Home Theater Speaker Placement - Is Location Really That Important?

With today's busy and hectic schedules, manyour ears result from direct and reflected mixtures of
consumers do not either know how to OR take thesound. The direct sound will travel straight to our ears
time to accurately place their speakers for the fullestfrom the speaker diaphragms. The reflected sounds
enjoyment and quality - mind you, the speakers theyare several, bouncing off many of the hard surfaces in
have just paid a small fortune for. But truth be known,the room, reaching our ears AFTER the direct sound
there are no "perfect or accurate" places to put them!does. These elements will come into play no matter
There are many variables involved, such as our ownwhat type of speaker system we get for our home
personal preferences. But additionally, there is the roomtheater. Luckily, though, there are many different areas
layout, furniture, aesthetics, children, pets, and theof assistance - like contacting the consulting division of
opinions of all involved in the home. One of the bestthe manufactures of the home theater system that
things about a home theater is that we can create awe have purchased.
very organized, well-planned system that providesOne of the best places for our speakers is a minimum
sound to our home or room with the highest ofof one or two feet away from the side and back
qualities. We may be able to create such a high qualitywalls, with the differences between the speakers
sound with our home theater speakers, so that weinfluencing their listening abilities. The most important
may feel like we are in a huge movie theater. We areplacement is to have equal listening positions between
not just talking about sound that is loud, but sound thatALL speakers. If needed, physically measure the
is all around us, making us feel as if we are in thedistances to guarantee accuracy as a 1/4 " difference
movie itself. With the proper placement of speakers inwill influence the audio quality. Another note is that
the room, we are going to experience the highest levelevery listener's ear should be on a direct line with a
of surround sound.point that is midway between the tweeter and woofer
The problem that most people have is where to place(2-way) or tweeter and midrange (3-way). Another
their speakers accurately, due to a lack of knowledgevery important point is to purchase wireless speakers,
in regard to sound and acoustics. The speakers areproviding us with the most benefits because they can
placed wherever they "fit" or "look good," not due tobe moved from place to place as we want or need
the best sound they can put out. A room is affectedthem to be. No wires spreading throughout the room,
by the sound of the speakers and their reflections;having to place speakers within a limited area due to
these frequencies have two characters of sound -the wires or cables - these are all benefits of the
reinforced and suppressed. What we actually hear inwireless speakers.