room layout and speaker setup

7/31/2019 Room Layout and Speaker Setup

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ROOM LAYOUT AND SPEAKER SETUP

Whether your system is small or state-of-the-art, proper speaker placement is the key to the best hometheater sound.

5.1 SetupThis system has six channels: five full-range channels, and a low-frequency effects channel (the .1 of 5.1)

usually expressed through a subwoofer. Many DVDs and digital broadcasts feature a Dolby® Digital (5.1)soundtrack, so this will give you optimum sound for most programming. It also most closely approximatesthe sound in most cinemas.

6.1 or 7.1 SetupThe most advanced home theater systems feature six (with Center Back) or seven (with Left Back/RightBack) full-range channels that allow viewers to take full advantage of Dolby Digital EX soundtracks andDolby Pro Logic® IIx matrix-surround decoding technology. Both of these processes add surroundinformation for greater realism and more dramatic effects.

Placement TipsOf course, it's not always possible to place your speakers exactly as shown. The diagrams give a range of placement angles, so you have some flexibility. Sometimes you'll have no choice but to mount the surrounds

behind you, but if you follow the guidelines as closely as you can, you'll have good sound.

Ideally, your front speakers, high-frequency drivers, or tweeters should be positioned at ear level (whenyou're seated). Our recommended height for the surrounds is above ear level, as soundtracks are likely tobe optimized for that location.

Beyond keeping it on the floor, there's no specific rule for placing the subwoofer, as bass sound is non-directional. However, the amount of bass may vary depending on room location. You might want to try a fewdifferent places to determine what's best for you (sometimes moving the speaker even a few inches canchange the sound).

Speaker Shopping TipsMost speaker manufacturers offer complete home theater systems, usually based on a satellite/subwoofer

configuration. You're assured of speakers that match sonically (and cosmetically). Generally, the satellitespeakers in these systems are shielded, so they can be placed close to your TV set. If your stereo speakersare not shielded, don't place them too close to the TV. (They're too close if the picture starts to distort.)

If you're expanding a stereo system and want to keep the speakers you have, try to stick with themanufacturer of your current speakers when you choose your center channel, surrounds and subwoofer.Most speaker manufacturers can offer advice on complementary models.

Room AcousticsThe shape of your room and how it's furnished will affect the sound you hear. For instance, too many baresurfaces can cause reflections that may add harshness to the sound. Adding carpeting and drapes can help.

If you have a choice of rooms, avoid ones that are perfectly square or have one dimension exactly twiceanother. These rooms can aggravate resonances that color the sound.

If possible, center your seating area between the surround speakers.

The closer you place a speaker to intersecting room surfaces (corners, wall and ceiling, wall and floor), thestronger the bass output. This can help bass-shy speakers, but it can also add too much bass. Again, justmoving a speaker a few inches can often make a big difference in sound.



Dolby ® Digital

In thousands of cinemas and millions of homes worldwide, Dolby Digital is the reigning standard for surround sound technology in general and 5.1-channel surround sound in particular.Dolby Digital is a highly sophisticated and versatile audio encoding/decoding technology. Dolby Digitaltechnology can transmit mono, stereo (two-channel), or up to 5.1-channel surround sound (discrete*multichannel audio).

Figure 1 How Dolby Digital Works

The superior coding efficiency of Dolby Digital-and its ability to deliver high-quality discrete multichannel

audio without compromising video quality-has made it the designated audio standard for DVD worldwideDolby Digital is also the preferred multichannel audio standard for direct broadcast direct to home satelliteand digital cable systems. Nearly 60 million digital cable and satellite set-top boxes are currently in useworldwide supported by over 30 million audio/video receivers equipped with 5.1-channel Dolby Digitaldecoding. Virtually every DVD-Video player sold today offers a two-channel mixdown of the Dolby Digital 5.1movie soundtrack as well as a digital output for connection to a 5.1-channel audio/video receiver.In the film industry, the Dolby Digital soundtrack is optically encoded right on the filmstrip, in the spacebetween the sprocket holes. Placing the soundtrack directly on the film allows it to coexist with the analogtrack, a cost-effective and simple solution for film distributors and theatre owners. The sprocket hole areahas also proven highly resistant to wear and tear, so that a soundtrack encoded in Dolby Digital will remainfree of pops and hiss for the useful life of the print.The sound information contained in each of the six available channels is distinct and independent. These sixchannels are described as a "5.1-channel" system, because there are five full-bandwidth channels with 3 Hz

to 20 kHz frequency range for Front Left and Right, Center, and Surround, plus one "Low Frequency Effects"(LFE) subwoofer channel devoted to frequencies from 3 to 120 Hz.

Figure 2 Dolby Stereo Figure 3 Dolby Digital 5.1



Dolby Digital EX

Dolby Digital EX takes the Dolby Digital 5.1-channel setup one step further with an additional center surround

channel (reproduced through one or two speakers) for extra dimensional detail and an enveloping surround sound

effect.

Feature films originally released in Dolby Digital Surround EX (the cinema version) carry the encoded extrasurround channel in their subsequent DVD releases, as well as onto 5.1-channel digital satellite and TV broadcasts. If

your home theater system has a receiver or preamp/processor with Dolby Digital EX decoding and speakers to

support 6.1 or 7.1 playback, you can hear Surround EX soundtracks as they were meant to be heard, with the

increased realism created by the extra surround channel. As in the cinema, with regular 5.1-channel Dolby Digital

playback no sonic information is lost (although you'll miss out on the heightened realism).

Current Dolby Digital Surround EX soundtracks contain a digital flag that can automatically activate the EX

decoding in a receiver or preamp/processor. For titles released prior to late 2001, however, you need to turn on theEX decoding manually.

Figure 1 Dolby Digital EX 6.1 Speaker Figure 2 Dolby Digital EX 7.1 Speaker Configuration Configuration

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