Saturday, December 15, 2012

What is speaker channel, Tuner, Pre-amplifier, Power Amplifier, Audio Video Receiver, Home Theater Entertainment system?


What is a speaker channel?


A speaker channel is a path through which electromagnetic audio signals or sound information are being transfered, recorded or reproduced. It may also refer to the signal flowing through the speaker channel (path for the speaker signal). Sound recording and reproduction involves the transmission of the original sound source to the reproduction fo audio signals. It deals with original recorded audio signals (input) and electromagnetic audio signals reproduced and passed through the channels of speakers (output). Reproduced electromagnetic audio signals traveling through the speaker channels have a specified frequency band that is then passed/transmitted/sent to a loudspeaker or group of loudspeakers.


Mono sound system


A mono sound system is a system where all the electromagnetic audio signals are mixed or combined together and sent or routed through a single audio or mono channel.


Stereo sound system


A stereo sound system is a system where in the electromagnetic audio signals are sent or routed through two independent audio signal channels. The original input audio signals are reproduced into a sound output by sending them to two channels or stereo channels.


Tuner


A radio tuner is a device that receives radio broadcasts and converts them into electromagnetic audio signals with specific frequencies which are then channeled and fed into an amplifier for further sound amplification. A typical household audio receiver in your home has an FM tuner and an AM tuner. 


Pre-amplifier


A preamplifier or a preamp is a device inside the receiver or audio-video receiver in your home that is used to amplify or strengthen the low-level (low voltage) signals from sound sources such as a microphone, a guitar pickup, or a musical instrument. The output audio signals from the preamplifier are then sent and fed to a power amplifier to further amplify the sound signals before transmitted to the loudspeakers or speakers.


Power Amplifier


A power amplifier, power amp, or simply called amp id used to further increase or strengthen the audio signals by increasing the current then feeding them to the loudspeakers. The GAIN of an amplifier is a measure of how much the input sound has been amplified or strengthened in the output sound produced.


Stereo Receiver


A stereo receiver or sometimes called a component is an electronic equipment which has an FM and AM radio tuners, a preamp or a pre-amplifier and a power amplifier. They are called stereo receivers because the original input sound signals are reproduced into a sound output sent to two channels, the left speaker channel and the right speaker channel.


Multi-channel Audio Video Receiver


A multi-channel audio-video receiver (AVR) is an electronic equipment which is part of a home entertainment or home theatre system having an FM/AM radio tuners, pre-amplifier, power amplifier, digital video processor, input and output jacks for audio and video signals (digital or analog) from an audio equipment such as a mic or microphone, CD player, iPod, or mp3 player and video equipment such as a TV, DVD player, or Blu-ray player, home video game consoles such as PlayStation 3 or PS3 from Sony, Xbox 360 from Microsoft, and Wii from Nintendo. A multi-channel audio-video receiver is the main component of a surround sound playback and entertainment system. An audio-video receiver (AVR) with multiple channels are also called home theater receiver, a key element to a surround sound home entertainment.


Surround Sound System


A surround sound system is an essential part of a modern home theatre and home entertainment system which involves a multi-channel receiver such as a 5.1 channel receiver or a 7.1 channel receiver, and the loudspeakers, subwoofer, and surround speakers. In a surround sound system, the original electromagnetic audio signals from input sound sources are improved in quality after the audio channels are being reproduced using surround sound channel speakers which are the left surround, right surround, rear or back surround speakers in addition to the front screen channel speakers located in the left front, center, and right front. The result of surround sound audio channel speakers that encircle the listeners or audience is a better quality of sound often referred to as three-dimensional (3D) sound.


5.1 Channel Surround System


A 5.1 channel surround system has 5 full-range audio channels and 1 Low Frequency Effects (LFE) or subwoofer or bass channel (which requires only 10% or one-tenth or 0.1 of the bandwidth of the other full-range audio channels). The original input sound is designed to be reproduced using a total of 6 speakers namely the Left, Center, Right, Left Surround, Right Surround, and Subwoofer channel speakers.


7.1 Channel Surround System


A 7.1 channel surround system has a similar concept as that of a 5.1 channel surround system but uses a total of 8 channel speakers for sound reproduction. It consists of 7 normal audio channel speakers and 1 subwoofer or LFE channel. These channel speakers are arranged in a configuration which surround the listener(s) or audience and are positioned in a more or less circular manner. These channel speakers are Left Front, Left, Center, Right, Right Front, Left Surround, Right Surround and Subwoofer (LFE).

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