if you're gearing up for a home cinema, consider the center channel the keystone of your speaker assembly.
When shopping for a center channel, one essential feature is magnetic-shielding. Speakers are little more than large magnets, and if you've ever placed a magnet by a television you've seen the psychedelic colors that result. Over time this will destroy the TV, so be certain that your center channel is shielded.
So what about the surround sound? Surround speakers come in many varieties including bipolar and tripolar designs. A bipolar speaker is not one with a personality disorder so much as a speaker that fires into two different directions.
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