22.5° forms a 45° angle between the left and right speakers, while 30° forms a 60° angle. In figure two, there are two variations, 22.5° in red with black speakers and 30° with light grey speakers. The left and right speakers should be between 22.5° and 30° from the center channel at the MLP.

The tweeter should be perpendicular to the center of the room and as close to ear height as possible. When placing the center channel, center the speaker on the wall horizontally. It’s important to note that the center channel and the left and right channels are a constant and thus do not change based on 5.1, 7.1 or any immersive audio formats. The MLP is critical, as it determines speaker location based on specific angles. For home theater, center the MLP on the short wall and locate it a minimum of 18” behind the centerline, as shown in Figure 1. The first step for identifying speaker placement is establishing the main listening position (MLP). Just do your best, and if you can, take the time to listen to several options and use the one that works the best. If you need to make a compromise based on the room, it is OK. The reality of home theater is that there will always be challenges requiring compromise. Some problems could be columns, windows, or doors in the way preventing proper speaker placement. We are also going to leave subwoofer placement for another article as it requires a lot of attention to separate the fact from opinion.īefore we dive into the subject, please note that almost everyone reading this article will have some challenges in their room. In a future article, we will discuss adding the overhead speakers. These layouts are the foundation for all movie audio you enjoy in a commercial theater as well as at home. These two legacy formats matter a great deal because the placement of these speakers is the same when adding immersive formats such as Dolby Atmos. Because this can get complicated quickly, this article addresses only the placement of speakers for 5.1 and 7.1 surround systems. In this article, we are going to discuss how to figure out exactly where to place your speakers. One of the questions that arises for home theater enthusiasts is “where exactly should I place my speakers?” Speaker locations are very standardized, except when adding overhead speakers, which is called immersive audio.

Dolby atmos speaker placement