How do you read 5.1 speakers?

Question

is it 5.1

or

5 by 1 ???

Answer 1

it is 5 point 1, the five being how many speakers are in the system and the one being how many subwoofers the system has...

just confirming what the other guy said

not trying to steal anyones thunder

Answer 2

5 point 1 ... the number before the dot refers to the number of speakers (in this case 5: front left/right/centre, and left right surround), while the number after the dot refrs to the number of subwoofers. So you could have a 5.1, 6.1, 7.1, 5.2, ... 7.2 system. The "dot" is always read as "point".

Answer 3

Five Point One. I have never heard commercials, salesman, or people refer to it by Five by One??? Could be just me though. . .