Before buying any new home entertainment system it's important to consider where the speakers are going to go. Your specific home theater layout can make a big difference to the kind of speakers you'll need to buy, so here are a few important elements to consider.
Why Is Layout So Important?
Each speaker in a home theater system has a very distinctive role, playing out different elements of the sounds that go into making up a movie soundtrack. Every home and home theater system is difficult, so it's impossible to prescribe any one home theater layout that will suit everyone, but there are some important guidelines to follow.
The Height Of Your Speakers: If possible, you should try to keep the tweeters of the center, front left and front right speakers at ear height when you're sitting down. This is more important than many people realize: the direction at which these sounds hit your ear makes a big difference!
Surround Speakers Should Be Higher: because the surround speakers are designed to produce the background effects, these should be aimed higher than your ears. You can achieve this either by mounting the speakers to the wall or placing them higher up on shelving units.
Subwoofers Are More Flexible: The sounds from a subwoofer don't come out in any specific direction, so you've got more choices as to where to put it. You can, however, alter the way the bass sounds depending on where you put it. Placing the subwoofer away from a corner, but against a wall, will keep the bass sounding clear. Putting it into the corner will help to make it louder, which some may prefer for the true movie theater feel.
Angling Your Speakers: The angle is also important to consider. Don't just aim the left and right front speakers straight ahead: angle them so that they're facing the primary seating area in your living room. If you do this with all of the speakers in your home theater system then the sound fields should overlap and create that full surround sound experience.
When There's No Wall Available For Your Speaker: Not all living rooms have available walls on all four sides on which to place your left and right speakers for the perfect home theater layout. If one of these speakers is obstructed by an open space then you can place it further back instead, as long as you're still angling it to hit where it would have hit had it been placed side on to the main viewing area.
