Atlantic Technology HomeTheater Loudspeaker System Placement and Operation, Speaker Placement

Center channel should be within 2' of front speaker tweeter height

Left surround speaker

Surround speakers should be directly to the sides of listening position

18" above	Right surround
ear level	speaker
Ear level

Placement and Operation

Speaker and room interactions have a huge impact on the sound of the system. Moving the speakers just a little can make a dramatic difference in what you hear. The compact design of System Two’s components provides you with maximum placement flexibility while creating a large, seamless, acoustically accurate soundfield for your home theater. The best placement of the speakers will vary from room to room. Start out by using the following placement guidelines and the diagram above. But also feel free to experiment. In fact, it may be beneficial to hook up the speakers with some extra wire and to simply drape the wire across the floor, experimenting with several placement options before installing the speakers permanently. This will allow you the opportunity to move the speakers around easily so you can find the best sonic and visual locations. Such experimentation can be especially beneficial for the surround speakers.

Note: Some surround sound decoders and receivers offer a choice of “Normal / Small” or “Wide-band / Large” modes for the center channel. The Compact Two C is designed to be used in the “Normal / Small” mode. Additionally, most discrete digital home theater systems allow you to select between “Small” and “Large” speakers throughout the system. Since the Compact Theater System Two has been designed to work only with a subwoofer, please set all the speaker positions to “Small.”

Speaker Placement

The primary goal of a home theater is not to transport you into your local movie theater. It’s to transport you into the movie itself, into the midst of the action occurring on the screen. For best results in a home theater system, place your Compact Theater Two LR speakers to either side of the television approximately 2 to 4 feet away from the screen, if possible. The three front channel speakers (Compact Theater Two LRs and C) are magnetically shielded so they will not interfere with your television picture. The left front and right front speakers should be far enough apart that you get a good stereo image, but not so far apart that the sound seems to come directly from the speakers, distracting you from the picture. You may chose to “toe” the LR speakers in, aiming them at the prime listening position. This can be particularly useful if the front LR speakers are fairly far apart.

The Compact Two C center channel should be placed directly above or below your television. It is important that the speaker is centered on, and as close as possible to the screen, not off to the side. You can tilt the center speaker up or down on its adjustable base to optimize its response. The Compact Two C includes a three position High Frequency level control, which should be adjusted to get the most natural sound after the speaker is placed in its final location. Also note that most movies are recorded with the middle and high frequency sounds “turned up” in the center channel to ensure that everyone in a commercial movie theater hears the dialogue. When played at home these same soundtracks can sound excessively “bright” and “forward”. Adjusting the HF control of the Center Two can help reduce this unwanted effect.

Surround Effects

The Compact Two SR’s size and shape allows greater flexibility in placement than most conventional surround loudspeakers. Due to their advanced Dipole design it’s preferable to locate the SR Surround speakers directly to the sides of the prime listening position, at least 18 inches above ear level when seated, to 18 inches below the ceiling. These special speakers have a “sound null” directly in front of their face and they produce a broad sound field to the left and right of their enclosure. The result is that they “wash” the side walls of your room with a non- localizable surround field while you sit right in the sonic null.

Note: The C T SR’s are marked with a “pointing hand” on the back that indicates which side of the speaker should face the front of the room. Please be sure to locate the speakers properly and to turn one over so that they are both facing in the correct direction. If you wish to wall mount the speakers there are “keyhole” mounting brackets included in the box that may be mounted to the pre drilled slots on the speakers back, after you determine which slot will be at the top of each speaker. See below for further important mounting information.

The grille may be removed and reversed if you desire, by carefully gripping it along the edge and pulling from the cabinet. Re-insert by reversing the above. However, it can be somewhat difficult and time consuming to remove and replace the grille, so unless it is very important to you we recommend leaving it as is.