Consider the Following Tips from Our Home Theater Installation Experts

Are you missing the sound quality you’d hoped for from your home theater installation? Before you start from scratch, we have a few tips that should help reveal the sound quality you crave without needing a new system. Although, if you think it’s time to upgrade, we have suggestions for that, too!

Below is a list of five tips that will help beef up the audio performance in your home theater. Plus, if you need further assistance, you can always request a free consultation with our local home theater experts in St. Petersburg, FL!

SEE ALSO: What Projector and Screen Setup Is Best for Your Home Theater?

Add More Speakers

If your sound comes from built-in TV speakers or a soundbar, you’re missing out on the fully immersive audio experience you get at the local cinema. While the latest soundbars feature several channels and Dolby Atmos support, the multidimensional soundstage is still virtual.

Here’s a quick fix for elevating the audio experience: Pair your soundbar with wireless rear speakers and a subwoofer to physically expand the sound around you, boost power output, and enjoy deeper, more booming bass. When you choose wireless, the setup is hassle-free.

Reposition Your Speakers

Do you already have multiple speakers set up around your home theater? The culprit could be your speaker locations. For best results, follow these speaker placement tips:

• Front left and right speakers should be evenly spaced on either side of the display, angled inward toward the primary listening position, and placed at ear level.
• The center speaker should be directly in front of the primary listening position under the display or behind a perforated projector screen and placed at ear level.
• Side surrounds should be on either side of the primary listening position and at ear level.
• Rear surrounds should be behind and on either side of the primary listening position. They should also be at ear level—although you could also place them slightly above ear level to create a sense of spaciousness if you don’t have height speakers.
• Ideal subwoofer placement will vary, but we suggest placing it at the front of the room or in a corner. Test the location to find the sweet spot.
• Place all speakers at least two or three feet away from the wall to reduce unwanted sound reflections.

Install Acoustic Treatment

Even the best sound system can suffer if you don’t treat room acoustics. Because the audio you hear from your speakers is a mixture of direct and reflected sound, the surfaces and objects that make up your home theater greatly impact how you hear that sound. If room acoustics are uncontrolled, you could experience unwanted echoes, poor speech intelligibility, muddied bass, and more.

Acoustic treatments come in several forms, but acoustic panels, diffuser panels, and bass traps are the most common. Acoustic panels help dampen unwanted echoes, diffuser panels help disperse soundwaves to create a more natural and spacious audio experience, and bass traps help absorb excessive low-frequencies to bring out more detail in those critical low notes.

Upgrade Your Speakers

Perhaps your speakers aren’t built to deliver the dynamics and power you crave in your home theater. If you’re considering an upgrade, we recommend speakers from hi-fi brands like Bowers & Wilkins.

From their flagship CT800 series to their compact ceiling and wall speakers, Bowers & Wilkins Custom Theater models can be customized to suit your space, budget, and listening needs. Plus, once installed, they blend in so well with your interior design that they practically disappear, leaving behind an impressively enveloping and realistic sound field that’s heard but not seen.

Upgrade Your AV Receiver

Of course, if you upgrade your speakers, you may need to upgrade your AV receiver to match the new power requirements and support the number of channels. Our team loves Arcam AV receivers, which feature up to 16-channel surround sound support, all the latest CODECs (Dolby Atmos, DTS, Auro-3D, and IMAX Enhanced), and powerful amplification for the most complex speakers.

Arcam AV receivers also include auto-calibration and bass control technology to ensure sound is smooth and well balanced. When the movie’s over and you want to turn on the tunes, easily stream music from your mobile device using your native app of choice via Apple Airplay2 or Chromecast. Arcam high-end AV receivers are also Bluetooth compatible and support MQA high-resolution audio tracks!

Need more tips or professional assistance upgrading your home theater? AV Specialists is just a call away! Our audio-video experts would love to help you create the home entertainment room of your dreams. Book a free consultation by filling out our contact form or sending us a message below!