hi everyone i'm scott newnam ceo of audio advice
this video is part of our home theater design series that covers virtually
everything about designing a home theater today we're going to be talking
about speaker layout options for your theater
when it comes to speaker layouts there are dozens
of options available to you in this video we will go over some of the most
popular options so you can decide what will work best
for you and your room if you want more
information on anything covered in this video
be sure to click the link in the description that will take you to our
full article on home theater speaker layouts
on our site with lots of detail on each layout you can
also explore all of our articles and videos on
virtually everything home theater related
on our website at audioadvice.com if you're considering installing a home
theater then you definitely want to try out our
home theater design tool on our website it will help you design
all of the elements we described in this video enable you to
interactively build your own theater and see ideal speaker placement
etc now let's get started
in today's world of immersive home theater you may have seen
number sequences like 7.1.4 or 5.2 or 3.0
it helps understand these abbreviations as you're going to see them pop
up when you start researching home theater receivers decoding the sequence
is very easy once you know the key the first digit is the number of
speakers in the room that are not dolby atmos speakers dolby atmos
speakers either go in the ceiling or on top of your main speakers to fire
up and bounce off of the ceiling so for this example if the first digit
is a 5 this means there is a left center right
and a pair of surround speakers the next digit is the number of
subwoofers you will normally see most configurations call for one subwoofer
but we highly recommend at least two for a serious home theater room
the third digit is the number of dolby atmos speakers
so for example if you have a home theater setup that is 5.2.4
this means you have five main speakers two subwoofers
and four dolby atmos speakers most home theater receivers max out at
11 channels which enables a 7.1.4 setup with 11
powered and a non-powered sub channel there are a few on the very top end of
the price scale that allow you to do 9.1.4 and even 11.1.6
for the purposes of this help guide we will stop at 7.1.4
as for most rooms that is more than enough for an amazing experience
as you go through these different configurations bear in mind
you'll have choices on what type of speaker to use for the main speakers
surround speakers and rear speakers you can use an
in-room tower or bookshelf speaker an on-wall speaker
or an in-wall speaker the dolby atmos speakers can either be
in ceiling speakers or an elevation speaker that would sit on top of your
tower or bookshelf speaker we are even
starting to see some tower speakers with the elevation speaker
built into the top which is pretty cool you may wind up laying out the perfect
room only to find out that the only way your room is
constructed doesn't allow you to put your speakers exactly where they should
go this is especially true for in-ceiling
and in-wall speakers a common problem with placing these
speakers is the placement of the studs if there's a stud in the way of where
you need to put an in-ceiling atmos speaker
we find it better to move them to the left or right
rather than front to back to find the spot where they can fit in the ceiling
between the studs for side speakers we usually suggest you
move them slightly backwards and for rears move them further apart
rather than closer together if you have more detailed questions jump
over to audioadvice.com and chat or give us a call
we'll start with the layout we consider the best choice and work down from there
again keep in mind that these will all show just one subwoofer
but if you have the space we highly recommend
a second sub for more even bass distribution
our home theater design tool also allows you to view
all of the different speaker layout options in your specific room
and it will show you what they look like in the room along with the ideal speaker
placement for each speaker our first layout option
is a 7.1.4 layout remembering from earlier this means there are seven main
speakers one subwoofer and four atmos speakers
with this great setup we have a front left and right a center channel
a pair of side surrounds and a pair of rear surrounds
and four dolby atmos speakers for this configuration
you'll need a home theater receiver that supports dolby atmos
with 11 powered channels or a separate surround sound processor
and 11 channels of amps you'll find a variety of these
on the site and our support team at audioadvice.com
or in our stores will be more than happy to help you select
the best one for your budget up next is a 5.1.4 setup this setup is the same
as 7.1.4 minus one of the pairs of surround
speakers if given the choice we would choose a 5.1.4 setup over 7.1.2
setup having immersive atmos effects adds a
whole new dimension to movies so we generally recommend four atmos
speakers and two surrounds rather than two atmos
and four surrounds this type of system will need a home theater receiver with
nine powered channels on board we also see a lot of rooms where getting a pair
of rear speakers is not possible so using sides and four atmos where two
are in the front and two are behind the main viewing position
is a great solution in this situation although we do recommend
5.1.4 over 7.1.2 we see many existing home theater
systems where there are already seven speakers in the room if
you have this type of layout and want to add atmos but only do one
pair 7.1.2 is a great option that would not require a lot of
additional installation next up is 5.1.2 which is by far the
most popular layout we see at audio device
there are a ton of reasonably priced seven channel dolby atmos
home theater receivers on the market to choose from which makes
getting into the atmos world pretty reasonable
it also uses the same number of speakers we used to see in home theaters
for years but set up in a new way for much more immersive sound
if you have a small to medium sized room and are looking to get the most bang for
your buck the 5.1.2 layout is the best way to go
a 7.1 system will have no dolby atmos effect speakers
so this is not something we currently recommend unless you have an
old home theater receiver not capable of dolby atmos
and you're trying to put together a home theater system
using that old receiver or you may be in a situation where it's impossible
to get wiring to the ceiling and have in-wall
or on-wall speakers for your fronts and rears making it
almost impossible to place atmos elevation speakers on top of them
if this applies to you a 7.1 channel layout
will get you the most immersive sound some of you may have this exact layout
with in-ceiling surround speakers already if this is the
case we would highly recommend you upgrade to a new dolby atmos receiver
and configure the receiver for 5.1.2 where two of your end ceilings will
serve as atmos speakers you'll get a big improvement in effects
over what you've previously experienced finally we have a 5.1 setup
even though 5.1 is the simplest of surround sound systems
make no mistake a good 5.1 system using separate speakers
will outperform any soundbar based system by
miles you can find plenty of entry-level home theater
receivers that support 5.1 and some great speaker packages
that allow you to do a 5.1 system and not break the bank
while still getting great sound plus if you have a fairly small room
this system can be more than enough to give you goosebumps
if you set it up properly once you've decided
what setup is best for you you've picked out your gear
and you've wired everything up now it's time for arguably
the most important step in the process calibration
home theater calibration is a huge topic but don't be intimidated
with a little reading you'll be getting out the tape measure
and setting levels like a pro we have multiple articles at audioadvice.com
on home theater calibration that will go through some of the different
software options as well as how to properly run them
we can't stress enough how much of a difference this will make to the sound
in your theater this video is part of the audio advice
home theater design series of videos that cover all aspects
of designing a home theater in the description you will find links
to all of the articles and videos as well as our really cool interactive
home theater design tool that we've mentioned throughout this
video if you have any questions on any of the
speaker layout options we've talked about or maybe you'd like
some help deciding what would work best for your room give
us a call or chat with our team at audioadvice.com
or if you're near our raleigh or charlotte north carolina showrooms
stop in and we'd love to help you out thank you for watching if you enjoyed
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so you never miss the latest in audio and home theater content we'll
see you next time
you