T he first thing to consider when building a home cinema system is the number of channels. A 5.1 system is most common and comprises five speakers (two pairs of either floorstanding or standmount speakers and one centre speaker) and one subwoofer. 7.1 adds two surround back speakers directly behind your seating position. Beyond that there are immersive sound formats such as Dolby Atmos that add ceiling speakers (if you can) or upward firing modules that bounce their sound off the ceiling (if you can’t cut holes in your ceiling). These kinds of systems put the listener in a wonderful bubble of sound if set up properly.
More speakers usually mean more convincing surround sound, although they can take up quite a bit of space. You will also need to factor in the cost (and positioning) of speaker cable. Keeping your selection of speakers to one brand will help keep the sonic balance. This is especially the case with the centre speaker, which should be from the same brand and ideally the same range as the rest of your system to ensure the best sound possible.