Home Theater Speakers

Speaker Placement Options

If you get one thing right, make sure to get the best center channel speaker you can afford and position it properly. All the dialogue in a movie comes out of the center channel speaker and if you can’t understand dialogue, you can’t follow the plot! Ideally, your center channel should be located directly above or below the TV.

If you decide to place your TV above a mantle, you can put the center channel speaker over it to get the screen a bit lower. Some center channels can be customized to match the width of your TV to create a complementary look. FutureHome has a wide selection of center channel speakers for every design consideration.

Follow this general rule for the best placement of your left and right speakers: create a 45 to 60 degree angle between the speakers and your main seating position. Each room is different, of course, and our trained staff can help you plot the best angle for you.

Subwoofer

Your subwoofer (the speaker providing deep bass effects) can sometimes be hidden in a cabinet. Two things you should remember are: the worst spot for a subwoofer is in the middle of your room, and the best place is close to a corner. Again, we can help you with placement options.

Surround speakers

Surround speakers can be positioned on side walls or the rear wall. In media rooms, location usually depends on architectural elements of the room such as windows and doorways. In an existing home, wiring for wall-mounted speakers is typically much less time consuming and invasive than for ceiling speakers. Sketch out your room for us and we can advise you on your best surround speaker options. Speaker possibilities may be dipole, bipole, or directional depending on your room and your seating.

If you are creating a media room from scratch or have easy ceiling access, there are many ceiling mount speakers that can be angled toward the listening position. If properly planned, these can be very inconspicuous while not sacrificing audio quality.

In situations where you absolutely have no room for a speaker anywhere other than at the TV, something you may consider is a speaker bar, with multiple speakers in one compact cabinet.