How to Set Up Your Speakers (2024)

Have you ever walked into someone else's living room and marveled, perhaps with a twinge of jealousy, at their awe-inspiring sound system? Yes, part of that has to do with the speakers themselves. But how those speakers are set up in the room and configured can make all the difference between sound that blows you away, and sound that's simply average. No matter your budget, there are a number of ways to get the most out of your speakers—even if your home audio system consists of a single small Bluetooth speaker or a bookshelf stereo pair. Follow these tips for a difference you'll be able to hear.

Finding the Sweet Spot

Whether you're dealing with a stereo pair of speakers, a 2.1 setup (two speakers and a subwoofer), or even a 5.1 surround sound system (five speakers and a sub), the concept of left and right channel placement is important—and easy—to understand.

Imagine an equilateral triangle: Your head is one point, the left speaker is another, and the right speaker is the third. The distance between you and the left speaker should be equal to the distance between you and the right speaker; the left and right speaker should be this same distance apart, as well. This ensures an accurate stereo image, and gives the speakers enough distance between their drivers and your ears to properly disperse the soundwaves. Where your head is located in this simple scheme is often referred to as "the sweet spot."

Subwoofers can be placed in a variety of locations depending on their build and power. We perceive the deepest low frequencies, which consist of longer sound waves, as less directional than high frequencies, which consist of shorter waves. Our ears have no trouble sensing the direction of most high frequencies, and are actually quite bad at locating the source of deep low frequencies. So the placement of a subwoofer will have more to do with how loud it is and, of course, convenience. Try putting it in a couple of different places around the room to find what works best.

The center (or "dialogue") channel in a surround mix should go, not surprisingly, dead center between the left and right speakers, and any rear surround speakers should ideally be equal distances from your head, though they might be greater or lesser distances from each other than they are from you. Again, furniture, cables running across the floor, and other factors will play a factor in many setups.

The most important piece of the puzzle is the left-right speaker placement, and coming as close to the sweet spot as possible. Obviously, if even two people are sitting next to each other, neither can be exactly in the theoretical sweet spot, but aim for a perfect setup and it'll sound better for everyone, no matter where they are.

And yes, rooms can really mess with the sound. A room with nothing but reflective surfaces will likely sound lively and bright (perhaps to a fault), while a room covered in carpet and clothbound furniture is often going to absorb those higher frequencies and dull the sound signature somewhat. Keep this in mind when deciding where to place your speakers.

All About Angles

As mentioned, our ears really pick up on higher frequencies in a far more directional way than they do the lows. So when you see a speaker with a tweeter placed above a woofer, the manufacturer is trying to make it easier for you to line that tweeter up with the level of your ears. Obviously, couch or chair height plays a role here, and helps determine the height needed for speaker stands, or whether a table or shelf will be appropriate.

Turning a speaker on its side can also help to better match the tweeters with your ears in certain scenarios. Ideally, you can draw a line parallel with the floor from the tweeter's center to your ears. To that end, you'll see plenty of all-in-one speakers, often portable, that have tweeters that project upward, but at an angle. The intention is that you'll find a surface to place them on that works with the angle to more or less aim the drivers right at your ears.

Party of One

As long as your basic goal is to line up the tweeters, if possible, with your ears, your only other major concerns for mono speaker setup is all about placement. For starters, find an appropriate surface: Does it vibrate too much—or perhaps not enough—with the bass frequencies? Also make sure that it's not so close to a wall or other reflective surface that it alters the sound. Both bass and treble can be affected by proximity to walls, and this will vary from speaker to speaker, so experimenting with placement is key.

Since stereo all-in-ones, in general, are going to sound pretty close to mono speakers (unless they happen to be large enough for significant channel separation), similar rules apply. The larger a speaker is, typically, the more space you want to have between it and the wall. Particularly if the speaker has a bass port for air moved by drivers to escape out of, as a port for a woofer is going to be more effective and the speaker will sound less boomy if it's not backed up against the wall.

It's also worth noting that many new all-in-one portable wireless speakers can be paired with another identical speaker to create a stereo pair. Several manufacturers allow for this option now—and many have their own apps that make it a relatively easy speaker-to-speaker pairing process. The important thing to understand is whether the speakers are being paired as a stereo group, with one acting as the left channel and the other as the right, or whether they're both in mono.

Of course, you already know about finding the sweet spot in stereo mode, and those same rules apply here. But believe it or not, mono might be preferable for when you have parties and the speakers are far apart. In instances like this, when the sweet spot is pretty much thrown out the window, you're better off letting each speaker act as its own mono sound source, which will spread the audio more effectively and evenly throughout the party.

How About Audio Apps?

Many wireless speakers come with their own apps, and some are going to have special effects that purportedly enhance the stereo image, or even turn a stereo signal into an immersive surround sound experience. By and large these effects are weak, and for listening to music, we strongly advise leaving them off.

However, if your setup involves a soundbar, they sometimes do have far more effective surround effects. A soundbar isn't going to trick you into thinking an actual speaker is behind you, but they can widen a stereo image or even throw some sound off of walls, allowing the reflections in the room to help create a more immersive feel. So with soundbars (and pretty much soundbars only), we support at least trying out these effects.

EQ, on the other hand, is another common inclusion in apps that we fully support. As long as you're not going hog wild, in-app EQ can be an effective way to tone down (or boost) the bass response, get a crisper sound signature, or counteract negative effects your room may be having on the sound.

If your speaker doesn't come with an app, or its app doesn't feature EQ adjustments, there are several affordable options for phones and tablets that allow you to adjust the sound coming from your device through an EQ app before it hits your speaker. We like both EQ 10 and Equalizer+ HD.

Buy the Best Speakers

Of course, the best way to ensure good sound quality is to start with a high-quality speaker. For buying advice, check out our guides to the best computer speakers, wireless speakers, and smart speakers we've tested. If you're shopping on a budget, check out our favorite Bluetooth speakers under $100.