Complete Guide To Home Theater Sound Calibration For A Fantastic Sound

It goes without saying that along with world-class picture quality, incredible sound quality is equally important to an immersive home theatre experience. While most home theatre speakers are equipped with auto-setup features, small adjustments in your system can help you enjoy the highest quality sound.

For that calibrating your system accurately is most significant, as failing this will lead to speakers delivering a  sub-par performance.

Feel daunted by the task of calibrating your home theatre speakers?

Be sure you read our easy-to-follow guide which covers every detail about the calibration of your surround sound system for the most satisfying sound experience. (Especially, if you are a home cinema enthusiast!)

Here’s everything you need to know on how to calibrate your home theatre system

1. Ensure the visibility of your receiver’s on-screen display on  your TV

Most modern-day receivers will put out the on-screen display via HDMI, but some earlier models of the receivers that date back to five years need a conventional video connection.

Don’t see a menu pop up on your TV when you press the menu/setup button on the receiver’s remote? It would be helpful to keep an RCA cable to connect the receiver’s composite video (yellow RCA jack) output to your TV’s composite video input.

2. Get a hands-on experience with your receiver’s menu for significant benefits

Get to know your receiver’s menu as there are a lot of menus. Having navigated them before will help you remember the several menu options. Do not get overwhelmed if you are not familiar with the names, initially, as we will have them covered too, in this plain-language guide especially curated for you.

3. Follow the speaker placement rules

Usually, the placement of the speakers varies as per the types of speakers. If you have a specific entertainment area in mind where you plan to place your speakers, try to follow these speaker placement rules.

4. Distance between each speaker and your central listening position

Measure the distance from the front of each speaker to where your head would reside when in the central listening spot, then note down the measurement. Once all the measurements are made, add them to the receiver. Speaker by speaker the receiver will prompt you to input a distance measurement in increments of feet, half-feet or sometimes down to 1/12 of afoot.

• The centre channel should be placed directly below or above your television. As the dialogue comes from this speaker, it should be in close proximity to the TV so there is an illusion of the voices coming from the picture itself.
  
  
• Place your left and right speakers at a distance from each other as your central listening position is from your TV, building an equilateral triangle between your head and the two speakers. Usually, the listening position is the seat in front of the TV. Else you can select the spot where most of the listening will be done. Try to place the top of the speaker at about 40 inches off the floor.
  
  
• Place your surround speakers above ear level, between 50 to 70 inches and just behind your listening position. If you have the surround back speakers, mirror them in the same positions as the front speakers on the rear wall in the room.
  
  
• If you’re adding Dolby Atmos/DTS:X speakers position upward-firing speakers on top of each of the front left and right speakers. It is also recommended that you assure the speakers are at/ above ear level.
  
  
• Adding a subwoofer? Place them a third of the way into the room from the side and front, or the back wall. Be mindful of placing them at least 3 feet away from your head.

5. The speaker crossover setting
   

The term “speaker crossover” means the point at which your receiver stops sending bass to each of your speakers and begins sending it to your subwoofer. The accurate crossover setting would be contingent upon your speakers’ capacity to produce bass. Most speaker manufacturers give clear specs that inform you where your speakers stop producing bass.

6. Balance the volume level of each speaker concerning your seating position
   

If you want to hear each speaker at the proper level, use a decibel meter to get the most accurate outcome.

You can find them online or download apps for both Android and iOS devices. Be seated in your central listening position, turn on the meter and set the dial to 70 dB. Set the weighting to “C” and the response to “slow.” Hold the meter facing you directly with the microphone end pointed at the ceiling. You can select any level of your choice. The popular levels are 70, 75 and 80 dB.

Ready for the balanced and natural-sounding performance of your speaker system and receiver? Hopefully, our guide has some useful tips for you. Alongside, we would be happy to help you achieve the best outcome from your home theatre system.