Having a center channel in your home theater audio setup creates a better listening experience in terms of distinguishing dialogue and vocals. With a good center channel speaker, you will be able to enjoy your favorite movies and shows with greater clarity and detail.

You need to place your center channel directly below or above your television or projector screen for the best experience. So, part of choosing the best center channel speaker for your home theater audio system is selecting the size and shape you have space for in your setup.

A center channel speaker contains its own range of individual components—tweeter, mids and woofers. The number and arrangement of these elements will affect the sound, especially for listeners who are sitting to the side of the viewing area. 3-way center channel designs will achieve the least distortion for side viewers, but they are generally the priciest options. Meanwhile, 2-way and 2.5-way designs are more budget-friendly and will work well if your home theatre seating is not too wide.

Because their main role is to reproduce the dialogue in movies and TV shows, as well as the vocals in music, center channel speakers are important components to consider when choosing a home theater sound system.

While a 2.1 speaker system will still convey dialogue by splitting it between the two channels, a speaker system with a center channel will handle the overall division of sound better by using the channel speaker for the dialogue. Because center channels are designed to reproduce the frequency range of voices specifically, they can create clearer dialogue that doesn’t get muddied by other sound elements. This can help to lift dialogue above the other elements of a film or TV soundtrack so that you won’t have a hard time understanding what people are saying.

If you want help choosing or setting up your home theater audio, you can always reach out to Best Buy’s home theater services team for assistance.