Home Theatre Speakers and the Audio SystemPosted by Rooney Mckinney on May 28th, 2021 Hi-Fi sound is a popular term used by many audio enthusiasts, audio philes, and even average home owners to describe high-quality sound reproduction for DVDs, CDs, or any other format. In essence, hi-fi sound is the highest available quality in audio reproduction. However, there is a difference between hi-fi sound and hi-fi television sound. In short, television sound is excellent while quality hi-fi sound is excellent. In order to understand exactly what is meant when people talk about hi-fi sound, it is important to understand exactly what is involved when an audisher renders a stereo or surround sound track. In most cases, a stereo or surround sound track will consist of two or more channels of audio media each with their own respective volume controls. In a conventional home cinema system, all music and sound effects are blended into one channel such that when one is watching a movie, all the other channels are muted except for the music. This technique is referred to as panning and can be found in almost all modern home cinemas. When a movie is being watched, it is mastered with specific aspects such as key action sequences, character dialogue, and so on. These elements are then passed along from audio engineer to audio engineer, sound director, and production manager. Each group of professionals to add their own creative elements to deliver the finished product. The result is an array of sounds that come together in the right sequence and mix to make the final movie or audio track. Although this appears to be a complicated process, it actually only requires a few individuals to bring each component of the music and film to life. Basically, the science behind what makes movies and audio tracks come alive is frequency domain coding. These scientific terms are simply the analysis and interpretation of how sound interacts with each other. It takes the musical quality of a song and the words used to describe it and analyzes the way they interact with human ears. What this means is that a particular waveform or frequency range must be delivered to the audience to give them the right effect. Luckily, the science of frequency domain coding is well understood and audio engineers know how to make the most of it by using specially designed frequency response transformers. When an audio file is being played through a speaker system, a number of different things happen depending on where the listener is in the sound wave spectrum. The first thing to consider is the tweeter. The tweeter is a highly mounted speaker found at the front end of most home cinema systems. Its job is to produce high frequencies that reach the ear buds of the listener. Tweeter is usually located in the front of the speaker housing but some models are available to be mounted at the rear as well. Next to tweeter are the woofers. Similar to tweeters in that they play high frequency sounds, they also have to push these frequencies out of the speaker's speaker cone in order for them to reach the ear buds of the listener. This is why speakers often come with woofer cones that are much longer than the rest of the cones in the system. The longer the speaker cone is the better the accuracy of the sound produced. In fact, some small speakers may use special rubber or foam tips on the woofer cones so that more energy can be generated for the low frequencies and more energy for the high frequencies. Lastly, what comes after the speakers are the speakers themselves. The driver is what actually tunes the speakers to a specific frequency. And although many people are trained to not look at the driver, this is one part of the sound system that you can't get to see. If the driver isn't tuned correctly then the subsequent speakers will also not reach their intended frequencies. So it's very important that the driver's tuning is perfect. As you can see, the driver and the audio system go hand in hand with the overall performance and value of your home cinema loudspeakers. It's also perhaps the most important component of any audio system. You may even think about checking out the new surround speakers that are becoming available as a result of advances in technology. These new loudspeakers are an ideal solution if you're looking for superior sound quality at an affordable price. So put some careful time and consideration into your next purchase of home cinema speakers.Like it? Share it! More by this author |