Q:
I want to avoid cluttering my living room with speakers. I love
the idea of these new sound bars, but have no idea how they
sound or where to place them.
A:
While no sound bar can perfectly emulate a properly tuned
5.1-channel surround-sound system, many of them do a
surprisingly solid job. Sound bars generally integrate an
amplifier and an array of speakers—from just over a dozen to
nearly 50—into a single bar. By delaying certain sound waves,
they can create the illusion of multichannel audio coming from
different parts of the room at the same time. Some of them, such
as the popular sound bars from Yamaha, increase their effect by
bouncing sound waves off walls, so be sure to consider the
layout of your home theater if you’re considering one of these
devices. (They work best in enclosed rooms because sound gets
lost in open spaces.)
Fortunately, placing
the sound bar is a cinch: Just put it under your TV. Many sound
bars include a small microphone that you hold in front of your
seating position to calibrate the delay. By sending out test
waves and listening to the responses that come through the
microphone, the speakers figure out the perfect mix of delays
needed to maximize the surround-sound experience, no matter
where you keep your couch in the room.
One caveat: The speakers used in sound bars tend to be on the
small side, making their reproduction of lower frequencies
somewhat spotty. Audio experts suggest rounding out the sound by
adding a subwoofer. Fortunately, a subwoofer can provide decent
bass from just about anywhere in the room, so it’s an easy
improvement.
Source: Popularmechanics
