How to Place Home Theater Speakers

You have your television and home theater receiver; you just bought your new speakers and subwoofer and are ready to test things out. It's time to break out measuring tape because precision is vital to achieving full potential of your home theater system. For this article, we are going to focus on a 5.1 surround sound system. The term "5.1" refers to number of speakers and subwoofers in system respectively. So for a 5.1 surround sound system, there are five speakers (the center channel, two front speakers, and two rear speakers) and one subwoofer. When placing your home theater speakers, try to use same amount of speaker wire for each type of speaker. For example, use same length of wire for each of front speakers. This will allow signal to reach each speaker in about same instant. I say “about” because there are variations in wire which could cause signal to reach one speaker slightly (fractions of a fraction of a second) before other. By making two lengths equal, you ensure that this delay remains tiny and unnoticeable.

Center Channel The center channel should always be placed either immediately above or immediately below viewing screen. Make sure speaker is pointed directly at audience.

Front Speakers The two front speakers should be same distance from audience as center channel. Doing this will ensure that sound will travel from each speaker to audience in same amount of time and reduce chances of there being a noticeable delay between what takes place on screen to when you hear it. Each of front speakers should also be positioned an equal distance from TV on either side. This distance is dependant on your specific tastes; just make sure that distances are both equal.

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