Where will I put all those speakers?
Surround sound requires at least five satellite speakers and a subwoofer, but there are exceptions to that rule. In this section, we'll go through speaker placement options and outline surround-sound alternatives that use fewer than six speakers.
Speaker placement | Do I really need five speakers and a sub? | Wireless options
Speaker placement
Before shopping for speakers, try to imagine where you're going to put them in your room. Speakers can be placed on floor stands, hung on wall brackets, or placed on furniture. Subwoofers typically sound best in room corners or near the left- or right-front speakers.
The front three--left, center, and right--speakers usually sound best when positioned with their tweeters elevated to the same height as a seated listener's ears. In any case, try to keep the center speaker near the same height as the left and right speakers.
You can place speakers on shelves or on/in a low cabinet or entertainment center. Some speakers are better suited to this arrangement than others. "Acoustic suspension" sealed satellites are the most appropriate. Next best are ported speakers--as long as the ports are located on the front of the cabinet. However, speakers with rear-mounted ports won't perform at their peak when placed inside a piece of furniture.
As for the rear-channel surround speakers, they usually sound best when positioned three or more feet higher than the front speakers. However, high-fidelity DVD-Audio and Super Audio CD music will sound best when surround speakers are placed at the same height (ear level) as the front speakers.
Do I really need five speakers and a sub?
If you'd rather not deal with the clutter of speaker cabinets and stringing six or more cables across your room, check out the few HTIBs that use virtual surround speakers to reduce the speaker count to two or three. Unfortunately, sound quality and surround effects won't replicate true multichannel speaker systems.
Wireless options
The dream of wireless high-performance speakers is still unfulfilled, but most manufacturers offer "wireless" speakers that receive signals via radio waves or infrared light. For the most part, these wireless options are restricted to the surround (rear) speakers. Despite the promise, wireless speakers still need wires--they need to be plugged into the wall outlet for power, at the very least. But they do eliminate the need for those long front-to-back speaker wire runs. Battery-powered wireless speakers just won't cut it in any sort of quality-oriented surround system.
