How does surround sound work?

How does surround sound work?

• does all the sound come from them or does SOME of the sound come from them bc when i go to sound on my tv it gives me the option to let the sound go through the tv or external speakers which of course is the Surround sound. i want some of the Intense sounds to come from them not all bc my tvs speakers are dynamic in sound and im afraid if i bye Surround sound its gowing to be obvious the sounds coming from them plz explain

• Answer:

  Sorry, but external speakers on a TV are NOT surround (at least not unless they are surround sound speakers driven by a surround amplifier connected to the TV via an optical cable). With a TV you are best to either use the TV speakers OR an external sound system fed from the TV ... not both. Surround sound basically is sound that comes from all around you ... generally best generated by several speakers actually located in front, to the sides and behind you. There are forms of psudo surround that don't involve actual physical speakers around the room, but this is a special case. Note that having the same sound coming from different speakers around you is NOT considered surround sound. In proper surround sound each speaker reproduces different sounds that together provide the overall sound (including directionality) intended by the recording engineer. For more see the link.