5
Preparing Your Receiver
Positioning Speakers
Where you place your speakers (not supplied) can make a noticeable
difference in your system’s sound. The guidelines in this section will
help you choose the best locations. After you use your receiver for a
while, you might want to try different locations for your speakers.
Bass response depends largely on speaker location. For strong bass,
place the speakers in the corners of the room. If you want even stronger
bass, place the speakers directly on the floor. If the bass is too strong,
move the speakers slightly away from the corners of the room, or raise
them 6 to 18 inches off the floor. You can buy speaker stands at your
local RadioShack store.
The distance between the speakers should be about the same as the
distance between the normal listening point and the point halfway
between the speakers. If you place the speakers too close together, you
reduce the stereo separation. If you place them too far apart, you reduce
the bass effect and create a hole in the middle of the sound.
Most speakers have a tweeter dispersion angle of about 60 degrees.
Ideally, your listening position should be just inside the overlap area of
the tweeter dispersion. You can angle the speakers toward you for better
stereo effect.
To position your speakers for surround sound, place the front speakers
at the front of your listening area, and place the (rear) surround speak-
ers behind or to the sides of the listening point (see “Using Advanced
Sound Options” on Page 26). Also, place the center speaker above,
below, or behind the TV. If you place it beside the TV, the picture may
not coincide with the sound.
You can also compensate the speaker positioning by adjusting the con-
trol settings for the front, center, or subwoofer speakers. See “Initial
Setup” on Page 17.
Caution:
Make all the necessary connections before you plug in or turn on the receiver.
• Surround speakers generally sound
best if you position them above ear
level.
• To avoid interference with the picture
on a nearby TV, use magnetically
shielded speaker systems. This is par-
ticularly important for the center
speaker since it is usually located
closest to the TV.
L
R
a
b
a=b
Halfway Point
Between Speak
e
Person in Listenin
g
Area
Normal Listening Point
Midway Point
Between Speakers
a = b
b
a
Front Left
Speaker
Center Speaker
Front Right
Speaker
Rear Left
Speaker
Rear Right
Speaker
Listening
Area
Front
Rear
31-3046.fm Page 5 Monday, January 29, 2001 12:43 PM