BestAdvice: Placing Your Home Theater Speakers

Generally, the ideal locations for home theater speakers will be: Left/Right front speakers located to either side of the TV screen, at least 1.5 to 2 feet away from the screen itself. It´s actually best to have the speakers a little forward of the screen and out away from the side and back walls. For the best audiophile performance it helps to be sure that the distances from the back and side walls to the speaker is different. The speakers should be placed with the tweeters as close as possible to ear height, when seated. You can try them 'toed in' towards the prime listening position or straight out into the room.

Center Channel Ideally located directly on top of or below the center of the TV screen. The center channel is arguably the single most important speaker in a home theater system, because up to 85% of the dialogue and 65% of the special effects come through it! Putting a speaker directly adjacent to the TV screen does, however, cause certain problems. Sounds that normally would radiate equally from the face of the speaker are immediately reflected from the screen. This causes undesirable sonic 'colorations' that make the center channel sound different than the left/right front speakers, even if they are precisely matched to begin with. Many Atlantic Technology center channel speakers include one or more controls to allow tailoring their sound to better match the L/R speakers. Additionally, these controls also allow you to match them to other brand L/R speakers should you be upgrading from a stereo system to a multi-channel set-up and want to add a center channel to your existing system. Additionally, most Atlantic center channel speakers come with an adjustable mounting base that allows precise aiming towards the prime listening position for better dialogue intelligibility.

Surround speakers First an important note. It's our belief that the goal of home theater is not to make the viewer believe that they´re in the movie theater; it´s to make them believe they´re in the movie. So we believe that the surround speakers should be able to create all those atmospheric location sounds without being easily localized. This has a major impact on where the surround speakers should be placed for best operation, understanding our goal. You'll find several different types of speakers used for surround applications and the best location for each type is generally different.

Dipoles For Dipole surrounds the ideal location is directly adjacent to the prime listening position, starting a little above ear height when seated, to approximately 18 inches down from the ceiling. They work best right up against or mounted to the sidewalls. Dipoles may be placed rearward of the prime listening position, and in fact, can be located on the back wall if absolutely necessary. But such positioning may compromise the involving, non-localizable aspect of a dipole's surround field. If you are relegated to ceiling placement, make sure to orient the speakers so the apex or the part of the speaker between the two sets of tweeters and woofers is right above the listening position. The speakers will be running lengthwise, firing toward the TV and the back wall. The ceiling position is not the ideal position; however, it will still provide a sense of ambient information and diffuse sound provided the speakers are positioned correctly.

Bipoles These speakers can be placed similarly to Dipoles, and can even be placed forward of the listening position as well. But it´s typically more difficult to get a Bipole to deliver a non-localizable sound field unless they're located fairly high on the side walls, well above seated ear level. Bipoles will work OK on back walls, and on the ceiling too, but once again, there will be compromises in the believability of the surround effects that they generate from these locations.

Monopoles Also known as direct radiators. When used for surround speakers they should be placed relatively high up on the rear or side walls, with the tweeters aimed other than directly at the listeners. This helps to create a more believable "surrounding experience" and makes this type speaker less localizable.

Subwoofers Unlike the front speakers, the subwoofer will typically benefit from being placed up against a wall or in a corner. In fact, every wall surface you place the subwoofer next to will increase the apparent bass you hear in the room. But it's entirely possible that placing the sub in a corner can make for too much bass, or make the bass sound tubby and indistinct. So it's always worthwhile to experiment with the placement of the subwoofer before you decide on its final position. A good rule of thumb is to place the subwoofer near the listening position, then play music with lots of deep bass and walk around the room. You'll find areas that have a great deal of bass and other areas that are bass shy. If you can locate the sub in one of the areas that has lots of bass, chances are you'll have good bass at the listening position.

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