Surround Sound System

Whether you are looking to re-create the movie theater experience in your living room, or simply want to optimize your sound. The key to building a good surround sound system is about your speaker placement and AV equipment. In fact, because speaker placement influences everything, what you don’t want to do is get it wrong! Because if you place your speakers in the wrong spot you run the risk of muffled sound. Where you place your TV, speakers, and AV equipment, ALL MATTER! For this reason, we offer some insight on speaker placement.

Speaker Placement

Speaker placement can be defined as a way to use both the home’s environment as well the speakers to optimize the sound. To create an optimal sound system, you should familiarize yourself with the role and position of each speaker (listed below). There should be a clear path between you and your speakers. Additionally, you can achieve a more balanced sound by minimizing bare walls and floors.

Left, Center, and Right Speakers (Role & Position)

The Left, center, and right speakers help sound follow action across your screen. Especially with music, dialogue, and special effects. Left and right speakers should be equal distances from both the screen and you.

Subwoofer (Role & Position)

The subwoofer delivers bass. This gives weight to movies, especially when watching action films. Because bass moves in all directions, the angle and location are flexible. Just be sure to avoid placing it in a corner. As it can lead to muddy sound.

Left & Right Surround Speakers (Role & Position)

Surround speakers create a lifelike sense of spaciousness. They also provide ambient sound within movies making feel as if you are actually there. Make sure to place the speakers to the sides of the seating area, ideally just above ear height.

5.1 Setup

The most popular surround sound setup is 5.1.  A 5.1 surround sound setup is when three speakers are placed in front of you (left, right, center), two speakers behind you (right surround, left surround) with a subwoofer somewhere in the same room (for low frequency effects).

7.1 Setup

A 7.1 surround sound setup delivers a cinematic experience through seven speakers and a subwoofer. With two added levels of depth that is produced by a left rear and right rear speaker. These rear speakers add intensity to the audio experience by further localizing sound effects. Make sure to place them behind your seating area at an angle of 135° to 150° from the center.

9.1 Setup

The 9.1 surround sound setup delivers a cinematic experience through nine speakers and a subwoofer. Adding to the 7.1 setup, the 9.1 setup makes use of two front height channels. These front height speakers add a vertical dimension to surround sound listening. For optimal sound, place these speakers directly above the front left and right speakers (facing the listening position). And, for maximum effect, they should be at least three feet above the front speakers.