How to Fix Your Flat Surround Sound

"Flat" surround sound. The very idea of it is detestable to avid home theatre enthusiasts who insist on cinema-quality sound in their house. But if you're an amateur who hasn't used or installed surround sound before, it's not absurd to think there might be a few mistakes made. If your surround sound doesn't quite "pop" like you think it should, it may be due to one of the following problems:

Bad speaker placement. Speaker placement is crucial in surround sound, so if you find yourself making compromises in order not to move other decorations in your house, you're going to have to change something. Place the speakers where the instructions say to place them. The instructions will try to steer you toward the best place for optimum sound quality, so unless you're a bit of a surround sound expert, you probably shouldn't be improvising your own speaker locations.

If you can't place those speakers in the right spots physically, then you didn't calculate your home theater very well, and it may require that you move even more furniture around, including possibly your entertainment center.

Where are the best places for your speakers? Generally, you'll find that the instructions point out what to do with your center speaker - the speaker that goes along with your main screen - as well as your left and right speakers. Keep in mind that height placement with these speakers is very important, as well - generally you want the height to be as close to your ear-levels as possible.

Issues out of your control. Some programs or films will simply be less adaptable to surround sound than others. You can "mess" with your surround sound in order to optimize them, but unless you have a lot of knowledge and experience at your disposal, you probably shouldn't try to manipulate them. True, you should feel free to experiment with your speakers in order to learn more about them, but if you simply want to set your surround sound and forget about its placement, that isn't the ideal course of action.

If you ever have problems with your electronics, try to contact the manufacturer's tech support line and see if they can help you fix it. If not, you can always enter a search online to see if there are some people who have encountered the same problems you have.

Photo Credits: William Hook

This post involves:

best places, center speaker, cinema quality, compromises, entertainment center, films, Furniture, home theater, home theatre enthusiasts, optimum sound quality, quality sound, sound expert, speaker placement, speakers

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Handyman, Home Entertainment Center, How to Fix

Posted by Fix Handyman on December 26, 2009 in Handyman, Home Entertainment Center, How to Fix. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.