Surround Sound Advice
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Surround Sound Advice
Going to set up surround sound in my living room, and was wondering if anyone had any advice on where to place the speakers to get the optimal sound. I have pretty much a basic system, two front speakers, two surround speakers, a bass and a subwoofer. In the living room there is an entertainment stand for the tv, a couch, and a recliner. Any advice at all would be helpful. Thanks in advance.
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Hi Dodger Fan,
Some things to remember when you are surveying your room to put up the speakers:
- Avoid having a large number of bare surfaces (empty walls). This can cause the sound waves to bounce around and cause some weirdo muffled sounds. Placing carpet or drapes will help because they act as sound deflectors.
- Place your main seating area between the sides walls in which you plan to mount your surround speakers.
Since subwoofers only reproduce low non-directional bass. They do not produce localized sound. You can basically put your subwoofer anywhere and facing any direction in the room and still hear it.
If possible the best place to put your subwoofer is either in a corner of a room or near a wall. When you check your set up, you want to have clear bass, not a boomy or thuddy sound.
When placing your speakers, start from your listening position. Place your speakers well away from the sidewalls and not too close to each other. The basic rule of speaker positioning is to use a triangle. The distance from you to each speaker should be more than the distance between the speakers. Think Bermuda Triangle!!
I think the surround speakers are the hardest to place. The best possible spot to place these speakers are directly on either side of the listening area at about 3 feet above your head. You should aim the speakers straight across the room, not down towards the listening area. The key thing you want to do is to minimize the ability for your ear to locate where the sound is coming from. You want to create a spacious sound field.
Good luck!
Some things to remember when you are surveying your room to put up the speakers:
- Avoid having a large number of bare surfaces (empty walls). This can cause the sound waves to bounce around and cause some weirdo muffled sounds. Placing carpet or drapes will help because they act as sound deflectors.
- Place your main seating area between the sides walls in which you plan to mount your surround speakers.
Since subwoofers only reproduce low non-directional bass. They do not produce localized sound. You can basically put your subwoofer anywhere and facing any direction in the room and still hear it.
If possible the best place to put your subwoofer is either in a corner of a room or near a wall. When you check your set up, you want to have clear bass, not a boomy or thuddy sound.
When placing your speakers, start from your listening position. Place your speakers well away from the sidewalls and not too close to each other. The basic rule of speaker positioning is to use a triangle. The distance from you to each speaker should be more than the distance between the speakers. Think Bermuda Triangle!!
I think the surround speakers are the hardest to place. The best possible spot to place these speakers are directly on either side of the listening area at about 3 feet above your head. You should aim the speakers straight across the room, not down towards the listening area. The key thing you want to do is to minimize the ability for your ear to locate where the sound is coming from. You want to create a spacious sound field.
Good luck!
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Originally Posted by DodgerFan,Oct 6 2004, 12:32 PM
Going to set up surround sound in my living room, and was wondering if anyone had any advice on where to place the speakers to get the optimal sound. I have pretty much a basic system, two front speakers, two surround speakers, a bass and a subwoofer. In the living room there is an entertainment stand for the tv, a couch, and a recliner. Any advice at all would be helpful. Thanks in advance.
naomi-sarah pretty much covered it all but Dolby has some good basic information if you want to do some more reading:
http://www.dolby.com/consumer/home_enterta....html#placement
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