We’ve all been there.  Have you ever wondered, “How can I make my home theater sound like the movies?”  Well, look no further, Dolby has graced our presence with advice and knowledge. The size of the speakers doesn’t make for the best sound. If positioned improperly, your experience with movies at home would be as bad as sharing Thanksgiving dinner with the in-laws. Maybe even worse!

With the help of Dolby, they’ve illustrated what would be the optimal method to get the most effective sound from your speakers.  The positioning of speakers, combine with a few home tips, can turn your bland movie experience into the delight you always wanted it to be.

Here are some tips Dolby shared with TOV:

1. Positioning of the speakers.  The position of your speakers can make or break your surround sound experience.  In an optimal setting, your speakers, otherwise known as tweeters & mid range, should be place fairly above ear level.  From a TOV perspective, we recommend sitting on a chair against a wall that will be level to your ear while facing your television.  From your ear, count approximately 1.5 feet up.  This should be the position all around your room.  To position your front and rear speakers, fronts should be mounted in the front on the sides of your big screen television.  Rear satellite speakers should be at the rear, slightly on a wider scale than your front speakers.  On the brackets, position the speakers on a slight angle downwards toward your position on your home couch.  This will give you the live action experience you always wanted.  Another purpose this serves is the clarity of the conversations that occur in your movie.  There is nothing worse than watching a movie and you can’t hear a damn thing because your speakers aren’t focused on you.  Then you turn up the volume so loud that the neighbors downstairs get ticked off, come upstairs, and put your head in a headlock.  Not a good experience. 

Images Provided By Dolby

On the level of feeling the movie, bass is another important factor.  Dolby suggests that the positioning of the subwoofer doesn’t really matter; though moving it several inches can make quite a difference.  From our perspective, as an avid fan of home movie watching, we think an optimal positioning would be 5-6 feet from your couch in any direction, depending on the sound quality the subwoofer produces.  You may get unwanted resonance from your woofer; this is mainly due to an open room without some type of cushioning, i.e. carpeting, or a large area rug.   

2. In shopping for speakers, most home theaters come with a receiver, satellite speakers (either 4 for 5), and a subwoofer.  As Dolby states on their website (concepts that TOV wholeheartedly agrees with), most home theater sets come “sonically uniformed.”  In other words, they match.  Don’t go out, and take Sony front speakers, and try to match them with AIWA rear speakers, 95% of the time this will not work.  Usually the output of a speaker will differ from another maker’s model.  Most home theaters come equipped to produce sound for Dolby Digital, Dolby Pro Logic II, Dolby Digital EX, or Dolby Pro Logic IIx. 

Follow these simple steps, and your movie watching experience would be one you will never forget.  Please keep in mind, not every room is the same.  Some are larger, some are smaller.  Others may have wood floors, while others may be carpeted.  This must be taken into account while setting up your surround sound.

For your convenience, Dolby has provided useful illustrations on what a typical room, with effective surround sound positioning.  Check it out.

Also, check out their website for more info on room positioning, Dolby Products and Dolby Technology.