Harman-Kardon AVR 354 Speaker Placement, Placement of Surround Speakers in a 5.1-Channel System

SPEAKER PLACEMENT

Before you begin to connect cables, it is important to place your speakers in their correct locations in the room.

Optimally, the speakers should be placed in a circle with the listening position at its center. The distance from the listening position to the video display forms the radius of the circle.

The speakers should be angled so that they directly face the listening position.

Placement of Surround Speakers in a 5.1-Channel System

The side surround speakers should be placed 110 degrees from the center speaker, that is, slightly behind and angled toward the listener. If this isn’t feasible, place them behind the listener, with each surround speaker facing the opposite-side front speaker. See Figure 15. The surround speakers may be placed a little higher than the listener’s ears.

Front Speaker Placement

The center speaker is placed either on top of, below or mounted on the wall above or below the video display screen.

The front left and right speakers are placed along the circle, about 30 degrees from the center speaker and angled toward the listener.

It is best to place the front left/right and center speakers as close to the same height as possible, preferably at about the same height as the listener’s ears. In any event, the center speaker should be no more than two feet above or below the left/right speakers.

Placement of the surround speakers depends on the number of speakers in your system. If you’re using only two speakers with the AVR 354, place them in the front left and right positions, and skip to the Installation section. However, we recommend using the AVR 354 in a 5.1- or 7.1-channel configuration for optimal surround sound performance.

SUB

C

FL FR

30°30°

110°	110°
150°	150°

SL SR

Alternate placement	Alternate placement
for Side Surround	for Side Surround
Left Speaker	Right Speaker

Figure 15 – Speaker Placement (5.1-Channel System)

Placement of Surround Speakers in a 7.1-Channel System

In a 7.1-channel system, the side surround speakers are placed 90 degrees from the center speaker, directly to either side of the listening position. The surround back left and right speakers are placed 150 degrees from the center speaker, or directly facing the opposite-side front speaker. See Figure 16.

SUB

C

FL FR

30°30°

SL	90°	150°	90°	SR
	150°

SBL SBR

Figure 16 – Speaker Placement (7.1-Channel System)

NOTE: Some speaker manufacturers offer 6.1-channel speaker systems, which are compatible with 6.1-channel surround sound formats, such as Dolby Digital EX, DTS-ES Discrete and Matrix modes and DTS Neo:6 mode. We do not recommend using the AVR 354 in a 6.1-channel configuration. In fact, the 6.1-channel formats will sound better when played through

a 7.1-channel system. The same surround back channel infor- mation is played through both surround back speakers, but with twice the power and clarity.

If you wish to use the AVR 354 with a 6.1-channel speaker system, place the single surround back speaker directly behind the listener, but do not connect it until after you have run the EzSet/EQ procedure for a 5.1-channel system. After the EzSet/EQ process finishes, connect the surround back speaker to the Surround Back Left Speaker Output. Then follow the directions in the Advanced Features section for manual setup of the surround back speaker.

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