Getting the home theater speaker placement is paramount to getting the full surround sound experience. Poor placement can result in sound bouncing off walls, echoes, and misdirection. While placement depends a lot on your room, there are certain golden rules that you should follow, no matter the size or acoustics of your room:
Most common setup is 5.1 or 7.1. What does that mean? It means that you have 6 or 8 speakers in your home theater, where 5.1 stands for front left and right speaker, center speaker, rear surround left and right speaker plus subwoofer. Subwoofer is that (.1) in the sistem, and in case if u have 7.1 than u have extra back surround left and right speaker.
1. Center chanell
This speaker is placed directly above or below your TV screen. It acts as an 'anchor' and gives a sense of direction to the sound. By placing it below or above the TV screen, you place the sound spatially in-line with the TV.
Ideally, the center speaker should be placed above the TV screen (make sure that the speaker is magnetically shielded if you are using a CRT TV). If this is not possible, try placing it a little to the side of the TV.
2. Left and Right Speakers
Home theater speaker placement depends a lot on the left and right speakers. Along with the central speaker, these form the 'base' of the entire home theater experience. As such, getting their placement right is of utmost importance if you want to get the best experience possible.
Ideally, the left and right speakers should be placed at equal distance from the central speaker, facing the listener. They should be turned at an angle between 45-60 degrees. There should be a distance of at least 3 feet between each speaker and the central speaker. Also, they should be at an equal distance from the listener. Think of it as an 'arc' of sound that forms a crude semi-circle around the listener.
3. Surround Speakers
In a 5.1 system, there would be two extra surround speakers that complete the entire home theater experience. A 7.1 system would have four of these. In home theater speaker placement, there are no fixed rules pertaining to these surround speakers. Their placement depends a lot on the size of your room and your own preferences.
A good rule to follow is to place the surround speakers slightly behind the listener, at an angle of 45 degrees. Place them in such a way that the come up to the ear level of a seated listener - that is, a height of around 3-4 feet. You will most likely have to use speaker stands for this.
In a 7.1 system, the two additional speakers should ideally be mounted on the wall behind the listener at a height of 3-4 feet. If the room is large and the wall is quite far back, you should use a set of stands and place these speakers at a distance of 4-5 feet behind the listener.
Experiment with the position of the surround speakers until you get the configuration that sounds best. Home theater speaker placement, after all, is about getting the setup right according to your preferences. The rules mentioned above should act as guides. The actual configuration would change depending on the size and acoustics of your room.