How to Install Home Theater Speakers

Installing home theater speakers is easier than you might think, if you follow some basic guidelines. If home improvement projects in your home tend to be a battleground between you and your significant other, send him or her out for a special treat so you can do your work in peace.

Determine Your Speaker Configuration
The goal with home theater speakers is to put you in the exact center of the field of sound. The ideal setup has your couch or seating area in the middle of the room, with the home theater speakers arranged in an equal distance around it. Practically, this often isn't possible, especially if you've got a small room and need to sit against the wall.

In any home theater speaker setup, you should start with the subwoofer and the center speaker. You can put the subwoofer anywhere, because the human ear can't locate the source of low sounds.

The center speaker should be placed directly above or below your TV screen. Left and right home theater speakers go on either side of the screen, and you'll want them to be a foot or less away from the screen to get the proper sound perspective. Make sure these home theater speakers are installed at the same height, either resting on a media center or on stands. The front edge of these home theater speakers should be flush with the front edge of the center speaker, and both speakers should be turned in slightly toward the screen so that their separate sound fields will cross where you'll be sitting.

If your couch is in the center of the room, you can install the rear home theater speakers an equal distance behind it. If not, install the home theater speakers on the side walls pointing toward your seating area. If your couch is against the back wall and you mount the home theater speakers behind you, you won't hear the sound from them.

Mounting Home Theater Speakers
Don't mount home theater speakers at the top of the wall. While this is unobtrusive, it also sends the sound sailing over your head unless you can angle the speakers toward the floor. Remember that sound will travel in a straight line from a home theater speaker. To see where it will go, hold a yardstick or broom handle perpendicular to the center of the speaker and make sure the opposite end is pointing toward your seating area.

If you're mounting home theater speakers on the wall, try to find studs to support the mounting brackets. Drywall doesn't have much strength, and the vibrations from the home theater speakers will loosen the screw over time. Consider using floor stands if there isn't a solid wall surface to work with.

Run the Speaker Wire
Running the speaker wire is the most complicated step of installing home theater speakers. You have three choices in how to deal with the wire: let it dangle, use a wire molding to hide it or run it through the walls.

Letting it dangle is the preferred wire-management system of bachelors everywhere, as it is by far the fastest method of running speaker wire. If you want to put a little extra work into it, you can tack or staple the wire into the corners where the wall meets the ceiling and paint it so that it matches your wall color.

If your significant other would not approve of loose wires hanging around, a wire molding is a reasonable compromise. Wire molding is plastic tubing with an adhesive back that sticks to the wall and hides the wires. Using wire molding saves you the trouble of having to drill extra holes and run wire through the walls. Be warned, though: wire molding manufacturers claim that the molding will not damage paint, but that is a false claim. Make sure the molding is lined up correctly the first time, as you may not have an opportunity to re-stick it. Wire molding comes in a variety of sizes and shapes, from a basic model to designer chic that resembles traditional crown molding. Measure the room ahead of time to determine exactly how much molding you'll need.

If you're feeling really ambitious, the most professional and unobtrusive way to run wire is through the walls. This level of installation requires a lot of extra time and patience, as well as access to an attic, basement or crawl space and a wire-fish tool. When running speaker wire through the walls, make sure to get a high-grade speaker cable that's safe for wall use, and try to position it as far as possible from other electrical cables to avoid damage to the system and possible signal interruption. Fishing wire is a two-man job; one to guide the wire and feed it through the hole, and another to manipulate the wire from within the basement or attic.

Adjusting the Speakers
Now you're ready to connect the home theater speakers to the receiver. It's easiest to start with the home theater speakers closest to the receiver (center, front left and right) and work your way outward. Test each home theater speaker as you connect it. If you don't get any sound, the most likely cause is reversed polarity on the wires (red is connected to black).

Once all the home theater speakers are connected, you'll need to adjust their volume. Start with the center speaker, which should be the loudest sound source, followed by the front speakers and the rear speakers. Some manufacturers will tell you to strive for a consistent sound level from all home theater speakers, but in practice it's typically better to have the center channel the loudest, the front left and right a bit lower, and the rear left and right about one level lower to get the most natural sound.

If you've got those rear home theater speakers mounted on the side walls or sitting close to the couch, you can compensate for a less than ideal installation by carefully setting the volume.