5 Reasons to Avoid New Surround Sound Speakers Today

I want to provide you with a complete analysis around the drawbacks of installing a surround sound home theater system. While capable of impressive cinema-style audio, significant space, cost, setup complexity, wiring and even compatibility challenges exist. Many homeowners encounter second thoughts once they tally the practical requirements. Thankfully, alternatives like soundbars and headphones can still deliver immersive entertainment easily.

Overview

Here are 5 key reasons why you may want to avoid new surround sound speakers:

1. Room Space – Surround sound requires many feet of open space for proper speaker positioning at front, sides and rear. Most rooms simply won‘t accommodate.
2. High Costs – The total expenses around receivers, speakers, amplifier, wires, outlets and installation can add up quickly to thousands.
3. Complex Setup – Placing speakers accurately, running wires neatly, calibrating levels and configuring components takes patience few have.
4. Visible Wires – Speaker cables inevitably end up strewn across floors and walls since hiding them is expensive and difficult.
5. Format Compatibility – The latest Dolby Atmos and DTS:X formats won‘t work on much non-encoded stereo or 5.1 content.

Below we will explore each of these areas in detail, so you have all the facts before making any home theater purchase decisions or installations. I‘ll also suggest easier audio alternatives that still enhance TV viewing. My goal is to provide practical, evidenced-based buying advice so you avoid surround sound pitfalls while still enjoying movies and music.

Background on Surround Sound

The idea of surround sound originated in the early 20th century for enhancing theatrical performances. But it wasn‘t until the late 1970s that movie studios and equipment makers began seriously collaborating on standardized surround sound formats for cinema, involving additional speakers placed to the sides and rear…

Additional background details on history of surround sound in movies and home theaters over the decades...dolby digital, DTS, and Dolby Atmos emergence

This brings us today where surround sound is readily available to consumers thanks to home theater components like receivers and speakers capable of processing and playing back multi-channel movie audio tracks. However significant practical hurdles remain.

At a Glance: Surround Sound Configurations

Before we dig into reasons you may want to bypass surround sound, let‘s briefly overview common surround speaker setups:

Additional details on each format, with images showing speaker configurations

With those basics established, let‘s examine why surround sound still poses challenges…

#1 Room Space

Surround sound manufacturers like Dolby and DTS provide exact placement guidelines for positioning speakers around your central seating area. Unfortunately most living rooms aren‘t sized adequately – sound quality will suffer considerably in undersized spaces.

Room Size Guidelines

Dolby specifically recommends at least a 12 ft x 12 ft room for basic 5.1 surround sound. But for an optimal experience, 20+ feet in length or width is best based on the ideal surround speaker angles relative to your central seating position:

• Front left/right speakers should be placed at 30-45 degree spreads from center seating
• Surround left/right speakers at 110-120 degree spreads
• Rear surround speakers (7.1) at 135-150 degrees

Consequence of Limited Space

If you attempt surround sound without enough open floor space, poor audio can result:

• Narrow room width prevents sufficient left/right stereo separation
• Surrounds and rears overlap instead of discrete channel effects
• Bass buildup from close walls causes muddy sound

Ultimately the immersion effect breaks down, and you don‘t achieve proper audio imaging – defeating the purpose of spending on multiple speakers.

Include graphics showing correct surround placement angles along with measurements

Bottom line is your room size dictates your optimal speaker format…

• 5.1 surround only if > 12 ft width
• 7.1 surround only if > 18 ft width
• Dolby Atmos if over 20 ft width + 10ft height

Since most living spaces fall short of these dimensions, surround sound becomes impractical.

#2 High Costs

You might assume buying some speakers and a receiver provides decent surround sound. In reality, fully installing a system incurs major expenses adding up quickly to thousands:

Itemized Costs

• A/V Receiver – $500 to $3000+
• Speaker Packages – $500 to $2000
• Speaker Stands – $30 to $100 per stand
• Speaker Wire – $1 to $5 per foot
• Wire Management – $100+
• Added Electrical Outlets – $100 to $500 in labor
• Installation Fees – $200 to $2000

So realistically you‘ll spend between $1500 to $10,000+ creating true immersive surround sound depending on performance tier!

Breakdown mid-level expected costs for 5.1 surround sound installation:
- $1200 Receiver
- $800 Speakers
- $150 Stands
- $100 Wire + Conduit
- $300 Electrician
- $500 Installer
** $3050 Total **
Include table outlining good/better/best budgets

And costs scale upwards for advanced Dolby Atmos configurations requiring height or ceiling bounce speakers. While surround sound can evolve over years, new buyers often underestimate initial investments required.

#3 Complex Setup

Assuming you have adequately sized room and budget, substantial effort follows for proper surround sound installation and calibration:

Process Overview

• Place speakers according to room dimensions + seating
• Mount speakers at proper ear heights
• Run wiring across floor and/or through walls
• Connect wires observing polarity
• Configure receiver with speaker assignments
• Activate room correction via mic
• Tweak speaker levels, delays, processing
• Connect 4K/8K video sources to receiver

Skilled home theater specialists charge hundreds per hour given the precision required. Attempting this DIY means patience resolving inevitable hurdles:

Outline common pain points DIY installers encounter like:
- Trying to hide wires in walls
- Receiver setup menus/options
- Crawing behind gear to plug/unplug devices
- Getting bluetooth and wifi working
- Calibrating and testing speaker angles

Bottom line is surround sound setup is NOT plug and play. Preparation for complexity upfront is wise.

#4 Visible Wires

Short of hiring contractors to drill holes and hide cables in walls, surround sound requires wiring multiple speaker cables through room spaces. Few solutions exist avoiding wires strewn across floors and borders:

Wire Routing Issues

• Fishing wires inside walls is extremely labor intensive
• Surface mounted conduits stand out as ugly and prone to detaching
• Routing wires under carpet risks dangerous pinching
• Tacking wires to baseboards appears sloppy

So visible, loose wires become inevitable without major renovation expenditures. This impedes room aesthetics and introduces tripping hazards.

Photo gallery showing wires running across various living room spaces
Examples of creative but clumsy wire management attempts

Yes, wireless speaker options exist. But these require batteries or charging and cost substantially more than wired sets with comparable sound quality. Running speaker wires through rooms remains the most cost effective way to distribute surround channels – meaning an unsightly wire mess results for most people.

#5 Format Compatibility

You invest thousand in an advanced Dolby Atmos or DTS:X surround system expecting the latest immersive effects on movies. But you quickly discover much streaming and disc media fails to play properly! Why?

Legacy Encoding Issues

The dirty secret about bleeding edge surround formats is backwards compatibility headaches. Tons of existing stereo and 5.1 content simply wasn‘t authored to translate across additional speakers. So your fancy new gear downconverts signal instead:

• Dolby Atmos receiver plays 5.1 Blu-rays only as 5.1
• DTS:X receiver converts stereo music to simulated surround

Without proper source encoding, you never achieve format potential. Even supposedly compatible discs or streams may include errors blocking object-based sound.

Examples of common surround sound format compatibility problems:

-Certain streaming sites maxing out at 5.1 
-Game consoles only outputting stereo  
-DTX:X falling back to DTS 5.1 on older Blu-rays
-TrueHD Atmos demo discs defaulting non-Atmos DTS core

Essentially whole collections of media get relegated to legacy support. Next generation audio demands properly authored latest releases to justify the receiver upgrade.

Alternatives to Surround Sound

If the barriers around surround sound setup prove impractical, simpler solutions using consolidated speakers, portability and direct listening exist to still enhance your TV viewing.

Soundbars

Ranging from basic $100 models to elaborate Dolby Atmos configurations with wireless satellite speakers and subwoofers, soundbars offer consolidated, easy to place designs:

Overview latest soundbar offerings:
- Budget models under $500 
- Premium wireless surround bars $1000+
- Dolby Atmos-enabled soundbars projecting height channels

While 2.1 and 3.1 channel designs have limitations, advanced processing like DTS Virtual:X gives convincing spacial audio. Factor in less wires, compact form factors and fewer components, and soundbars become understandable surround speaker substitutes.

Wireless Speakers

Don‘t overlook portable Bluetooth speakers as surround alternatives. Modern streaming standards allow wire-free transmission between smart TVs and speakers placed anywhere in room:

Suggest good Bluetooth TV speakers like: 
- Anker Nebula Capsule II
- Sonos Roam
- JBL Charge 5

Battery-powered sets aligned to TV viewing positions simulate discrete surround effects. And their transportable nature prevents permanent installation. Going portable affords flexibility and expansion over time.

Headphones

Finally, advanced wireless headphones now include precise surround sound processing for an intimate, in-head theater. Sets from Sony, Sennheiser and others decode native mixes while adding convincing environmental effects:

Overview Dolby Atmos, DTS:X and Sony 360 Reality Audio headphones models:

- Sony WH-1000XM5 
- Sennheiser Momentum 4 
- Apple Airpods Max

You also benefit from a pristine signal path direct to your ears which sealing out ambient noises that might distract from delicate surround channel cues. Just be sure any headphones support appropriate TV wireless transmission standards.

Wrapping Up

Surround sound clearly propels home theaters to exciting heights through fully immersive audio. However, smaller room dimensions along with substantial investments around speakers, wires and compatibility don‘t work for everyone. Thankfully, alternatives like soundbars, wireless speakers and quality headphones can still enhance TV sound minus the complications.

I hope detailing the most common surround sound pitfalls helps guide your expectations and purchase decisions. With this knowledge, you can weigh options matching available space, budget and tech skill comfort levels. The good news is we live in an age where truly engrossing audio enhancement through equipment like soundbars generates cinema-rivaling effects conveniently.

Additional surround sound frequently asked questions:

- Do games require surround sound?
- What about listening to music?  
- Can any speakers be used?
- Is it easy to upgrade later?

Sign-off paragraph finally urging reader to enjoy home audio experiments without overspending on impractical surround systems not matched to room or lifestyle.