Summary
- Stereo sound can be as immersive as surround sound for enjoying movies without all the extra steps and cost.
- Setting up surround sound is often more complicated than it’s worth, while a simple stereo setup can be just as enjoyable.
- Upgrading to surround sound can be unnecessarily expensive, and often more influenced by societal pressures rather than one’s wants and needs.
Surround sound is treated like the gold standard of home theater audio, and for understandable reasons. But I think stereo sound is all anyone truly needs, and here’s why.
Stereo Setups Can Still Feel Incredibly Immersive
Having experienced many kinds of home theater audio setups, I have to say that stereo sound makes me feel just as immersed in a movie as surround sound. Those left and right channels, loud enough and angled properly in a well-treated room, are all that’s truly necessary to enjoy a film. One can easily get immersed in a good movie as long as the audio quality is good, and they’re free from visual and auditory distractions.
Before surround sound became widely available and popular in peoples’ homes, people were perfectly happy with stereo sound. While I agree that surround sound is a fun addition to a home theater, I don’t think it’s a requirement by any means.
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Setting Up Surround Sound Is Often More Complicated Than It’s Worth
The amount of research and setup involved in adding surround sound to a home theater can be complicated and time-consuming, especially compared to what you get out of it in the end. Surround sound evangelists might get upset at me for this, but spending all that time and effort on what feels like more of a frill than anything just isn’t worth it to me, and probably isn’t worth it for the vast majority of people who would still be perfectly happy with stereo sound.
Having to figure out exactly where to place each speaker in your home theater room, at which distance, at which height, and calibrating it all with your AV receiver can take a while and may require a lot of tweaks.
Plus, if you screw it up, it could sound pretty bad. On the flip side, setting up two speakers and a subwoofer is significantly easier, and if something is out of whack, it’s way easier to diagnose the issue and fix it if you’re dealing with fewer parts. An added bonus: listening to music in your home theater room is simpler when you don’t have to switch between sound modes to do so.
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Surround Sound Can Be Unnecessarily Expensive
If you already have a stereo setup in your home theater that you’re happy with, upgrading to a surround sound system will be a significant extra investment. If you’re on a budget, building a surround sound system in your home theater, at the very cheapest, will still cost you several hundred dollars for used speakers. If you’re buying new speakers, this can soar up to well over $1000. While I understand the urge to spend a lot of money on a excellent audio setup, I don’t think the difference in experience is truly worth that price.
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Especially considering how many more practical things you can spend $1000 on, dropping that much on surround sound almost feels like a waste of money. The novelty of a new surround sound setup sounds great until you consider the cost.
Do You Actually Want Surround Sound, or Do You Just Want What Everyone Else Has?
I get the impression that a lot of people posting online asking questions about building up a surround sound setup don’t truly have their own motivations for doing so beyond just wanting what other people have.
Seeing other people around you or in your niche community with expensive, high-end surround sound setups can absolutely make one feel covetous. But you have to consider whether you will actually feel happier or have a better experience with surround sound in your home theater, or if you will just be spending a lot to feel more like your peers.
Are you already perfectly happy with your own stereo sound setup? Do you thoroughly enjoy watching movies and TV shows, feeling fully immersed in them with what you already have? If so, think long and hard about what you would actually get from a surround sound system in an emotional sense. Would it make your viewing experience more enjoyable, or would it just make you feel like you have higher status?
My word is not gospel, but stereo sound will always remain the best option, in my opinion. If you are on the fence about getting a surround sound system for your home theater, consider these points and think about what you truly want out of getting one, and if you’re already happy with stereo as is.
