As commonly used in surround sound audio terms, the delay is the time difference between when a front speaker plays a sound and a rear or surround speaker plays a corresponding sound. All surround sound formats make use of delay in order to recreate the ambience or acoustic feel of a specific environment. large concert hall has a large delay relative to a small room. Delay can be set on surround sound processors (audio/video receivers, surround sound preamplifiers, digital surround sound processors) to tailor the effect for specific rooms and tastes. Adding delay can make a room feel larger than it is, while adding too much delay can make the room seem to echo and harm the overall illusion of space. Conversely, too little delay may mean surround sound information is drown out by front channel information or reaches the listener before the corresponding front channel information also ruining the illusion. The amount of delay should be set according to the room size, listener position relative to surround sound speaker placement and listener preference.