7 Best Multi-Channel Home Theater

Entertainment has become a crucial part of everyone’s life and people spend a lot on it. In the old days, We used to go to cinemas for having entertainment.

Setting up a multi-channel home theater is like a mini-theatre at home and it gives you an enhanced entertainment experience while watching your favorite movies at home with a theater-like environment and great surrounding sound effects.

Setting up the right home theater system at home is a difficult task as it involves many steps and there is a sufficient need for multiple speakers, sound bars, and all other things required to arrange a complete theater system.

Building up a channel home theater at home is not really possible for everyone as it can be a tricky thing involving more difficult procedures and arranging so many things to complete the system. But, there is good news for the people that “Home theater in the box(HTiB)” is available in the market and you don’t need to build up the whole system by yourself. HTiB is a complete home theater system that has full functionalities and features and they are also available at cheap prices.

Best Multi-Channel Home Theater Systems

Comparison Table of Multi-Channel Home Theater Systems

What is Multi-Channel Home Theater

Multi-channel home theater is a combination of multiple audio and video channels including various types of sound speakers and subwoofers.

It could be termed as a 5.1 surround sound system together with a home theater system.

Fundamental Parts of a Multi-Channel Home Theater System

Room Acoustics

Home theater is not made by keeping speakers and subwoofers and joining them to make an audio system. It involves the complete construction of the room as acoustic demands of speakers and then having compatible furniture which doesn’t disrupt the sound spread and bass of the speakers and subwoofers system.

Design of the whole room is necessary as the wrong decor selection or false choice of furniture may lead to a worse theater experience instead of making it an ideal place to have entertainment.

Installation of Audio System

• Front speakers should be beside the TV.
• Back speakers should be on the opposite sides of the TV.
• The central speaker channel should be close to the TV.
• Subwoofers must be on the ground to have a better Bass experience.

The Source

The source is the main part of the home theater system. It is like the engine in the car. It provides the necessary support to the whole theater system. Any defect in this source means the destruction of the whole system. You should be very careful in selecting the source and must check its compatibility with your system.

Receiver

It is also known as AV Receiver (Audio-Video Receiver).

It works as the main central system as it joins the main part of the theater system, the audio part(Speakers and Subwoofers), and the video part(TV or any Display Source Screen).

The audio source has also built-in amplifiers in some speakers which is the main source to provide powerful audio to the speakers and enhance the listening experience.

These speakers with amplification are a little more costly than regular speakers and it also depends on the size of the home theater system.

The main work of the receiver is to provide enough power and make sure that the speakers. 

Speakers

A complete home theater system needs a combination of multiple speakers and subwoofers. Without all of these, your theater system is not complete and without a better sound system, it looks like a void room. There is a need for multiple speakers, soundbars, and subwoofers to create powerful sound and bass to give you a cinema-like experience.

Mostly 5.1 Surround System is preferred by people wishing to have a home theater system.

Subwoofers are also part of the speaker system to complete the home theater system. Basically, subwoofers are used to listen to the low-volume sounds of different activities or different conditional situations in the movie like raining sounds or the storm crossing air, etc.

TV or (Display Screen)

A big TV screen is a necessary part to complete the powerful impact of the home theater system. Usually, small displays don’t meet the requirement and they are not able to give you a theater-like experience. Old versions of TVs also can’t give you the real graphics and they also disturb the sound quality which makes the expensive speakers’ sound experience worse to listen to. The number of speakers and subwoofers used in your multi-channel home theater system also plays a vital role in building up the complete min theater.

Usually, the projectors in this case give you real graphics and sound experience. You can also use the TVs with 4K technology as they are equally good to give you the min home theater entertainment. 

Connection Accessories

Speakers, Subwoofers, and Display screen are the important parts of a home theater system. But, there are also other accessories which are required to connect audion source speakers and subwoofers with TV and join them with central source. In order to set a proper mini theater system, you must place all the speakers, central source, and your LED Screen at the best suitable place where you can enjoy your favorite movie.

Types of Multi-Channel Home Theater System

Stereo Sound

Stereo sound is also known as Two Channel Audio. This is the most common type of audio. This is one of the most popular audio types as it gives you a three-dimensional sound effect. A 2D audio system can also give you the sound impression from multiple sides but it cannot beat the sound quality level of the 3D audio type. The stereo system has two channels, one connected to the right and the other to the left of the TV channel. They are connected to subwoofers and are the best fit for smaller rooms.

A surround sound effect is very important in order to create a multi-channel home theater. They give you the sound which has the impression in the center.

Surround Sound Systems

Surround sound gives you full enriched and real bass sound which completes the mini-theater system by giving you the central sound which makes your listening experience feel like reality. 

Surround sound Channel

Surround Sound System continues to evolve quickly that all different configurations can be difficult to keep track such as 3.1 surround sound system, 5.1.2 surround sound system , 7.1 surround sound system and Dolby Atomos.

The First Number in 5.1.2 represents the number of primary channel. The left and right channel, center channel and rear channels are all considered primary channels. One of the basic configuration is 2 channel stereo system.

Two channel stereo system consists of a left and a right channel. When you add more speakers and send out more signals, it usually comes out from the two speakers and you listen more diversified and loud sound.

The Second number in 5.1.2 represents the LFE or Low Frequency Effects channel. It’s important to understand these number represent the number of channels.

What is LFE

All of our movies now a days have LFE track meaning they are specific base that it’s made only for your subwoofer. So, it is separate from your speakers in the room. So, audio engineer in the movie place certain bass frequency only made for the subwoofer and it emphasizes a knock, so that you can get a good representation of what is going on your screen.

LFE is the subwoofer and setting it to LFE means that subwoofer only plays what’s in that track.

Surround sound can be divided into two parts to give the sound from all angles.

• True surround sound systems
• Virtual surround sound systems

The true surround speaker has one dedicated speaker for each channel.

Usually, the most popular audio channel system 5.1 surround sound falls under the true surround system.

Virtual surround sound is usually wireless and they don’t have anything like a speaker connected to them.

Stereo Sound System

The stereo sound system involves two sound channels, one on the right of the display screen and the other one on the left of the screen.

Most TVs have a built-in speaker system on both sides of it and they can produce equally good sound impact. 

Stereo systems are equally good for both music and movie entertainment. 

Adding it to your home theater system enhances your theater experience and gives a boost to sound effects. They are better options compared to the typical speaker used in the TVs. You can experience improved reproduction of low-frequency tones.

They are further categorized into two categories:

• Active Stereo Speakers
• Passive Stereo Speakers

Active stereo speakers have all the amplification inside and they don’t require any equipment or power supply.

You have to connect to your display screen(or audio source).

Passive stereo speakers have no internal amplification. They require an amplifier because there has no analog or digital connection.

This integrated amplifier processes all the sounds and sends them to passive speakers. A preamp and power amp may be used instead of a single device.

A preamp is used to connect the source and a power amp is used for amplification.

5.1 Multi-Channel Home Theater System

5.1 Multi-Channel Home Theater System is the most common and popular home theater system. They have rear surround speakers for the audience in addition to the right and left speakers near to screen display.

5.1 Multi-Channel Home Theater System features five channels and subwoofers.

The surround speaker must be placed on the back side of the display screen. Subwoofers must be placed near to display screen.

5.1 Muti-Channel Home Theater System is supported by video game consoles, Blu-rays, or even a DVD player.

6.1 Multi-Channel Home Theater System

This is an upgraded version of the 6.1 Multi-Channel Home Theater System.

They have an extra surround-back speaker placed in the center.

6.1 Multi-Channel Home Theater System provides more detailed and defined sound effects compared to 5.1 systems.

Left and right speakers should be placed at a 30-degree angle.

Surrounding left and right speakers should be placed at a 90-degree angle.

Soundbars

They are compact and slim. They are the best fit for the limited space rooms. The soundbar is an alternative to a stereo system. They have multiple channels(multiple built-in speakers). Soundbars are much greater than casual TV Speakers in delivering powerful sound.

If you don’t have much space, you should better have the soundbars in order to upgrade your sound system.

Factors to Understand for Best Multi-Channel Home Theater Systems

Room Dimensions

Before knowing anything about the speakers or home theater channel requirement, you must be very well aware of the area and the size of the room.

If your room is big, you don’t need to have a bigger home theater system. Speakers also come in various lengths and weights to make them compatible with your room.

Dimensions of the room will guide you about the selection of the multi-channel home theater-like 5.1 Multi-Channel Home Theater System or 6.1 Multi-Channel Home Theater System etc.

Some speakers also have the feature to provide you with powerful sound while they hide in the wall or the ceiling.

Speaker count

Home theater sound is divided equally in the whole room and speakers take the responsibility to spread all around.

5 speakers are usually the best choice for the sound spread in a mini-theater.

If the room is larger, you can also use a 7 speaker system to make the sound effects all around.

Some people use 10 speakers who have some extra-large room.

Size and Weight of speakers

Speakers’ size and weight directly affect the performant of sound power depending on the space of the room.

Usually, bookshelf speakers are low in weight and are very suitable for a room with a limited area.

Stand-alone spears are big in size and also heavy in weight. They are very suitable for bigger rooms as it spreads the sound with more power and has a more frequency range in the area.

Display Screen

After the Main Source, your TV plays a vital role in completing the home theater system. It is the only source to give you the visuals. Most of the systems support 4K technology so you must check your TV compatibility with the audio source and the main source.

Ease of setup

You must check the setup measurements. Sometimes, this is not an easy task to gather all the accessories of the home theater system and we find nothing helpful to arrange all the necessaries in a good way.

Even, Home theater in Box(everything structured and gathered in the box) needs to get installed in the room. You should choose the setup which is easy to install and is also according to the room layout requirements. You may need to arrange the speaker multiple times before they get into the right position.

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Advantages of Multi-Channel Home Theater

There are multiple advantages of having a mini-theater in the home. Here are a few advantages to getting a home theater system for your home.

Adds Value to the Home

Not many homes have this entertainment room in their homes. The home theater increases the appeal of the home and adds extra value to the room. It increases the value of the home when you need to sell it and gives you the extra money by just having this mini-theater in your home because not everyone has it in their homes.

Movie or sports event experience

A big TV installed in one of your home’s rooms gives you the enjoyment as if you are watching it live at the place occurred.

When you are watching any movie and you experience the most real sound which you have only listened to in the theaters only, you feel so relaxed and blessed.

Disadvantages of Multi-Channel Home Theater

There may be some disadvantaged to this theater system installed at your home.

Price

If you want to experience the theater experience at your home, you need to spend a lot on the home theater system. To have an extra luxury in your home require a lot of budget from structuring the room to the furniture installed and the channel accessories.

Loud Sound

If you have not set the room and multi-channel theater settings in a correct way, you must experience too loud or distracted sound which is not equally distributed in the room and causes severe results to your ears.

Klipsch Black Reference 5.1 Surround Sound System

                                                         

Klipsch Black Reference 5.1 Surround Sound System is the best home theater system for small rooms. They are a small pack of speakers consisting of 4 tiny satellites, a center channel, and wireless subwoofers.

They provide high frequencies through its advanced Tractrix Horn technology.

Whenever you want to upgrade your home theater and wish to fix a more advanced and theater-like experience, you probably would want to have Klipsch Black Reference which has a home theater system.

The Klipsch reference theater pack provides a premium acoustic version while keeping an incredibly tiniest footprint.

Satellites have two-way speakers, a 3.5” Woofer and a .75″ tweeter.

Satellites take 50W

The Center channel handles 75W

These speakers are easily adjustable and when we tried to put them up on the shelf, they are equally placeable due to their small size.                                                         

Polk Audio 5.1 Channel Home Theater System

Polk Audio 5.1 Channel is the best upgradable home theater system. It offers high-quality speakers including its muti channel home theater.

It contains 1 central speaker, 2 bookshelf speakers, and a subwoofer.

We experienced enough bass making it more powerful than others. These speakers have high clarity and highs.

We have easily upgraded to 6.1 and 7.1 multi-channel by adding more speakers to it.

At high volume, the edges were sounding a little sharp to us. You can hear the notes which are low in frequency though there is not enough bass to make the song so powerful in music listening.

We have purchased a 10-inch subwoofer with a directed port that provided the accurate bass with a depth that keeps the song so original. We experienced Bass going up to 100W.

Polk speakers are compatible with most home theater receivers. You can upgrade the 5.1 channel system to an immersive multi-room setup with 7.1, 9.1, or more channels.

When we brought the Polk into our home and we observed the sound and all media little voices, We realized how much quality, Polk has given at a low price.

With these value-priced speakers, We enjoyed premium acoustics, high-quality construction, easy setup, and a spectacular theater experience right at our home.

Rockville HTS56 1000w 5.1 Channel Home Theater System

HTS56 1000w 5.1 Channel Home Theater System comes with LED effects. Among the home theater system, We found it is one of the most price-friendly home theater systems. It has 5 satellite speakers with a subwoofer which has a built-in AV Reciever. 

When we analyzed its power system, it includes the following features:

• 1000-Watts Peak Power 
• 500-Watts Program Power 
• 250-Watts Continuous RMS Power.

It has cabinets which are made of wood with Plastic Front Panels. We purchased Rockville HTS56 at a very low price and we were also provided a guarantee of 1 year. Its bookshelf speakers are not the best in terms of their audio quality.

We were very surprised by the quality of the bass. It even overpowered the dialogues until we made little adjustments in the audio settings. Each speaker has its own volume control, making it simple.

Despite the small size, the speakers spread the movie sound in the whole room which really gave the theater pleasure. Our kids are fascinated with the LED light patterns on the speakers. They even danced to its music and LED lights and found it two-in-one to play around with.

Nakamichi Shockwafe Ultra 9.2.4

This is a dual 10” wireless subwoofer. It has brought the new soundbar reference standard for bass, producing ground-shaking rumbles that turn our living room into an epicenter of adrenaline-pumping action.

It has 4 two-way surround speakers, two wireless subwoofers, and a soundbar. They are manufactured with a tweeter that reproduces high frequencies and we listened to its captivating clarity.

Nakamichi Shockwafe is very lightweight and we adjusted it under the TV on the Bookshelf. We found its edifice very amazing and we almost found it compatible with our room settings. This home theater is technically designed so well that it has covered all parts of our theater room and spread its sound all over the room with its 18 drivers.

Nakamichi Shockwafesoundbar is compatible with a 4K TV and can receive Dolby Atmos surround via TV’s eARC when streaming with TV’s smart apps like Netflix.

VIZIO 5.1.4 Premium Sound Bar

VIZIO 5.1.4 Sound Bar is really the best choice to adopt when we talk about something unique and something which not many people have in terms of its different structure. We have taken this one to set up in one of my friend’s rooms as he is really likable of uncommon designs. It is compatible with Dolby and makes the sound feel so powerful.

It has 4 speakers and rear surround speakers which makes the sound so realistic and gives theater-like entertainment.

It has wireless subwoofers which created the bass with its 10” drivers in our whole room.

One feature which we really found very interesting is that it can stream music with Chromecast, Bluetooth, and Wi-Fi.

What Was in our VIZIO 5.1.4 Premium Sound Bar Box

• Sound Bar
• Wireless Subwoofer
• 2 x Rear Satellite Speakers
• Remote Control
• Stereo RCA to 3.5mm Audio Cable

Harman Kardon HKTS 16BQ 5.1 Channel Home Theater Speaker

Harman Kardon HKTS is famous for its clear and smooth sound. It gave us the real theater realization where even little frequency tones are also hearable. Due to its exceptional sound quality, the audio output is superb to entertain us.

All of the speakers are video-shielded and have dual drivers.

It is a complete 5.1 channel home theater surround sound system that has a satellite speaker of power 120W and two-way speakers. It has spread the sound all around with clear voice tones.

It has a subwoofer which has a huge power of 200W.

We have upgraded it to a 7.1 multi-channel home theater by adding some more speakers to its system.

At one stage, we felt that surround sound couldn’t get better than this but we managed to adjust a little bit of its sound as its subwoofer is equipped with the phase and bass-boost controls.

Its subwoofers are so powerful and create the bass which bounces back from the floor and brings an impactful sound.

Logitech Z906 5.1 Surround Sound Speaker System

The Logitech Z906 is the best multi-channel home theatre system with Dolby Digital sound and powerful bass. We heard almost every low-tone frequency with our Dolby Digital and DTS Soundtracks.

It can give a 500W power which is continuous and we also experienced its power going up to 1000W. With this much power, the bass it produced has shaken our room and it is so friendly with our’s rockstar attitude.

Logitech is one of the oldest brands in the audio industry and is still producing quality audio products in terms of multi-channel home theater.

This home theater system is very affordable and they have also introduced its many variants which also vary in their prices making it approachable to purchase.

The THX-certified multi-channel home theater also includes a peak power rating of up to 1000 watts.

There is no HDMI input in it. It is very suitable for a mid-sized room. But, we have found it equally efficient in large room sizes.

• It is made of high-quality material, making it very strong to stay long term.
• It’s not really cool in its structural design.
• The setup is too easy to install in our room.

Conclusion

We had used all the Multi-Channel Home Theater Systems at our home or somewhere else and we have reviewed every Home Theater System in detail by practical use, technical aspects, benefits, and drawbacks if there are any in them.

We recommend you the Logitech Z906 5.1 Surround Sound Speaker System as it is can easily set up and comes at very cheap prices despite having a lot of features.
You can read in detail the whole article to better make your buying decision by keeping in mind, your utility and according to the room area.