Start With The TV
The first item of placement to go by is how close the couch or main seating can
get to the TV. Place your seating as close as possible to the optimal viewing
range of your TV then figure out the best audio placement. Make alterations to
your seating from there. (See the TV Placement
article for more info on viewing range).
After placing your main seating in the optimal viewing range, you'll need to figure where the best seats for audio are. This is relatively easy to do.
- Take your room measurements.
- Make 2 near-to-scale drawings of your room
- On one drawing divide the room up and down into thirds
- On the other divide into fifths
These lines represent the best place for furniture should go to produce correct sound. Where the lines intersect are the best places for the heads of your home theater viewers to rest. The reason for two separate drawings is if you can't setup your room using the placement of thirds, you can use fifths which allows for a few more seating options. You can also mix and match by having the width divided into thirds and length divided into fifths (or vice versa). Either way you'll end up with a nice rough guide on the best sitting positions for your room.
Normal Furniture
Begin with the main furniture assuming it's a couch. Place the center in the best
spot where you sit. Then arrange the other furniture around it. A home theater
with normal home furnishings will not get all the sitting locations in the best
locations, but you can get most of them in the right spot. The best solution is
having multiple chairs that you can move independently of each other.
Home Theater Seats
For the few out there who get theater seats or separate chairs for each seating
location, you will have greater control of whether your viewers sit in the sweet
spots or not. With chairs you definitely want to use the measurement of fifths,
and simply try to place the seats in locations where the lines intersect.
Note: These are Only the Basics
The above guides are very basic, and can be used by every home theater enthusiast
to get their room's furniture in the best possible location. There are ways of
getting your room perfect, but require the expertise of a professional installer.
If you do use this guide correctly your will get fabulous results from your home
theater.
In some cases you may get dead close to what a professional installer can provide. In short, don't think you're missing much by following these basics steps. If your think your sound is off, or just can't get it right, than you may want to ask for assistance from a professional installer. Otherwise, you're good to go.
The Professional Installer
There are many mathematical equations used by the professionals that will get
everything in your room in the best location. These are complex formulas based
on a room-by-room acoustic evaluation. If you desire this type accuracy, seek
out a professional installer to do the work for you.