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Surround-sound buying guide

By CNET staff
May 7, 2009

How much do I need to spend?

If you're feeling surrounded by questions instead of enveloping sound, you've come to the right place. We have suggestions on how to shop for everything surround, from A/V receivers to multichannel speakers, to full home theater systems.

Home theater in a box (HTIB)

Most HTIBs combine a 5.1-speaker package with an A/V receiver that has an integrated DVD player. The only missing piece is a display or TV. HTIB prices range from less than SS$300 to in excess of S$3,000 for premium brand names.

A/V receivers

Audio-visual receivers differ from their older stereo counterparts because they offer video switching to allow the image to follow the audio when you change sources.

A/V pre-pros

An A/V Pre-amplifier/processor (pre-pro) and power amplifier combination is usually regarded as a class above the common receivers.

Speaker placement

Surround sound requires at least five satellite speakers and a subwoofer, but there are exceptions to that rule. In this section, we'll go through speaker placement options and outline surround sound alternatives that use fewer than six speakers.

Speaker packages

Packaged systems take the guesswork out of buying the most important part of any surround sound system. We'll go through their component speakers and let you know what to look for.

Separate speakers

Cherry-picking the front, center, surround, and subwoofer speakers, you can better select the solution that meets your precise needs. We'll also let you know how best to blend your current speakers into a surround setup.

How much do I need to spend? »