Saturday, January 11, 2020

Speaker Placement for Home Theater Surround Sound

As with the main front speakers, placing the tweeter at/near head level when seated is optimal. But depending on the placement of the video display or projection screen, this is not always possible. With a 5.1 system, your surround speakers should be mounted on the wall behind you since they will be dealing with both rear and surround sounds.

proper speaker placement for a 5.1 home theater

Sound is a longitudinal wave that travels via a medium, bounces off surfaces and you listen both the original and bounced audio. SpeakerCompare gives you a sense of the sonic differences. But performance in the real world is affected by the acoustics of your car or home, your choice of amplification, and your source material. We still believe that the gold standard for auditioning speakers is hearing them in your own environment — that’s why we offer a 60-day money-back guarantee.

Beyond 11 Channel – Dolby Atmos

Look for their feedback and adjust the speakers’ position accordingly. Plus, it’s way more fun if you’re not sitting there alone, not to mention that you’re going to get much more reliable results this way. Ideally, there should be nothing standing in the way between you and your speakers. Every obstruction will take a toll on the quality of the sound. You want the speakers to push the sound directly towards you instead of bouncing the soundwaves off furniture and other objects. Another good idea might be soundproofing your media room.

proper speaker placement for a 5.1 home theater

The rear speakers should be equidistant from each sidewall. Surround sound height placement was standardized for years, only becoming contentious with the introduction of immersive audio formats. Hello — I have a question about spacing of the rear surrounds vs the side surrounds? My new receiver can handle 7.1 and I have a 20 x 21 living room with an open floor plan to the kitchen behind.

Don’t Put Speakers Too Close to the Walls

People often mistakenly aim surround sound speakers towards the MLP, which is not typical of a commercial theater or studio. Surround sound intends to provide ambient sounds that are not localizable. As such, surround speakers, both side and rear, should face the opposite wall. Doing so creates a sense of spaciousness more akin to how humans hear sounds behind us. Pointing surround speakers at the opposite wall provides a more exciting movie-watching experience.

The reason for this is that, for movies, surround speakers are meant to be ambient-supplying sources for effects and backgrounds, with the occasional point-source effect. This is one of the better sounding rear/surround speaker placement options. The speakers are high and slightly behind the listening position giving you an enveloping sound stage. The rear speakers are positioned behind you, facing forward. Place the pairs of speakers one to two feet above ear level for best performance. If you don’t have space beside you, then you can put them a few feet away from your site and place them facing forward.

Step 2: Main Speakers Positioning

Learn how to choose the best one for your system, along with tips for getting great bass in your room. I think you can make that work — just keep in mind the RP-402S is not the smallest speaker in the world. If footprint isn't an issue then I think it's worth considering. If you do go that direction I'd love to hear about your experience.

proper speaker placement for a 5.1 home theater

That’s not to say that you can’t do this if you simply must have your rear speakers closer to you than your fronts, but ideally, this is the arrangement. If you do need to position your speakers differently, use your AV receiver’s distance and level settings to calibrate your system so that all playback levels are the same. The process for determining rear speaker placement is very similar to the front left and right speakers, with the only difference being the angles. As stated early on in this article, the angle range for rear speakers is between 130° and 150°. Often, rear speaker placement is merely aligning the left and right rear speakers with the left and right front speakers. When placing the center channel, center the speaker on the wall horizontally.

Positioning the Front Speakers

Try moving your sub around and see what works best for your setup and your room. Every room is different, so you’ll have to do a bit of fiddling about with it until you get everything right. Let’s dive into the details of where and how you should position your speakers if your couch is against a wall.

proper speaker placement for a 5.1 home theater

Should i place the ceiling speakers just above slightly behind my sitting position or mounted on the 30 degree angle which would be approx 5-8' away from the OP. My first thoughts was to install the 30 degree angle ceiling..spread apart extending just above the OP. What is confusing me is the "recommended" 5.1 setup is to the right or right above the OP. Really do not want to start making holes in the ceiling until i talk to the experts. Hello, I have a 24 x 12 foot room and I will be running a 7.1 system.

This mark is exactly 180° from the center speaker and should be identical to the center speaker. Measure the distance from the rear wall, accounting for speaker depth, to the MLP. Experiment within this range to see what sounds and works best for your room. Having a friend move speakers while you sit in your chair and listen may be helpful. Put your receiver into “stereo” mode so that it’s only playing sound out of the left and right speakers. If you can’t move your speakers, try moving your seat.

proper speaker placement for a 5.1 home theater

Some center channels are designed to fire at an upward or downward angle based on the shape of their cabinet, or may have an adjustable foot for just this purpose. You can also use a professional product like the Auralex MoPAD for this, or one of my favorite budget tweaks, a pair of rubber door stoppers. It provides much more detail because it includes two additional speakers that take care of the rear sounds, a role which in 5.1 setups belongs to the surround speakers. This means that you also have to think about how you are going to position those speakers. This can be a challenge when your couch is against the wall. Start by setting up your front speakers so that you form a triangle with the primary listening position.

We recommend any overhead speaker installation be performed by professional installers with experience installing overhead speakers. Whether you put the sub too close to a wall, the sound would be loud and unnatural, which is not what you want. If the submarine has a port, measure the diameter of the port, multiply it by two, and position it at the distance from the wall. A subwoofer should be placed at least 30cm away from a corner. It will produce more bass if it is placed next to walls, or if it is placed on a corner with three space borders, the bass will be enhanced.

proper speaker placement for a 5.1 home theater

Typically, this will be degrees off-axis and about 8 feet in height. A downward tilt of the speaker will improve mid/high frequency response and reduce ceiling bounce reflections. For installs where there are multiple seats, we recommend an 80% triangle rule (IE. speaker distance is 80% of distance to seated area).

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