There is a distinction between a "surround system" and a "home theater room"; the home theater room is a dedicated room to recreate the theater experience in the home. A surround system is usually a room that does more than one thing, i.e. a family room, den or living room. The TV can usually be operated without the sound system on, so even the system does double-duty; a TV and a home theater. The surround system's room is sometimes known as the Media Room, especially if there is a computer in it. Connecting you computer to your surround system is simple so you can enjoy all your computer media (MP3's Movies, pictures, etc.) through your big screen surround system. Try a drop-down screen and a front projector to truely multi-task a room (see bottom of page).

     Surround systems are usually Dolby Digital^©  or DTS^© receivers* that you use with a TV, DVD player, cable or satellite box and 5 (or 7) speakers with a subwoofer. The speakers can be "in-room"  (like the pictures on the right, using KEF "Reference Model 205" 7.1 package) or "on wall" speakers (like the lower right hand image, using KEF KIT200 speakers) or you can go with hidden, "in-wall" speakers (image to the left, using Proficient IW550's) so they don’t interfere with the aesthetics of the room. The "in-ceiling" design has taken off in the last few years, primarily because of new speaker technologies such as the "Ellipse 2.0" from Sonance. It features angled drivers within the housing that directs the sound to you, not directly into the floor. See the diagram at left.
Also very unique with in-ceiling speakers for surround systems are the KEF Ci3-80QT speakers. It features a motorized speaker housing that pivots into place when the system is turned on. It has 3 80mm drivers and a single 15mm tweeter. Click the image to the right so see a large image, or click on the Ci3-80 link to go to KEF's website. KEF also offers the Ci200QT, with one 8" Uni-Q driver in a motorized housing. 

Drop Down Screen for true "room-multi-tasking"