movie theater with a really

hi I'm Tara and I'm Malcolm in this
video we're going to explain the basics
of good speaker placement now if you've

been to a movie theater with a really
good sound system you know the
difference that it can make good sound

really pulls you into the movie so you
can hear the clash of armor behind you
during intense battle scenes or

environmental sounds like crashing waves
or storm rolling in right it makes the
whole experience so much more realistic

and the nice thing is that you don't
necessarily have to add anything to your
system you just need to set up your

speaker's correctly to get that theater
experience at home it's true now there's
a whole science to getting great sound

and that's what our speaker placement
guidelines are based on of course
everyone's room is different because of

variations in size shape and the type of
receiver and speakers in them so instead
of focusing on one speaker set up in a

hypothetical room we're going to show
you the basics so that you can use that

info to make your speaker sound their
best in your room we'll start with a

home theater speaker setup and then
we'll give you some info on stereo
speaker placement afterwards each

speaker in a home theater system has a
distinct role the front left and right

speakers handle the majority of the
soundtrack and effects for movies and TV

shows height wise these speakers should

be positioned so the tweeters are level

with your ears when you're sitting down

just about like this yep that's right

the center channel speaker delivers

almost all the dialogue and this speaker

should also be set up so the tweeters

are about ear height when you're sitting

down and that can be a bit tricky

because this speaker is also supposed to

be placed above or below your TV but

that air level height is really

important tweeters produce high

frequency sounds like the creaking of a

door the high notes in a violin even

some of the dialogue and they're very

directional if they aren't aimed at your

ears you can miss parts of the

soundtrack so do your ears a favor

and aim the tweeters right at them now

your surround speakers handle what are

called ambient effects these are sounds

that deliver the impression of really

being there

these range from the gentle patter of

rain drops to the ricochet of a bullet

now a lot of folks have just to surround

speakers but you can have as many as

four these speakers should be higher

than your front speakers there are lots

of options for mounting your surround

speakers on shells or on your wall or

ceiling keep in mind that you shouldn't

aim these speakers right at your ears

since they provide a wide range of

background effects and now your

subwoofer is responsible for producing

low frequencies like notes from a bass

guitar or the rumble of an explosion

because each of these speakers plays a

unique role their placement can make or

break your theater experience so let's

start with an example of a fairly

typical setup where the audience would

get less than stellar surround sound and

we'll assume the height of each speaker

is right and just look at the position

within the room so here the left and

center speakers look okay but the front

right speaker is off by itself right

there's a big hole on this side the

sound that should be filling out this

space is being sent over here and that's

going to result in uneven sound yeah and

even more confusing maybe the way the

surround speakers are positioned this

one is supposed to be sitting specific

audio to the right side of the room but

where's it going to hit to the left

that's right and so when someone throws

a baseball across the screen and it hits

the neighbors window with a crash over

on the far right our viewer is going to

hear that primarily with their left ear

and that's pretty confusing when you're

watching a movie yeah now let's look at

what this setup should be the front left

and right speakers are angles or toden

towards the primary listening position

see how the sound fields overlap on and

around the main seat that's a good sign

that the listener is going to get really

complete 360-degree sound in the right

and left surround speakers are

to the corresponding sides of the

listener so directional sounds will make

sense but what if you have a room that

doesn't make this possible

like if the right side of your home

theater room is an open space leading to

a hallway or a kitchen and there's no

wall there for you to use that's a

common problem so in this case you do

your best to still steer your sound in

the right direction and just get it as

close as you can to what it's supposed

to be so here's a good example if the

ideal spot for your right surround

speaker is taken by a hallway

you could try mounting the speaker a

little further back making sure that you

aim it forward you can mount some

smaller speakers from the ceiling as

well you generally have a bit more

flexibility in placing your subwoofer

because the low frequencies it produces

aren't directional they spread evenly

throughout your room there are just a

few basic things to keep in mind first

placing your sub in a corner will give

you bigger louder bass that's right

while placing it along a wall away from

a corner will give you tighter more

precise bass it's really all down to

personal preference and here's a trick

that some of us have used place this up

in your favorite listening spot then

walk around the room while it plays when

you find the spot where it sounds the

best that's where you should place your

subwoofer when it comes to stereo sound

you're going to put the front left and

right speakers in almost the same

positions as you would with the surround

setup but the angle of the speakers and

their distance from each other and from

your main listening spot can make a big

difference for example here's a pretty

common setup that would not deliver the

most effective sound see how the

soundstage is broken by this big hole

that's because the speaker sound fields

are too far apart from each other and

can't create a cohesive soundstage for

the listener and because of that you

won't get good imaging that's what it's

called when you're listening to music

and you can hear where the bass player

or trumpeter is standing on stage so

think of your listening spot your left

speaker and your right speaker

as the three points of a triangle you

want each point to be loosely the same

distance apart for the best imaging you

can adjust based on how wide your main

listening area is by angling your

speakers or sliding them closer together

or both and that should give you the

basic info you need to adjust your

speaker placement for the best sound

remember that you'll need to experiment

with your speakers and your room to get

it right for your home also if you'd

like to get into the nitty-gritty of

speaker placement and get some more

detailed recommendations

check out crutchfield.com slash surround

placement and crutchfield.com slash

stereo placement and you can always give

us a call at one eight hundred five five

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