Here’s some great news for movie buffs who wish to experience Home Theatre (HT) sound, but don’t want to dole out megabucks just for theater sound effects at home. If they are not too fussy about the surround effect, they could add an Active Subwoofer to their existing stereo system.
This addition could make a remarkable difference to the sound they experienced when they played a movie on their DVD player attached to their system. If they have the money to spare, they could opt for a Soundbar.
What is Active Subwoofer?
An active subwoofer, popularly termed as an active sub, is a subwoofer with its own amplifier within its cabinet. It works on regular power supply. Some have adjustable equaliser circuits to balance the treble and the bass. The active sub produces deep and rich bass, creating nearly a home theatre effect.
What is a soundbar?
A soundbar is a good alternative for a 5.1 HT system. It is a system with a built-in special decoder which creates virtual surround sound effect. The decoder is a chip circuit which creates an illusion of surround sound through three speakers in a bar-like enclosure. Thus it incorporates the front three channels of a 5.1-channel system into one slender bar that you could place above or below your TV. The circuit takes it one step further and puts all five channels into a single bar, using acoustic manipulation to create a sense of surround envelopment. Hence the name soundbar.
The emergence of the soundbar can be attributed to space limitations in modern flats and reluctance of consumers to add additional pair of speakers for surround (which is a must requirement for True 5.1 HT systems.) Additional speakers mean more wires and cable clutter, hence an easy-to-assemble HT system, which can give a suitable surround effect. This is less expensive than the 5.1 HT system and less cumbersome. Every major speaker manufacturer is presently surfing on the soundbar wave. The high-end Bose initiated the trend followed by Philips, Marantz, Yamaha, Dennon and Samsung who introduced soundbars with awesome sound and virtual surround effect at prices ranging `15,000 upwards. They have a built-in DVD drive too.
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