Multi Channel Home Theatre – Bring the Cinema Experience Home!

Bring the Cinema Experience home with the latest in Hi Tech Multi Channel Home Theatres available.

Ever dreamed of having your very own Home Cinema? Wished that you could create that same experience that you get at the cinemas?…. Well the answer is Yes you can with a Multi Channel Home Theatre.

I have been an avid lover of home movies and surround sound for as long as I can remember, at least the past 30 years. It’s my chill out and stress free time to unwind and recline in my cinema lounge. Crank up the volume on an adventure movie and break out the munchies.

Multi Channel Home Theatres have come such a long way over the years with new advances in Screen and sound technology.

Once only available to the big movie makers. Home Cinemas have advanced dramatically recently. With huge high definition screens, multi channel sound systems which simulate surround sound effects, and cinema furniture.

Making it a real possibility to create that Cinema experience right in your own lounge room.

In this Guide I will be outlining

• What is a Multi Channel Home Theater?
• The basic Terminology.
• What is an AV Receiver?
• The different Sound Formats.
• The Sound Experience.
• How your room affects the System you choose.
• Speaker variations and layouts.
• Installing your Multichannel Home Theater
• Speaker size and location.
• What Smart technology is included.
• How to incorporate the right Screen.
• Cinema Room Layouts.

So let’s not waste any more time and get straight into it…

At the end of this guide I will be uncovering the amazing system that I will be purchasing very soon after months of research.

What is a Multi Channel Home Theatre?

A Multi Channel Home Theatre System is actually made up of three main components.

Multi Channel Home Theatre Terminology- What is it?

Before we dive right into it, we might go over the main terminology that is used to describe the different types of Sound, Picture and Technology that goes into a multi channel home theatre.

Stereo Sound

Stereo sound is delivered in two sound channels. It is widely used in TV screens with built-in speakers and mini bluetooth speakers.

It is the most common type of audio and is normally used between two stereo speakers. A left speaker and a right speaker, or two left speakers and two right speakers, like your car audio system.

The latest Stereo recordings can actually make the audio sound a little 3d, but not a lot. If at best you can tell when the audio moves from left to right giving you the feeling that you’re in the center of the audio.

The audio that you would receive through your Ipods for example is through two individual speakers “two channels”. If you listen carefully you can notice parts of the audio swapping from left to right.

Surround Sound

Home theater systems are classed as Surround Sound Systems, which can be classified in two categories. True surround sound systems and Virtual surround sound systems. 

The true surround sound systems can have anywhere from 5.1 audio channels right up to a whopping 7.1 audio channels and even more for some commercial applications.

Essentially that means, for each channel you have, you will have a dedicated speaker. Each speaker is strategically positioned around the room to create the surround sound experience.

Virtual Surround Sound Systems

The virtual surround sound systems however do not have dedicated speakers for each channel. However they mimic the effect of a 5.1 channel surround sound system by tricking your brains into thinking that a particular sound is coming from a specific direction. 

A typical stereo or multichannel sound recording goes through a virtual surround sound software. It is based on an algorithm, which creates a fake multi-speaker experience. 

Atmos Sound

Atmos sound is the latest audio technology from Dolby at present. Atmos goes one step further than your standard surround sound systems by adding extra speakers on the ceiling.

These speakers are connected to an extra two channels that are designed to provide overhead audio giving you that real 3d audio experience.

AV Receiver

An Av receiver is essentially the brains of the set up. The main hub of the operation where everything comes in like picture signals, audio signals, satellite tv signals, dvd player, game consoles etc. and more.

All these signals then get delivered to your home theater set up via the tv screen and surround speakers. We will dive in with more depth on the receiver a little later. 

Soundbar

A Soundbar is a compact speaker system and a stylish, simple solution for enhancing your home entertainment experience. With more volume, enhanced bass and greater clarity than what your tv speakers would deliver.

It does not provide anywhere near the same level of audio as a true surround sound system. It is however a great alternative providing an appropriate surround sound format.

Essentially it is a long sound bar (speaker) which has multiple built-in speakers and channels within. They assign specific speaker/speakers to each channel to deliver surround sound. So the sound you hear appears to come from all around, when in fact it’s coming from in front of you.

What is an AV Receiver?

The A/V receiver is the hub of a home theater. An A/V receiver is the electronic component that controls and drives your home theater experience and provides the different surround sound formats such as dts hd master audio. It is a crucial part of the whole system delivering different surround sound formats. It’s best to describe what a receiver does so get a better understanding of what one is.

Connects and switches your video sources

A lot of people choose not to connect their video signals through an AV Receiver, but I find that it makes life a lot easier connecting all my video signals through it. 

So if you have many video sources, eg Satellite TV, game console and DVD player for example, connect all of these video source devices directly to the A/V receiver.  This in turn is connected to your display device or your TV.

This setup greatly simplifies the selection of video sources when you want to play a DVD, watch satellite tv, or play the game console. You can select what you want to watch on the receiver’s remote and don’t have to adjust anything else on the display.

There is a single HDMI cable that will connect your AV Receiver directly to your TV. The receiver is acting as the hub connecting all of your video devices through this one HDMI cable.

Tunes in radio programming

Most  receivers will include a radio tuner. A handy addition if you want to use your home theater system to listen to radio through the day.

Most multi channel home theatres will also have a set up for Speaker A and Speaker B. This will allow you to run all of your home theater speakers from speaker A and connect a separate pair of speakers in another room, like the family room and connect these to speaker B.

So you can now listen to the radio, or Ipod for that matter in the family room through speaker B and have speaker A turned off.

Decodes surround sound format

The Receiver is the engine that has the ability to decode analog and digital surround sound format as well as the new dolby digital Atmos sound. This is a feature that distinguishes an A/V receiver from a more traditional stereo receiver.

An AV Receiver is what decodes and delivers the audio from the device in use to all the different channels and speakers that are connected. It won’t matter what device you have connected, the audio will be delivered in a high quality surround sound experience.

Essentially, the receiver will deliver sound through to 5.1 speakers or 7.1 speakers depending on what system you get. 

Provides the user control for your home theater

The AV Receiver will have a  remote control which will control the displays on the receiver’s face panel.  It will also display the Receivers functions and settings directly to your television screen. The receiver will also display all of your connected devices and settings directly on your tv screen as well.

Delivers Internet Connection

Your AV Receiver will aslo connect directly to your internet connection either directly via an ethernet cable or via your in home WIFI connection.

This will enable your AV Receiver to complete updates when required, and also share this internet connection with all of your other connected devices as well as your TV. 

What Sound does Multi Channel Deliver?

One of a multi channel home theatres main functions is to deliver quality surround sound to create that Cinemea experience in your own home.

5.1 Multi Channel Home Theatre

5.1 surround sound is achieved with Dolby Digital or DTS. and 7.1 Surround Sound is achieved using  Dolby TrueHD or DTS-HD Master audio. These are considered “lossless audio,” identical to the movie studio’s original.

A 5.1 channel home theater means that it is designed to operate with 6 speakers in total. 5 main speakers and the point one being a Subwoofer making 6 speakers in total.

5.1 Surround sound is produced by the receiver and translated through to each of the speakers. So with a 5.1 channel., you will have 6 speakers consisting of 1 x center speaker, 2 x front speakers, 2 x rear speakers and 1 x sub woofer speaker.

Surround Sound has a center point which is the seated position. All sound from the movie is distributed to each speaker and position based on the seating being the center location.

Center Speaker

Some say that the center speaker is the most important speaker in the whole set up. It reproduces most of the dialogue in a movie, people talking. If you can’t hear them talking over all the action noise, well that’s not going to be very good.

The center speaker is normally wider than it is tall and lays flat just under or above the TV screen. People’s voices are transmitted directly in line from them.

While mainly used for dialogue, in a 5.1 soundtrack, the center channel will also be used to reproduce some music, sound effects or foreground noise.

Front Speakers

You will have two front speakers, a left hand front speaker and a right hand front speaker. These are ideally placed left and right of your tv screen and in line with your center speaker.

Your front speakers will also be used for dialogue. They will deliver a voice when it comes from the right hand side of the screen from the right side speaker and left hand speaker when a voice comes from the left. 

The front speakers are generally quite large and can stand at least 1 meter high. They will generally consist of a couple of main speakers inside as well as a couple of tweeter speakers.

The role of the front speakers is also very important as they deliver all the action audio. They will deliver sound in the movie that is coming from the right hand side of the screen to the right speaker and the same for the left speaker.

You can now see how we are starting to get a real sense of direction of the sound. Just imagine a fighter jet flying in from the left of screen to the right screen. With the explanation that we have just gone through with the 3 x front speakers, you can now imagine the speakers delivering the jet flying left to right.

Rear Speakers

You will have two rear speakers, these are commonly known as the surround sound speakers. Their main objective is to deliver any audio sound that is coming from behind you.

These speakers are smaller than the two front speakers but will still pack out quite a punch.

They will ideally sit just behind the seated area or towards the back of the room. The ideal height for these two rear speakers is to be at head height when you are seated.

Any sound that is generated in the background in relation to our center point of the lounge, will be delivered through these two speakers generating that unique surround sound experience.

Subwoofer Speaker

The subwoofer speaker is entirely different from the other speakers.

The sub speaker is there for one reason only, to reproduce the low bass end audio. A good quality subwoofer can make an incredible difference to the perceived quality of your sound system and sound output.

The sub will deliver all the rumbles and deep sound effects. When set just right it will deliver that vibration in your cinema chair when T-Rex comes trashing down the path.

Many people don’t have the equipment available to play such low frequencies – but when you have a dedicated bass speaker in your room, you may be surprised how this improves the listening experience.

7.1 Multi Channel Home Theatre – ATMOS

A 7.1 Atmos multi channel home theater has an extra two channels which expands on existing 5.1 surround sound systems by adding 2 x height channels. This allows sounds to be interpreted as three-dimensional objects. 

On top of the two rear surround sound speakers in the 5.1 channel home theater, we now have another two speakers for the Atmos 7.1. These two height speakers are ideally mounted in the ceiling in line or just behind the seating position. 

The 7.1 Atmos Multi Channel Home Theatre system delivers a truely 3 dimensional audio experience right in your own living room.

How your room affects the System you choose.

Your room’s main purpose also plays an important part. If the room you want to install your home theater in is your living room, then adding too many speakers can make it look a little untidy and overcrowded. If you’re not going to use that room just for movie watching, setting up a compact home theater system is probably a better idea.

If your room is larger, then you could easily consider a larger 5.1 channel home theater or even an Atmos 7.1 channel home theater.

The size of your room will greatly affect the size and output of the Multi Channel Home Theater you will choose.

If you have a small to medium-sized room with your TV located approximately 10ft away from the cinema lounge, and you don’t have a lot of free space behind the lounge, then a 5.1 channel home theater would be an ideal speaker layout. You can also try installing two height channels and build a 5.1.2/5.2.2 system. 

Consider speaker size to suit the room. If your room is larger then go for the big speaker set up. If your room is smaller however, then the smaller bookshelf style speakers may not be so obtrusive.

If your area is going to be a dedicated home theater room then go for broke. Put in the largest screen you can fit and definitely consider the Atmos 7.1 channel system. 

Speaker variations and layouts.

Let’s look at the two main multi channel home theater configurations that we will be mainly considering.  5.1 channel and 7.1 channel Atmos.

5.1 Multi Channel Home Theatre

The 5 .1 channel system has 2 front speakers, 1 center speaker,  2 surround sound speakers and 1 subwoofer. The ideal layout for the 5.1 speaker system is shown below from Dolby

5.1 Speaker Layout and position

1. 1. Seating position
   2. Left & right speakers
   3. Center speaker
   4. Subwoofer
   5. Left & right surround speakers

Images Source Dolby Digital

7.1 Multi Channel Home Theatre

The 7 .1 channel system has 2 front speakers, 1 center speaker,  2 surround sound speakers, 1 subwoofer and two rear height speakers. The ideal layout for the 7.1 speaker system is shown below from Dolby 

The two Height speakers are shown on stands. Ideally these would be mounted in the ceiling. Or you could use the Atmos Height speakers that point upwards designed to bounce the audio of the ceiling.

7.1 Speaker Layout and position

1. Seating position
2. Right and Left speakers
3. Center speaker
4. Subwoofer
5. Left & right Height Speakers (Ideally mounted in the ceiling)
6. Left and Right surround speakers

Images Source Dolby Digital

How to Install your Multi Channel Home Theatre.

We have covered all the components that you will need for your home cinema. These include a media source (blu ray disc player) that supports surround sound, you need an AV Receiver, and you need the speakers, and of course the TV.

Now that you have all these necessary elements, let’s dive into the installation. 

Cabling

First of all, gather all the cables that you will need to connect all your sources to the AV Receiver. Depending on the number and type of sources you want to connect, you are going to need HDMI cables, optical cables, coax audio cables, RCA cables, etc.

To connect your speakers to the AV Receiver you will need speaker wire. Choosing the right length, gauge, and type of speaker wire is important for best results. Check with the manufacturer of your speakers for the recommended size.

Install TV Screen

Before you start wiring your system, you will need to have mounted your tv screen to the wall. If the wall that you have mounted your tv to is a stud wall and has a cavity, it’s a good idea to run the HDMI and power cable for the TV through the wall to the receiver location. I find that it always looks a lot neater to conceal all your cables in the wall.

If the wall is not a cavity wall, you can purchase special cable ducting to conceal the cables on the face of the wall.

Position AV Receiver

Next, determine where you will be locating the receiver unit itself. Normally there will be a low floor cabinet below the TV which will be a perfect location for all your media units and receiver to live.

Or you could consider some floating shelves under the TV screen for your equipment.

Position Speakers

Next step is to locate where you will want to be positioning your speakers. The center speaker will naturally sit on top of your TV cabinet right beneath the TV itself.

The two left and right front speakers will sit either side of the TV, and the subwoofer will sit to either the right or left hand side of the tv cabinet.

You can now connect these four front speakers to your AV Receiver with the speaker cable that was recommended. Again, if you have cavity walls try to run all the cabling inside the walls. If not, then use a small cable duct to conceal cables along the surface of the wall and floor skirtings.

Now determine where you want to install the rear speakers depending on whether you are doing either a 5.1 channel or a 7.1 channel. If you’re installing a 7.1 channel system, try and install the height speakers in the ceiling. It is a lot more work, but well worth it in the long run.

Again, if you can hide your speaker cabling inside the walls and ceiling it will make the whole job a lot neater, but, if not then use the cable ducting as mentioned earlier.

When you’re done connecting the speakers, you can perform the initial calibration. Most of today’s AV receivers come with calibration microphones.

All you have to do is connect the mic to your AVR and run the calibration software (whether on your phone or on the AVR). The software will do the rest of the job. Once the calibration is over, you can sit back and start enjoying surround sound.

How to incorporate the right Screen.

We all know that bigger isn’t always better? But, when it comes to TVs, it usually is. Which is why 85” TVs are considered the new normal in living rooms and especially Home Theaters. In fact many times even bigger.

But it really gets down to what size room you have and how far your seating is away from the screen.   

When we talk about TV sizes, they’re measured in one number, inches, which can seem a bit unusual. TVs are rectangles, so you would expect two numbers.

But the standard for screens is to measure the screen diagonally. So, a 75” TV is 166.1cm wide by 93.5cm tall, while an 85” TV is 188.2cm X 105.9cm.

To calculate the best size TV for your room, you need to know how far from the screen you plan on sitting and what definition the picture will be.

A basic rule for watching Full HD TV (1080p) is that you should be sitting a minimum of 1.5-to-2 times the diagonal size of your TV away from the screen. 

The following distances are a good place to start:

• • 65in – minimum 2.5m (Full HD) or 2.1m (4K)
  • 50-52in – minimum 2.2m (Full HD) or 1.7m (4K)
  • 46in – minimum 1.9m (Full HD) or 1.5m (4K)
  • 40-42in – minimum 1.7m (Full HD) or 1.3m (4K)
  • 32in – minimum 1.3m (Full HD)

What Definition will be best?

Full HD is what the HD free-to-air TV channels broadcast in. If you only watched free-to-air sports and maybe the news, this would be the budget definition TV you could go for.

4K is considered the standard TV resolution these days. All the latest movies, TV shows and video games are released in 4K on game consoles and streaming platforms. 4K is double the resolution of Full HD and has that cinema quality.

8K is the highest definition currently available for consumer TVs with a resolution of 7680 x 4320 pixels, or four times the definition of Full HD.

This is what I would definitely recommend if your spending the time and effort in a good quality multi channel home theater system.

There isn’t a lot of native 8K content outside of some YouTube tech demos. Alhough the new Xbox Series X and PlayStation 5 are notionally capable of 8K gaming and we’ll no doubt see games roll out at that resolution soon.  A lot of movies are now coming out in 8k resolution.

If you have the room and are doing a big home cinema, then don’t look past some of the projector screens available. These screens are available from 100 inches to 200 inches which is huge, so you will definitely need a large room for those.

Cinema Room Designs

This is where you can really get creative with your new cinema room.

If you’re designing and building a dedicated cinema room, or even converting your lounge room into a movie room, there are some elements that are worth considering that will enhance your cinema experience.

• Vaulted ceiling with concealed led strip lighting.
• Led ceiling down lighting.
• Have all led lighting switched separately and dimmable to create mood lighting.
• Dark wall and ceiling colors work great at creating that real cinema experience.
• Reclinable Cinema seating with drink holders.
• Carpeting will help dramatically with acoustics rather than a floating timber floor.
  

Conclusion

So there you have it, a basic guide to what a Multi Channel Home Theatre is and how you can set one up for yourself.

In my opinion having a home theater system is a must. I love my movies, especially action and Sci Fi. I really get to switch off after a week’s work on a friday night and enjoy my cinema room.

If you decide that a multi-channel home theater is for you, and you’re now looking for some suggestions as purchasing your first system can be a bit daunting. I have listed what I believe would make the perfect system based on price and quality.

I have recently done a lot of research into home theaters as I am about to upgrade my system, although it’s only two years old, don’t let the missus though….

Speakers

If there is one thing that I have learnt over the years, that is to keep all your speakers the same brand. It just makes sense that the audio output is delivered by all the same technology, you will achieve a much better result.

In my opinion I don’t think that you can look past Klipsch

This would be the ultimate Multi Channel Home Theater Package in my books.

Coming in at just under $6000 for the complete package and that’s allowing for 4 off the Atmos up firing speakers.

Its not the cheapest system that you can purchase, but its definately not the dearest out there either, by a long way. Ive done my homework, and I believe that this system sits in the middle some where and will deliver great performance and value for money.

Quality and technology that will last for years to come. You do get what you pay for when it comes to home cinema equipment and if you’re looking to blow away your family and friends, and I mean BLOW THEM AWAY, then this is the package that will do it.

If this is a bit pricey for you, then have a look at the guys at B&H Photo, Audio and Video, they have a complete range of home cinema products from the very basic to what I am getting above.