PLACEMENT FOR HOME THEATER REAR APPLICATIONS
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Figure 4. Two pairs of HDFX loudspeakers reproduce Dolby EX surround sound in a home theater room.
THE BOUNDARY EFFECT
Placing a loudspeaker in a corner can powerfully affect the way a listener perceives bass response. Known as the boundary effect, placing loudspeakers close to a wall/ceiling boundary or near a corner-wall boundary will emphasize certain bass frequencies, while canceling others. This effect can make the loudspeaker sound excessively boomy and inaccurate to some listeners, while to others it just seems like more bass sound.
As a good rule-of-thumb, if you like listening to your current pair of loudspeakers with the bass turned up, you’ll enjoy corner placement. However, if you listen with the tone controls at neutral, try keeping the loudspeakers at least 2 or 3 feet from the boundaries of the room.