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 the 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. Integrated Audio Solutions 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.

Types of Speakers

Speaker possibilities may be a 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.

Subwoofer Placement

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.

Acoustics

A typical family room usually has adequate acoustic properties. Window treatments are a plus, as are plants, furniture, rugs, bookcases full of books, wall hangings, or anything else that breaks up reflected sound. An example of a challenging room is one with very high ceilings and lots of sheetrock walls that reflect sound quite a bit, making it very difficult to understand movie dialogue tracks. When Integrated Audio Solutions calibrates a room like this, we make adjustments to provide the best possible dialogue reproduction. If you deal with this kind of room, consider adding enough furniture and fabric to absorb sound reflections and keeping the center channel height close to your seated ear level.

Controlling Everything

If no one knows how to turn the system on and select his or her options, it’s obvious that enjoyment will drop! A well-planned and programmed remote control make all of the difference. Reliable system controls are available so you can conceal all your components and perfectly transmit signals to them. Integrated Audio Solutions offers a wide range of control options that are dependable and easy to use.