HOME THEATER SPEAKER PLACEMENT
Today’s digital multi-channel home theater technology has elevated the art of “surround sound” to reproduce the movie theater
experience in your own home. Speaker requirements and placement are important when reproducing these multi-media
effects.
Two front speakers (left and right), two surround speakers (left and right), a center-channel speaker, and a subwoofer define
the minimum arrangement for multi-channel systems such as Dolby® Pro Logic, DTS®, Dolby® Digital, Dolby® TrueHD and
DTS® HD Master Audio. Your Phase Velocity speaker has been designed for optimal performance with these systems. You
will get the best results if you use the same type of speakers throughout your home theater (for example, match a pair of Phase
Velocity Bookshelf Speakers with the V626 Tower, V5520 Center Channel, and V-Surround-II units).
Placement of speakers in your room will impact the final listening experience. To position your speakers, there are some
general guidelines that take room size, shape, and fixtures and furnishings into account. Use the following illustrations as a
general guide for speaker placement in a typical home theater system.
3
LF
RF
LS
RS
SUB
C
LF
RF
LS
RS
LR
RR
SUB
C
SUB
5.1 HOME THEATER SYSTEM
In a 5.1 home theater system, the center channel (C) should be placed at
0º directly below or above the video screen, the left front (LF) and right front
(RF) speakers should be placed at 30º from the listening area, and the left
and right surrounds (LS and RS) should be placed at 110º. All five speakers
should be placed at or near ear level.
7.2 HOME THEATER SYSTEM
In a 7.2 home theater system, the center channel (C) should be placed at 0º
directly below or above the video screen, the left front (LF) and right front (RF)
speakers should be placed at 30º from the listening area, and the left and
right surrounds (LS and RS) should be placed at 90º. The left rear (LR) and
right rear (RR) speakers (sold separately) should be placed at 150º. All seven
speakers should be placed at or near ear level.
Front speakers should be placed 6-8 feet apart (or on the sides of your screen if your screen is wider) to fully separate the left
and right channels. Whether placed on speaker stands, on shelves, or on the wall your speakers should be at or slightly above
ear level.
Rear surround speakers also should be placed at or slightly above your listening position for the best reproduction of surround
sound effects. Ideally, they should be facing into your favorite listening position from either side of the room.
Center speaker placement should be, if possible, directly on top of or under your TV monitor or projection TV screen, in a
horizontal orientation, centered with your video screen. This correctly positions the critical sound track information (usually
dialogue) that filmmakers direct to the center channel.
SUBWOOFER APPLICATION NOTE
Subwoofer placement is less critical, because the frequencies they reproduce are omni directional. This means the human
ear doesn’t perceive these low frequencies as coming from a specific direction, enabling placement of a subwoofer virtually
anywhere in the listening room. It’s best, however, to keep a subwoofer within the sound field of the other speakers. The
closer the subwoofer is to a wall, the louder and more intense its bass output will be: this effect is even stronger when the sub