In most wired home theater systems, there are six speakers – one centrally placed in the front, two more front ones on the left and right, two speakers in the rear on either side and a single sub-woofer bass speaker. Most wireless surround systems available in market nowadays have the left and right rear speakers made with wireless technology.

Despite loud cheers from home theater buyers, experts opine that wireless speakers do not give the same quality of sound as wired ones. Another point to note for buyers is that wireless systems are costlier. Even though rear speakers do not pose the problem of connection wires to the main console, it requires power outlet close to their place of installation.

Wireless surround systems are available as part of the home theater package or as separate units. These individual wireless components can be used to upgrade your existing home theater system. To transform your present home theater system into a wireless one, you need to add a transmitter and receivers to attach to the amplifier and speakers respectively. Or else, you can also buy a transmitter and speakers having built-in receivers. In this case, you need to connect the transmitter to the amplifier of your existing home theater system. In both, the transmitter will emit audio signals to the receivers in the speakers.

When you are searching for whole home theater wireless system paraphernalia, All-in-One or Home Theater in a Box (HTIB) is the right choice for you. These come equipped with integrated transmitter in the main controller of the home theater system. Each wireless speaker will have built-in receivers to receive the audio signals emitted by the transmitter. In HTIB, all speakers including the three front ones, two rear or surround ones and one sub-woofer bass speaker will come wireless.

The obvious advantage with wireless systems is that you need not drill holes or work hard to hide the awkward wires running all over the place. The entire setup will look stylish, besides simplifying the installation process considerably.

More the surround speakers, more the wires to connect them up. Many are put off by the unsightly look of wires crisscrossing the room. Rear speakers are the most difficult ones to handle, as they are the farthest from the main console of the system. Wires running left and right may pose danger to children as well as adults, if ample care is not taken while installing them.

First things first, wireless means fewer number of wires in most wireless home theater systems.

Installation of a wireless surround speaker system is unambiguous. The system has a transmitter that acts as the conduit of audio signals between surround speakers and television. Typically, a transmitter has a range of 100 feet and emits audio signals at a frequency of 2.4GHz. It is fairly simple to establish the link between the two units via transmitter. When the surround system is an add-on, you may face some trouble in this regard, but following instruction manual carefully is enough to solve most issues.

As rear speakers pose the maximum trouble, most buyers go wireless only for these two. The market is flooded with good quality and affordable rear wireless speakers that can eliminate these wired hazards.

If you want to reduce wires further, you can choose a system with wireless front speakers, whether it is a 5.1 or 7.1 system. This way you can avoid a good many wires for connecting the speakers to the central hub of the home theater system. However, they too come with electric cords to connect them to power outlets. There are a few fully wireless systems running with battery-powered speakers, but it is not worth the effort, as their sound quality leaves much to be desired. Another drawback is the easy draining of batteries, necessitating frequent replacements.

In case you are buying wireless surround speakers outside package, you need ensure their compatibility. Some wireless speakers will not work with some brands. Before going wireless, you also need to understand that wireless audio signals from transmitter may interfere with other wireless signals crossing its path like Wi-Fi. You need to sort out these issues to get the system up and working.