Home theater speaker placement tips

This may the ideal setup, but very few home theater really look like this.

(Credit: Dolby)

In the beginning of recorded sound, there was mono. One speaker, period.

Mono speakers were plopped wherever it was convenient, and that was that. Consumer audio remained strictly mono until the late 1950s with the introduction of stereo tape and LPs. Now you needed two speakers.

Home theater upped the ante to 5.1 channel surround sound--five speakers, plus a subwoofer--and setup hassles were getting tricky. Dolby's Web site offers very specific requirements for the placement of the front left, center, right speakers, and the side surround speakers. 6.1 and 7.1 systems add rear surround speakers.

It's one thing to look at a diagram, but your room probably doesn't look like the diagram. Reality sets in, so very few 5.1, 6.1, or 7.1 system buyers get remotely close to the recommended speaker placements.

I've seen countless 5.1 home theater in a box systems in real people's homes with all five satellite speakers clumped in a row under or over the TV. Some buyers spread the speakers out across their entertainment furniture, still with all the speakers in front, near the TV. Obviously, those people don't want to string wires across the room. I don't blame them.

On one hand it'll sound "fine," but the envelopment the film sound mixers worked so hard to achieve will be lost. Don't worry, the Dolby Police won't arrest you for improper placement and the certain destruction of the filmmaker's intent.

If you have all of your speakers sitting in a pile, but I've made you a little curious, temporarily move the surround speakers out into the room. Put 'em on something to get them off the floor: A chair, bookcase, furniture, and so on. Play a few big action flicks and see what's up with surround. It might surprise you and just maybe you'll be inspired enough to make the effort to find permanent, around the room locations for the surround speakers. Hey, in 5.1 it's only two skinny wires.

What about 7.1 channel home theater? Most new AV receivers are 7.1, would a properly setup 7.1 system sound better than 5.1? Maybe.

Seven channel systems work best in large rooms, say 17 feet by 24 feet or larger. The whole idea of 7.1 is to supply a more complete wrap-around sound experience than 5.1. However, when the speakers are closer together in a smaller room, the extra speakers are less important. Especially when the sofa is up against the rear wall--there's no way to achieve behind-the-listener sound anyway. If you want your surround system to sound as good as it can, run the receiver's auto setup/calibration program.

In any case the differences between 5.1 and 7.1 are usually pretty subtle, it's not like adding those two extra speakers makes a huge difference in perceived sound quality. It's not worth agonizing over.

Do you have setup questions for us? If so, leave them in the comments.

[cnrix]

I like the idea of putting the sub woofer in the preferred listening area and then moving myself around the room to determine the best sound and using that as the preferred location of the sub woofer. The standing waves generated within even a medium sized room can be annoying.

[builder bob]

My living room has ceiling speakers - center, two front, two rear - and I want to create surround sound. This would indicate a 5.1 setup. However, I have two ceiling speakers in another room that I want to run off the same receiver. These two in the other room are just for music. Is there a way to run the two speakers in the other room off the same 5.1 receiver?
Thanks.

[Blink4life90]

If you have a two zone receiver

[toddnothingclever]

I totally agree with Steve about 7.1 surround. A lot of people think just because they have a 7.1 channel receiver they would short change themselves if they only use 5.1 when in realty they get worse results in their small rooms.

[taylorgirl6]

For those of us who do have just that shape of a room to work with (and room behind the couch for additional speakers), what is the optimal setup for a 5.1 theater? I'm working with a partial set of Infinity Interlude speakers, and I desperately want to find the missing pieces from the set to complete the audio package. Here's my main problem- the IL 10 bookshelf speakers are very hard to find, ditto the IL 20 sub. I have the IL 40 right and left, as well as the IL 25 center channel. Can I use additional center channel speakers as bookshelf speakers? How about additional IL 40's? There seem to be an abundance of those available on ebay and other sites, just not the IL 10's. If I can't find what I want, will I be screwed if I finish the set with non-interlude speakers? And should I stick with Infinity if that's the case?

[randy6k80]

What type of speakers are better, in-wall or standard box speakers for home theater? Also how high can you go considering that some ceilings these days are nine feet if not higher when it comes to vaulted?

[cbr600isreal]

how is the logitech z5500 for a surround system, especially in relatively small room?

[askj113]

At the very least those people should commended for having speakers at all; I hardly know anybody who doesn't just use the built in speakers, and only recently did I convince my parents to use a cheap 2.1 system with our TV

[mooretipsy]

But I thought blu ray was going to fail Steve so I though out all of the extra speakers that I had!

[BlackPenguin]

in reply to askj113 , that is so true a lot of people get a big tv 40 inches or more, and then only use the tv speakers. it's sad. . although if you are going to invest the money into the receiver and speakers, then why put them in a pile in one place. what is the point? . if you are going to do that, then just get rid of the home theater .

[jscott418]

I have never seen too many properly setup 7.1 systems. Most living rooms or entertainment area's rarely have the proper design for speaker placement. I myself gave up because when you think about it most setups ideally only have one good listening position. I have found that a really good stereo setup is much better if proper 5.1 or 7.1 is not possible. Even the 2.1 is better then a badly placed surround.

[FSquared]

Any suggestions for the placement of a Sonos music system. It is an all-in one speaker system, so I don't need to be thinking about the placement around the room of multiple speakers. . . I just need to know if it makes the most sense to have it higher off the floor (say on the fireplace mantle) and roughly in the middle of the room. Or in a corner pointed across to the other corner, or . . . Any suggestions on placement are much appreciated.

I'm new at this -- audiophiles please have mercy . . .