HOW TO Set Up a 5.1 HOME THEATER Surround Sound Speaker System

[@andrewrobinsonreviews]

QUESTION OF THE DAY: What's your favorite home theater system? What movie do you recommend for home theater testing? COMMENT AND POSTING RULES: (Please read before commenting) Please remember to be kind and courteous to one another in the comments. It's okay to disagree just keep things civil. Harassment will not be tolerated. WORRIED YOUR COMMENT WAS DELETED? Comments containing profanity are automatically flagged and deleted by KZbin. Comments containing links of any kind to outside URLs (including KZbin links) are automatically flagged and deleted. If you aren't seeing your comment, please make sure you didn't accidentally leave out a space before or after a period your sentence. KZbin sees this as a URL link. Since we cannot edit your comments, any of the above violations will result in your comment not be visible.

[@vamshhi5535]

Denon x3600h + elac debut b6.2 × 2 pairs + elac debut c6.2 + svs sb1000.

[@timvonr2802]

Best I had the pleasure to hear was a A trinnov altitude 32 with an Auro setup of 11.8 system... speakers were b&w ct800 and a two 4 subwoofer arrays in the front and the back. There might be better loudspeakers (gauder, swans ...) , but they totally did it for me in that setup and well treated room... However, on a budget there’s the jamo 600 lcr and those are remarkable for the Pricepoint... Setup and the room is everything for a hometheartre

[@briankt69]

Andrew Robinson far as movie testing, any of the fight seems in Gladiator, and deffo the race seens in Ready player one. My system is very low budget but sounds awesome. Tv is mounted on wall above fireplace, Sony receiver, klipsch center channel speaker (one above the tv and one below the tv on the mantle), 2 sets of Bose bookshelf speakers for the front L and R, 2 sets of klipsch satellites for the surrounds, have a Sony powered 12” woofer and a klipsch powered 10” woofer. My room is 20’ x 20’ with 12’ cathedral ceilings. And I have the settings set less than half way on my receiver and this thing sounds awesome and gets super loud with wall shaking bass. I don’t see how some ppl put up with like 4-18’s in their rooms. Lol and I’m a long time car audio bass head. Only the klipsch sub was bought new on sale from eBay. Everything else was bought used but in like new condition on FB marketplace. I might have paid $500 total for everything including my monster cables and speaker wires. Lol I live audio but I’m cheap. Lol love ur vids and watch them all and btw ur voice tone is so calm and relaxing to listen to. Lol sorry so long. Nuff said...

[@BennyKsBandwidth]

Very good tutorial for the newbies of Home Theater! Was going to do a video on this as well! Great job! :)

[@vamshhi5535]

@@briankt69 The LCR of the system should match . If you use different speakers for your LCR then it's not good . The timbre has to match. for rear also you should use the same brand as LCR ( But it's optional ,it's your wish. Using the same speaker series will definitely increase your experience.) And now coming to the subwoofer , you are using two subs and both are different . It's not at all good to use two different size woofers. U should match the driver size .

[@live4theleafs11]

Never once made me feel like I was a baby watching this video. U have a way of teaching but making me feel respected at the same time! Love ur honesty and desire to stay on point. Instant subscriber and highly recommend to anybody. Thx

[@andrewrobinsonreviews]

I appreciate that! Please don't be a stranger.

[@beitie]

I would love a video on how you hide the wires.

[@andrewrobinsonreviews]

I guess I'll have to, as a lot of people have been curious about my wire management.

[@zippymagee]

good tip give yourself more slack or tightly test fit lengths ... i had my surrounds cut with about a foot of slack but when i pinned them nice and tidy they were about two feet short.

[@LeonHoooo]

Andrew Robinson we really need a video on Hiding the Wiring!!

[@kuamrrishabh]

@@andrewrobinsonreviews have you made this video?

[@kuamrrishabh]

@@andrewrobinsonreviews have you made this video?

[@Triflixfilms]

I know nothing about speakers and always just used tv built ins. This video is the only one I've ever watched on the topic and it clearly explained everything... You're a saint.

[@WillieBloom]

I have shown my wife this channel just to look at how nicely your home is stylized. We like it. Very tasteful. I'm an American who lives in Stockholm and my wife is Swedish. The styling in you home is very Scandinavian. Sober colours, modern, no clutter. Less is more. Thank you for sharing your home and all the great product reviews and content.

[@GeorgeZimmermen]

Ghey

[@mykal.7424]

You easily have the best channel of anyone talking & reviewing gear.

[@mattpawlaczyk6222]

The mic quality of this video is incredible

[@kennethalferes8858]

Thank you! Also, the kids cheering at the end startled the crap out of me!

[@spencer82rocks]

The way you explain it is/are very understandable, step by step without rushing the definition of everything, I felt like I was in grade school again listening silently and gathering all the most important information, thank you,

[@andrewrobinsonreviews]

Glad it helped!

[@scarlettradams]

This was INSANELY informative!! Just bought my first pair of vintage speakers, can’t wait to complete the set

[@edflowers7456]

OMG. The udder simplicity of this video brought tears to my eyes.

[@liutungwei5160]

Andrew, I really love to watch your videos. Your sharing is clear and straight to the point. You are one of my most favourite and best KZbinrs.

[@jjguillen65]

This video is by FAR the most helpful video I have match when it comes about setting up a home theater. Just the way you break it down and explain what each setting means that's really helpful to a noob like myself. Much appreciated sir 🙏

[@andrewrobinsonreviews]

So glad you found it helpful.

[@subeesht5583]

I just started.. One day I will build this type of home theater at my home.. Oh.. What a beautiful dream.. 😀😀😀

[@jobezurich2011]

This is a brilliant video. I set my 1st 5.1 up about 9 years ago and at that time the thought never occurred to watch a KZbin video to check that I'd done it correctly. I have a new 5.1 arriving tomorrow so thought I'd do a bit of research this time before setting it up. I learnt so much from this video .. thank you!

[@slip6699]

I'd like to see how you route your wires with the wood flooring to the sub and surrounds.

[@bcdt1947]

I have been a Yamaha and Onkyo advocate for decades. I currently own an older Onkyo 7.2 unit. I have American made JBL's for every channel except the sub. For that, I'm using a Definitive Technology unit. Your video was very good, and easy to understand.

[@Naisujuan]

This was an amazing guide on how to setup a home theatre. I just discovered your channel and the way you explain everything is exceptionally informative at a perfect pace. Keep it up my dude!

[@michaelbroad6062]

Thank you Andrew for removing all the ambiguity surrounding this subject. A very straight forward presentation and the delivery was perfect and clear. I'm not so intimidated now.

[@kevinlinares9060]

This is such a practical how to video with a wealth of knowledge. Hit the like button everyone!

[@liviocuenca9529]

Finally I hear somebody explaining every thing so easy and directly to the point, no speaking bla, bla bla. Congratulations!

[@jorgetamayolandois9977]

The video is beautifully shot and edited, and the information you share is so useful. Thank you for this video.

[@andrewrobinsonreviews]

Thank you!!

[@Marquislavelle]

Couldn’t of said it better myself prices in description would just be you being the best ever

[@raulpreciado3302]

Congratulations to you and your wife on this big achievement wishing you nothing but the best!!

[@crunchie101]

As someone with a Marantz AVR and an LG TV this was epecially useful!

[@nobodynobody1235]

Great video for anyone that start to setting up a HT system. I am actually more interested to know how you hide all the speakers wire that run to your surround and subwoofers. This will help even more people on how to keep it clean and neat.

[@andrewrobinsonreviews]

I've routed most of the wires through the drywall otherwise, a little macgyvering and the BDI desk is pretty good hiding clutter.

[@geraldburke2209]

Really nice video Andrew. You explain things very clearly so that even an idiot like me can understand. Just one comment about my experience with HDMI cables. I recently purchased a Denon AVR-X1700H receiver to replace an aging Onkyo receiver. I had all the settings correct on both my tv (LG C1) and the receiver but I could NOT display the receiver menus on my tv. Nothing worked, UNTIL I finally went out and bought a higher end "high speed" HDMI cable. I was using just a basic generic HDMI cable connecting the tv HDMi-arc to the receiver HDMI-arc. When I swapped out the "standard" HDMI cable for the "high speed" HDMI cable, SHA-ZAM, it finally worked! I could finally display the receiver menus on my tv. So I'm just adding this comment if other people have experienced similar issues when connecting their receivers. Thanks!

[@TheCotes1014]

This video has helped me so much! I have had a 5.1 Sony receiver for 2 years now and always felt that the sound quality was never up to snuff. After watching you video I found that my speaker setting and frequency settings were horribly off! I’ve adjusted them per your advice and wowzah what a difference! Thanks so much!

[@Shrine007]

Each video i watch of yours i learn something new. Keep it up man! great quality content, and i gotta say u explain things extremely well, and clearly.

[@andrewrobinsonreviews]

Thank you so much! We appreciate you watching.

[@vincci1794]

I’m from Malaysia, and currently I have a Sony Blue Ray Receiver Home Theatre with 5.1 , your video have been clear on how to set the home theatre up. Love from Malaysia brother 💪🏽💪🏽 good content

[@OronnokPrithibi]

hello Andrew, big fan of your contents. i’m a bit confused about the surround channel speaker placement for 5.1 that you mentioned. I work as an audio post professional. and we always set up the surround channel at the back. the sides are for 7.1 or 7.1.2 or more. if the surrounds on 5.1 are placed as side channels, then we’re mixing in a wrong setup. can you please point me to a source of this information?

[@arvi7281]

Wow I thought this is a 10 mins video, but his voice is so calming I didn’t realize 30 mins has gone by

[@HOODCHRYMER]

24:17 not gunna lie that scared the shit outta me lol. Listening to this video with my headphones on 80% volume.

[@kiwiwanderingusa9988]

Great video Andrew. Clear and concise. A video on how to discreetly wire up to rear speakers and an offset sub woofer would be helpful. To be exact, how to hide wiring travelling across your living room to the rear speakers etc. Wireless options? A lot of people rent and aren't allowed to open up walls or gain access to attics(if they even have one) for wiring.

[@psreinc]

Can you use in ceiling speakers for both the surrounds and the atmos? How would you place them?

[@jan-hendrikmuller2715]

You did an amazing job explaining a rather complex Part of our beloved Hobby and there is always a lot of confusion on how (and why) filtering is so important. a) there is only one device that is allowed to do the Low Pass Filtering, the AVR OR the Subwoofer. If you use the AVRs Crossover then the Crossover of the Subwoofer MUST be set at the highest possible Frequency otherwise they interfere with each other (If you you want to use 80 Hertz as your Crossover Frequency then set the AVR to 80 and the Sub to 120). If there is a LFE Input on the Sub the built in Crossover of the Sub will be even turned of, this also shows that the AVR should do the job. b) Dolby itself says on their HomePage that every time you use a Subwoofer, the only true setting is „LFE“ and never „LFE+Main“. They say that People with very tall speakers are often confused and want to send the Bass both to their powerful (=expensive) Floorstanding Speakers AND to their Subwoofer but this is wrong. It doesn’t matter if you listen to Dts, Dolby or THX, all Standards require in their regulations that only one Speaker (=the Subwoofer) is allowed to play under 80 Hertz and all others are not. The THX Standard even forces the Manufacturers to ban ANY Frequencies under 80 Hertz in their Satellite Speakers, they have a roll off build in, so they can’t play Bass even if you connect them wrong (LFE + MAIN). If a Speaker is capable of playing Frequencies below 80 Hertz it just doesn’t get the THX Seal. One simple example: there are many Live DVDs with Dts 5.0 out there (The Corrs comes into my mind). Use „LFE + Main“ and your Subwoofer will be as quiet as a graveyard at midnight, use „LFE“ and Bass MUST come out of your Subwoofer, because your AVR directs everything beneath 80 Hertz to your Subwoofer no matter if this is a 5.0 recording or 5.1.

[@superjervis]

Those 5 Jamo speakers for $200 is an absolute steal of a deal

[@andrewrobinsonreviews]

Yes they are.

[@KTHKUHNKK]

I agree that does seem like a steal I have to check more into that. Keith

[@alexandervanwyk7669]

Thanks Andrew for keeping it basic and simple. That's after all where it all start. Next you can elaborate about adding devices. Laptop/ internet connecting via overhead projector with sound systems. etc.

[@Hazay19]

Thank you for this video. Big Takeaways: (1) 5.1 surround speakers go to the side not behind (2) What LFE+Main means Topics I'm hoping you'll cover in the follow-up video you teased: (1) What speaker specs, other than frequency range, do I look at to determine my crossover (i.e. if my speaker has a FR of 115Hz-20KHz, should I set crossover to 115 or set to minimum + a certain % of margin (so 115Hz * 10% = 11.5, so maybe set to 125Hz (approx. 115+11.5), so you are not pushing your speakers to their theoretical limits? (2) Auto calibration systems have been notoriously bad at determining if a speaker is big or small. I know you gave a rough definition in the video, but is there a more precise definition and what speaker metrics would you use to determine. For example, are there some high quality bookshelf speakers you would want to set to large? (3) Really looking forward to a possible video where you show a microphone speaker calibration and then what you check afterwards and tweak and why (i.e. where you trust your auto calibration and where you trust either your ears or know something is off)? Maybe this could be included in your future video in which you balance the speakers with an SPL meter and maybe could explain briefly a few related topics like pink noise/white noise the various modes/options on an SPL meter and not only which SPL meter option you picked, but why? (3) If you have no choice but to put surround speakers behind you, are there any adjustments you'd make to a setup to make the most out of a less than ideal situation? (4) Ideal 5.1 Speaker Placement in terms of height and why? It seems like it all is based on the TV so maybe cover or link to a video in which you cover the important topic or how high to mount TV and pick the right TV size for your room (.i.e. since bigger is not always better if you constantly have to look left and right unconsciously because the tv is too big for the room) Great video though and I'm a new big fan of your channel and you won me over with your recent what is a recovering audiophile video :)

[@stckyjoey1]

Hello the rule of thumb to set xover is ur lowest frequency number plus 20 so in ur case would be 135. I have my tower left and right front stage at at 60 since the lowest number starts at 35

[@C--A]

Follow the online or paper manual that came with your speakers as closely as possible. Here in the UK most households have not very good living room conditions for a home cinema system. With big fireplaces, unusual shaped rooms etc. My own 5.1 setup I had no way of putting the surround speakers at the side. So I put them high on the wall behind listening position as the manual said for option b if no side walls available. Actually get a very good sound for movies from my set up. Will be upgrading to much higher quality surround speakers later this year so the sound quality will be even better once it's all finished.

[@haroldsvoyage8912]

I dont know who needs to hear/read this, but this video is awesome! Andrew, thanks for making this video. Super helpful setting up my home theater.

[@navinseeruttun9893]

Awesome video. I enjoyed every bit of you very clear explanations. I am new in home theatre setup and i have learnt a lot from you.

[@ricog8209]

5.1 channels are all I need.

[@penajuan46]

I have a simple Logitech z906 5.1 setup in my bedroom that I very much enjoy. I have it coupled with a Wimius LED 1080p projector that I cast on a good quality pull down screen (about 115 inches) that I have mounted to the ceiling and I'm super satisfied with the overall performance of my little personal home theater. The setup altogether cost me about $600 and I couldn't be happier.

[@ImDembe]

Thought the Z906 was outdated, came over a system for 60$ from a friend that really needed money :)

[@penajuan46]

@@ImDembe Seeing that the system itself came out like 10 years ago yeah I'd say it's outdated lol, but it's still out on the market and selling so that should tell you something. I'm pretty happy with the performance.

[@Suileabhain]

Great to hear someone from north America speaking English properly😀 Woofer and not wuffer! Roof and not ruff! Refreshing!! Great presentation by the way.

[@nebtheweb8885]

Yes, he is pronouncing it correctly. Most people say subWOLFer, instead of sub WOOFer.

[@benyogubbins]

Great video Andrew. It helped me a lot. Thanks. I Just got my Denon avr S750H installed with 5.1 polk S-Series speakers and it was fantastic to watch a movie there for the first time. It was "Where the Wild Things Are", by the way. Cheers from Chile!!

[@davidle7864]

Super helpful and insightful. I'm a heathen who's using a soundbar but I got inspired to reconfigure my cabling thanks to this video. I learnt what the ARC thing is

[@sxdesu]

Not gonna lie, watching the entire video with just hearing your voice then the children cheering around 24:10 scared the hell out of me.

[@garysmith8455]

Thanks Andrew for the very simple way to get new home theatre owners started on their journey. During our shutdown, I look forward to watching your latest presentations, and you and your wife's out takes are a total HOOT ((O: Man, I remember my first Dolby Pro Logic theater back in the day, but a buddy of mine owned the first AC-3 system (5.1) I had ever heard!, and being from 4 channel quad tape days, it was wonderful to hear discrete channels once again (O: Looking toward your next video adventure!

[@KristiWright]

Gary Smith Thank you so much for watching, Gary!

[@mccarthyd6603]

Great video....never gets old when you say "Subwoooofer" 😂😂😂

[@andrewrobinsonreviews]

😁

[@doublea1694]

Great information. I set up 5.1 in my living room and my theater, but you really took the time to explain what everything means. I seen these abbreviations before but never knew what they meant. Thanks to this video, I’m confident that I will get the best listening experience from now on. I’ll check out your other videos about subwoofers also.

[@QoraxAudio]

You know you've entered all settings correctly once you feel surrounded! 👌

[@jralicea6299]

Very helpful information. I've just installed my first home theater 5.1 system from Klipsh to an existing DTR 5.5 from Onkyo I already had, overall sounds pretty awesome! Used an auto calibrator for the speakers I obtained on Amazon to make it simplier. I selected sound to be piped through all the speakers in one of the endless menu's of the receiver and massive upgrade from my previous two speaker AM5 set-up. Thanks for your help, I've yet to watch all your vid's but I'm getting there.

[@CharlesBronson777]

What height would you recommend for speaker stands for surround speakers?

[@daudioman24]

I know this video is a couple years old but, I have personally setup a few systems and thoroughly love testing my system with the movie Glory. It really tests everything from motion to the music scores that is in the movie. These scores test all ranges of highs, mids and lows. Beautiful movie too for any history buffs. Thanks for producing this video, very informative and well put together.

[@heyhabib]

Well said about "Glory".

[@christopherpiper]

Great video Andrew! Idea for a future video: advice for people who use their system for both home theater and music. I’d love to know if there are things to consider (speaker size, placement, type of speakers, or other considerations) for those of us that make our systems pull double duty.

[@andrewrobinsonreviews]

Great suggestion! We'll add this idea to our list. Thanks so much for watching!

[@SaifeeAkil]

As a similar double duty user of my HT, 1 thing I particularly notice is music sounds great when using my receiver's (Yamaha RX A840) all channel stereo. But when switching to 2 channel or straight mode the audio goes muddy, dull and muffled. I tried this on another Yamaha recevier and had the same problem. Unsure if it's the Yams or is this a generic problem to all AV receivers vs a dedicated stereo amp.

[@christopherpiper]

Saifee - I experienced the same thing. 1 fix, which Andrew discussed in his video, is making sure your subwoofer is on in the receiver settings for two channel setup. That helped mine a good deal, but the other issue for me was just speaker placement. I have to have my front speakers on a shelf against a wall which will negatively affect almost any speaker, so using “all channel stereo” helps bring the sound away from the wall and into the room. Nothing much I can do about that so I prefer all channel stereo listening for music with my set up.

[@SaifeeAkil]

@@christopherpiper unfortunately Yamaha doesn't give that option. Since my previous basic yam to my current "higher" version I still can't control subwoofer output

[@larrydaniels6532]

@@SaifeeAkil It's not the receiver, I had a Yamaha RX-V1200 and it was perfect in both modes. You may have inadvertently programmed a different effect for stereo, it gets a bit complicated when setting up these systems and further still when adding sources into the mix. To get to the root of the problem you need to become best friends with the receiver's operator manual.

[@Antibackgroundnoise]

Not only do you explain it very well, you put it across a very articulately! Now if you want to see a 5.2.4 setup with a minimalistic floating TV effect, click on the black cat

[@weatherby1982]

this is the best review on youtube.

[@andrewrobinsonreviews]

WOW. Thanks!

[@alexz7047]

true

[@youtubeyoutube2303]

I’ve spent many hours researching, learning the basics. This has been very helpful. I also hope the beautiful room is instructive to all the men that keep publishing proud photos of their setups with a tangled, dusty mess of cables and junk everywhere. 😆

[@cheeky50862]

hi there, great informative video and down to earth. No mortgage required setup. Here is our very budget system. We use a small rectangular box room for our movie watching . 12' by 18' We started out with a sony htas5 5.1 speaker system. the speakers it comes with are small to say the least but it was an affordable convenient first step step into home cinema and always planned to go bigger later on . fast forward almost a year. One day while browsing audio equipment , receivers and speakers etc i stumbled upon the TIBO edge mini speakers (discontinued) which were £20 per pair so i looked at the specs and some reviews and thought what the hell and bought 3 pairs only £60 .obviously going in with low expectations and ......... well was i surprised how much the bundled speakers were holding the amplifier back instant upgrade and sounded like a completely different system to the point that i am happy with how it sounds ….will i upgrade ? only if the actual hardware fails or becomes obsolete . The point I'm making (eventually) is that you don't need 1000s of pounds worth of equipment to have a good sounding 5.1 system ,and this video is a very refreshing and welcome break from the (room full of speakers) videos that normally pop up while browsing for home cinema content .

[@AudioElectronicsChicago]

Very helpful video for someone who is struggling!

[@andrewrobinsonreviews]

I'm so glad!

[@DBravo29er]

This is great! This is how we get people into the hobby!!!!

[@andrewrobinsonreviews]

That's the ultimate goal! Thanks for watching.

[@ntak7716]

Thanks Andrew for simplifying the process of setting up surround sound.You made it a lot less daunting.

[@CMA1967]

Subscribed. You are an incredibly talented young man. Very pleasant to listen to. Much appreciated, thank you.

[@andrewrobinsonreviews]

Thank you kindly!

[@PeterVest]

Wow, thank you a lot for making this video 💪 It really help me a lot, I already own a somewhat decent 5.1 system, I I have never really loved the way It sounded when only using it in stereo mode, but after watching this video I have a whole new found love for my sound system, Thank you very much, I really appreciate it 👍 It's sound way better now.

[@andrewrobinsonreviews]

Glad it helped!

[@moogle9740]

Damn. This guide was so good I cried in khz.

[@matthewwhite9111]

What a timely video! I've got boxes of speakers in my bedroom waiting for the construction to finish in our living room. I'll be installing the same LG Nano 9 Series TV, plugged into a Denon AVR-S950H driving 5 Bowers & Wilkins M-1 bookshelf speakers, 1 B&W ASW608 subwoofer, and 2 Polk Audio RC80i in-ceiling speakers to round out an Atmos-compatible setup. I've been told this might be overkill for a 20'x17' room, but since they opened up all the walls, I figured I might as well go big. I'm definitely interested in any suggestions for really exercising the system--Jurassic Park seems like a good way to start.

[@andrewrobinsonreviews]

Sounds like a KILLER setup! I have always been a fan of the M1 model myself. Installed them (or their predecessor) in my old ad agency eons ago.

[@CHBen_]

If you set up that 608 correct you'll love it I got one used and it sounds huge! Have fun annoying the neigbours ;) And Jurassic Park is one of my favorites and should sound great!

[@fabricionaweb]

Congrats for the video, you're amazing. I have one question... If Im using ARC to send audio through TV to receiver, do I really need to connect my HDMI devices into AV receiver? Are there advantages to do that instead of just connect them direct to my TV HDMI ports or it will be the same?

[@NMEofdaST8]

Same question

[@sauravpatwardhan8765]

Same question. Would appreciate the help

[@Eye4Got2]

One of the best instructional videos I've seen in recent memory. THANK YOU for giving us an instructional video that was as useful as it was well-presented.

[@coloradoklutch8005]

Fore home theater testing, I like to use "The Rocketeer". I know, it's cheesy, but it's one of favorite movies and it has great sound, color and visual effects. This video is outstanding. I shared it with my friends on social media because I think they will find it very helpful here in "Pandemicland" where lots of people are streaming video. This video is also refreshing. I'm done with "experts" telling me I'm a loser if I don't have a $20,000 preamp with $50,000 loudspeakers.

[@kelvinmutuma2338]

Now I know how to set up an home theater. I need now need to get everything including a house.

[@Rnyitray]

Andrew. We just would like to thank you so much for your detail explanation which is fantastic and really help me to set up my system.

[@andrewrobinsonreviews]

You're very welcome!

[@cinemaipswich4636]

Ergonomics help us avoid strain and discomfort. Placing a TV high on a wall, or above a fireplace causes us to lift our chin and raise our head. Having the top edge of the TV closer to your eye level (when sitting) takes that discomfort away. Using a "lowboy" cabinet may also help your front speakers to be aligned in the same way.

[@batman.darthmaul]

My memory of 5.1 surround speaker placement is very different from what you're saying here. Starting at the beginning with Dolby Surround and later Pro Logic, the surrounds were always placed to the rear. This held true with 5.1 as well, the only difference being that the left and right surrounds were discrete channels. It wasn't until Blu Rays and 7.1 audio that the surrounds were moved to the sides and the "rear surrounds" were placed behind you, where you used to put the regular surrounds back in the day.

[@krane15]

"Behind the listening position. To the rear is generally most convenient, but to the sides is also acceptable. Because its an "effects" speaker the precise placement is not that critical. The sound is still perceived from behind you.

[@alvarobeiro]

0:00 - Intro 0:55 - Components used 3:59 - Explanation of 5.1 channel meaning 4:56 - Requirements for a 5.1 speaker setup 7:54 - Location of the speakers 9:37 - Connecting the speakers 12:10 - Controls on the subwoofer 13:56 - Connecting to the TV and other devices 15:33 - AVR menus 23:12 - TV menus 24:03 - Outro 24:57 - Extra takes

[@aaronself2411]

Greatly appreciated.

[@junebug7883]

Thanks for the educational video on how to setting up a home entertainment system for the first time! I really learned a lot!

[@jonthompson8807]

Dude. Alita battle angel. Totally awesome

[@Valois254]

Maaaaaan! You are so articulate you seem to just know what to say and when to! Awesome video here, I'd love to own one of this

[@MrRedhogg]

You remind me of the guy in the movie ‘’RADIUS’… you should watch it! We should all watch it.

[@atishmaharaj1205]

Thank you for posting videos like this. I find it very useful. Sometimes things in your listening room change and videos like this helps when you need to reset the listen environment.

[@jl721ATcairn]

I still don't have a center channel speaker. In a roughly 12'x12' living room, phantom center is fine. Definitely going to try repositioning the surrounds more like in this video, though. There are limited possibilities for surround speaker placement in this apt where I (and others, once we're allowed to have company over again) won't constantly be running into them.

[@jl721ATcairn]

@@filippiasec I haven't had any complaints.

[@BennyKsBandwidth]

Me too I only run a 2.1 in my main room due to having my good loudspeakers in there. If I had a center I would only hear that for nearly 80-90% of what I'm watching. Another good reason to not have a center if you paid a good price for your L/R. If you're off axis and it sounds weird tough lol my setup my house! Haha!

[@jl721ATcairn]

I think the most I had over at once was 7 people on Super Bowl Sunday. I don't have cable or satellite, I tried to pick it up OTA, but couldn't get a strong enough signal, so I wound up streaming it to my Chromecast. Now, I've streamed movies to this thing before, and from Amazon, Netflix & Disney+ I usually get Dolby Digital+ 5.1 (assuming the film in question has 5.1), but the Super Bowl stream came through as 2.0, which the receiver dematrixed back to surround. It was fine. Again, no complaints from any of my guests. One girl (alas, underaged) was even pretty impressed by the setup. I wound up sitting in several different positions over the course of the evening. The imaging obviously wasn't identical in every location, but...peoples' voices seemed to come from their mouths, the sound was never unsatisfactory, I could hear the vocals during the halftime show (unlike Bruno Mars, where on whatever feed the Philly area was getting, the vocals were MIA). Actually, I have had one complaint from a lady from church who had never seen Young Frankenstein (so we watched it). She said the screen was too big, but...I mean...she doesn't have to come to movie nights if that bothers her. I'll probably upgrade the projector to 1080 w/HDR before I get a center speaker.

[@BennyKsBandwidth]

@@jl721ATcairn Well most people understand that if you have two speakers sound will come from either or they're not really critiquing it. So like I said having a 2.1 is great especially if you spend a decent amount on your L/R. Then really no need for a center, and like you said imaging and soundstage is more apparent when you have no center. Opposed to everything that's happening on screen just come from the center. Hearing one speaker just for vocals and what's happening on screen is lame. Also to do a proper center channel it usually has to be very big to accommodate what's on screen correctly.

[@jl721ATcairn]

@@BennyKsBandwidth That's sort of my issue: my main L/R are a pair of big, vintage, floor-standing speakers, so finding a center that's going to even sort of match is not going to be easy (or cheap, probably). Having had a mismatched center before, I definitely prefer a phantom center over that. Also, the setup with the projector means the only place it can really go is mounted to the wall under the screen, but I don't want to make any holes until after I've renewed the lease.

[@DiegoNovoa]

Love this start up - no BS type of videos... No need to start with a 3.000€ setup. 500€ AV, 250€ sub, 400€ center plus bookshelf will kill any TV speakers in performance and will give you a base to start and grow if you want

[@lucy-me-lucy]

"Ideally, the surround speakers in a 5.1 surround sound configuration should be placed just behind, or to the side of, your listening position. Dolby recommends an angle of 110° to 120° from your listening position THX recommends between 90° to 110°" "The surrounds should be slightly higher than the front speakers in the room. This is because the surround channels are there to create an ambient sound in your room. The idea isn't to get the direct up-front sound that we want from our front speakers."

[@MrHamit64]

Ah I always get confused with that. I always wana get the behind or side thing streight because 1 in some movie seens it even makes me wander about the point of view of the seen. Also it's confusing in the sence of which box then should I check in Windows? You have a sides box and a surrounds box. Ah I'll give you an example of the audio. So in The Lost World JP 2 when DR Malkum asks Eddy what he did with Kelly when Eddy responds "She's okay, she's in the high hide." Eddy is in the fith and sixth channals. AKA the surrounds. So on screen where is Eddy? Cause if you set those speakers behind you as Bose Logitech and everyone else says that is then suggesting he's some how facing behind them. But if the Dolby way, then he's off to the side someware. See my problem? Especially ince I'm blind and sound is everything.

[@davidrojas6457]

At the part where you were describing the connection for the subwoofer, you called the RCA connection on the sub itself a "subwoofer OUT". That would in fact be a subwoofer IN. Also, the video says "set it to 80Hz" regarding the sub crossover, but LFE signals regularly have content above 80Hz. I always understood that the crossover on the sub itself should be set to the highest the dial goes to avoid that filter interfering with the crossover set within the receiver.

[@davidhunter2824]

I personally think that the first movies you should watch for your new home theatre system is something like Gladiator, The Matrix, Jurrasic Park and other movies which uses surround sound and LFE effects to test your systems sound.

[@craigds3745]

Master and Commander, Twister too.

[@Soniiclol]

Hello my friend, Thank you for great input. Your review about the HT-A9 made me order it, in a black november discount, but I wonder if I would be better served with a normal home theather system? Another thing I would like to ask, my tv is A80J 77 Inch, the sound from the tv is better than other smaller A80J, so I was considering to use it as center channel, what do you think about it? Thank you.

[@MrAnthony992]

Can you show me how to connect a passive subwoofer or stereo wire subwoofer to my av receiver

[@simplicityat5836]

Gosh thank you! Went and checked all my connections. Not ready to buy equipment or replacement current but video was helpful to understand the basics. I am a woman and I am the one with the skills 🤣😂 love learning. Thank you!

[@andrewrobinsonreviews]

So glad the video helped and we're happy you're here!

[@simplicityat5836]

Andrew Robinson wow! You read my comment 😱 KZbinr that actually interacts with his audience. Thank you sir, subscribing.

[@andrewrobinsonreviews]

Glad to have you here!

[@nightstringers]

Andrew you left out the most important device . That's the placement of the movie theater style popcorn maker and condiment bar

[@ryan2stix]

I got my 65" wall mounted, my turntable sits under it, with kanto yumi speakers...optical out from the tv into the speakers. done. simple. and awesome :)

[@KristiWright]

ryan2stix We love everything about your setup! - Andrew & Kristi

[@rph_redacted]

I wanna see how you route cables without making everything messy

[@WillieBloom]

I installed an 11.2 home theatre in my relatively small living room. I chose M&K Loudspeakers. C L R channels angled, wall-mounted, four surround wall-mounted speakers, four in-ceiling speakers. For the subwoofers I chose SVS. One is a sealed subwoofer in the typical cube format and the other is a ported cylindrical woofer. The combination of a sealed and ported subwoofer is really, really nice. They get the rumble going but good! My choice of M&K Loudspeakers THX and the SVS subs is because my home theatre is dedicated for home theatre. My HiFi needs are satisfied with head-fi - headphones. That's a whole different can of worms. Solid state and tube amplifiers, tube rolling, DACs, cables, headphones from all the high-end manufacturers. No, I am not even close to any kind of recovery. I'm a junkie.

[@Steve-rk6lg]

I recommend StarWars ep2 Attack of the Clones. A bit old but I love the scene in the asteroid field, the seismic charges and the following lasers fire really fly around a room. Still love it.

Finally, someone that knows about what they are talking.... Great video! 1 question... how to set up optical ports (sound) and are they better than HDMI?

[@jaredferguson662]

optical is slightly worse.

[@jackb5806]

For 5.1 it's likely you wouldn't notice. As you run into 7.1 or higher or HD audio formats then hdmi is vastly better.

[@Buzza235]

For a 5.1 setup would it be necessary to get a amplifier as well as your av receiver.

[@whodatking26]

No, if you have a good quality receiver you won't need an amp.

[@SloDwn1135]

This is a good reminder. I’m going to be setting up a system of used components for a friend and since my system is older, it will be the first time setting up via an automated system. I’m hoping the automation sets up the crossover points in addition to the distances, phase, etc. It will be interesting to see how it goes.

[@seancampbell2154]

If I had a gaming system, should I plug it into the receiver or tv?

[@BaystheBeast]

I would recommend the TV. With rare exception, I almost always plug everything into the tv and have the ARC do everything for audio to the receiver. My exception here is my 4k Blu-ray player that has dual HDMI, one for audio to plug into the receiver and one for video to plug into the TV.

[@eazyemman]

It depends on what matters to you. I have a Sony 55 inch 4k TV the x90h specifically. But I have a Marantz 5015 with a klipsch RP setup. The reason I mention this is because you can see i have spent a wildly larger amount of money on my system than my tv. So I want to get the most out of my audio. Therefore i am going to want to run my gaming system THROUGH my receiver! Basically you are picking between visual and audio. You won't sacrifice much visually by going through your receiver assuming you have a compatible receiver with current gen systems.

[@n1md4_-.-_]

Thank you for a great introduction video to setting up a home theatre system. I am sure there must be loads on the internet, but yours was a pleasure to view, production quality was on-point, and your explanation of each part was easy to understand. I am new to the home theatre game, having received an amplifier over Christmas, then more recently took the plunge with a nice 5.1 speaker setup and video projector. After watching your video though, I realise some of my speaker positions were off; if I may list my set, and you can be free to comment on it: * Front left and right: I put these in the corners of the room, but you suggest putting them either side of the display. I assumed the wider spacing would give a wider sound-stage, is that not the case? * Rear left and right (surround): I had put these just behind and to the left / right and at the same level as all the other speakers. In my setup, the surrounds match the front speakers, I assume though that wouldn't change the position of the surround speakers; that they should still be at least 4ft off the ground. Moving on to a cabling question. I have QED Micro cable, and it sounds great -- albeit I'm new, so nothing to compare it with really. That is actually my point, I noticed your cables were particularly beefy, but the Micro cables I am using are tiny. Do you think there could be any issues specifically using this type of smaller cable? Thanks again for some great content here, I'm now subscribed and I look forward to more! (forgive the essay of a comment, and no obligation to reply, there are many comments, and I appreciate you can't get around to all of them all of the time! :)

[@jeremiahdant3151]

According to my receiver the surrounds, in a 5.1system, go directly behind you and high up on the wall. The 7.1, it has the capability to do, the other surround speakers up front high on the wall and outside of the main speakers. But it is from 1995-1997 so. 🤷

[@feraldart]

My Denon says: "Place the SURROUND left and right speakers an equal distance to the left and right sides of the main listening position. If you don’t have surround back speakers, move the surround speakers slightly behind your listening position."

[@ericl4238]

I normally think you talk a lot but this is worth the watch thank you bro.

[@andrewrobinsonreviews]

Thanks?

[@Fighting-Egg]

Would love to see a video like this for a 7.1 with 2 or even 4 Atmos speakers

[@NickkaDUB]

I just left a correction on his video in a comment you may want to see if you’re newer. Comment starts out with “2 corrections”. First part’s a joke, but you’ll want to see what i said about 5.1/7.1 and Atmos that can really improve the sound experience.

[@willwyatt7023]

First watch - Band of Brothers. I've finally gotten my wife interested in this great series.