A Guide to Setting Up Your 5.1 Surround System
A surround sound system is easily the single most impactful aspect of a home theater. Whether you’re a gamer or someone who enjoys watching blockbuster movies on HBO Max, a surround system will take your experience to new heights.
Before you can expect a movie-theater-level sound quality from your setup, choosing the right sound system first is important. Just as you can’t expect the same quality from the best soundbars under $400 as from the best soundbars under $1000, a higher quality surround sound system will always serve you better.
5.1 surround sound systems are more popular, but there are many other configurations out there that may be better suited to you. For example, the Dolby Atmos 7.1.4 surround sound system is getting incredibly popular for its “true” 360-degree sound. If you want to consider a 7.1.4 surround sound system instead, check out Speaker Daily’s amazing guide on how to set up a Dolby Atmos 7.1.4 Home Audio System.
With that out of the way, let’s get into some tips for setting up a 5.1 surround sound system.
Tip no. 1: Symmetry is Your Top Priority
Left-right symmetry is the most important thing to remember when setting up your surround sound system. This is regardless of whether it’s 5.1, 7.1.4, or any other configuration. The whole point of a surround sound system is that you get the right volume and the right sound channel from each direction. The more symmetric your system is, the more immersive your movies and games will feel.
Tip no. 2: Center Yourself in The Room
It’s not enough to place the speakers symmetrically around you as you also have to consider the walls of your room. Sound from speakers bounces off of hard surfaces such as the walls of your rooms multiple times before getting into your ears. This means that how far the walls on the right and the left are from you is just as important as the speakers. The easiest way to get everything right is to place yourself in the center of the room and set up the 5.1. surround system around you.
Tip no. 3: Consider All The Soft Surfaces
Soft surfaces such as cloth and leather don’t interact with the sound like hard surfaces. This means that if you have a curtain on your left but a solid surface on your right, it’ll badly impact the sound summitry. You can get around this by arranging your room symmetrically.
Alternatively, some speaker systems, such as the Rockville HTS56 1000w 5.1 Channel Home Theater System, allow you to control the sound of each speaker individually. This gives you a symmetric 360-degree sound regardless of your room’s symmetry. This brings us back to the fact that choosing the sound system is just as important as setting it up.
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