Height and location of front speakers? (1 Viewer)

[MikeJason]

I currently have all 3 satellite front speakers on top of my wide screen tv.

1. What is the optimal height for front speakers? Ear level?

2. Should all 3 front speakers be aligned or should the center speaker be behind the left and right ones?

 

[Wayne A. Pflughaupt]

1. Technically all three front speakers should be height-aligned with the tweeters at or a little above ear level.

Practically, this is seldom possible because that usually puts the center speaker right in front of the display – i.e. actually obstructing the view. So people usually put the center on top of or under the display and aim it at the listen position. The L/R speakers are usually on the floor a few feet from the sides of the TV. Locating them on top of the TV puts them too close together for optimal imaging.

2. Again, technically this is optimal, to keep the distance the same from each speaker to the viewer.

But practically it’s often not possible. That’s why receivers typically have real-time delay settings you can program that accomplish the same thing.

Regards,
Wayne A. Pflughaupt

 

[Ted Lee]

hard to follow wayne's answer ...

so, i'll just add this link to make me seem like i know what i'm doing here.

http://www.dolby.com/Consumer/HomeEntertainment/Setup/

 

[SimiA]

I thought Wayne's answer was right on the money, in as much as he said, your speaker placement will be predicated on how your room will allow you to set them up.
Hence, the time delay settings, which offer you an alternative for optimum listening.
YMMV.
Ted's site is also full of info on this. I especially like the graphics.
Vb

 

[Bob McElfresh]

Mike. Ideally all your speakers would be on the arc of a circle. Which means the L/R are pulled into the room. This has the slight advantage of not needing time-delays in the reciever, and a large advantage in giving them some room for back-echo sounds to give a sense of depth.


Here are 2 things I would suggest:

- Put some "feet" under the speakers. Paperback books, pink-rubber erasers or rubber door-wedges can all be used to de-couple the speaker body from that large-reverberating box you have them on.

- Use a laser-pen to "see" where the L/R speakers are pointing. There are 3 typical amounts of toe-in/angle given to the L/R speakers. You just have to try all 3 and decide which sounds best for your room:

• A-So the beam from the L/R speakers intersect 1-2 feet in front of the central listening position. (This is the traditional music alignment).
• B-So the Beam from the L/R speakers intersect exactly on the primary listening position.
• C- So the Beam from the L/R speakers intersect 1-2 feet behind the central listening position

I would suggest you que up a effects-heavy scene in a A-B repeat loop, turn OFF the television and try all three alignments and pick the one that gives you the best soundstage.

Our own HTF Primer & Faq has other speaker setup suggestions. Written by our members it's a great resource. Then, post questions about parts you dont understand or want more info.

There are also separate Speakers, Display and Receiver fourms for in-depth information. You are free to post there - they will all treat you with respect, but they do ask that you try the Search function first.

Hope this helps.

 

[MikeBoehm]

Had to chuckle when I went to that Dolby.com Thought about going to find my protractor to check the angles of my speakrs...