When it comes to setting up electronics equipment, there is a certain art to the procedure that people in the know can practice with differing results, and there is a science as well that is necessary (and not easy, for some people) to understand in order to accomplish good results.  Knowing how to set up audio equipment is a good example: it is very common for people to buy speaker systems, take them home, and then have absolutely no clue how to properly arrange the speakers, connect them, and configure the most remotely complex audio system—no matter how many times over they read the manual.  Between understanding what the difference between a subwoofer and a tweeter is and comprehending what causes sound interference and what a crossover is, there is a lot to learn for the average person looking to properly configure their home speaker system.

There are a few things that need to be understood about speaker equipment for someone to be able to have the foggiest clue of where to put things and what is necessary.  First of all, if what you’re looking for is truly high fidelity sound with plenty of amplification capacity, you need to go with a 4-way system—and what does that mean?  Sound travels in waves, and in order to reproduce certain bands of frequencies (high, middle, and low) in high fidelity a speaker needs different drivers to do so, each driver specializing in reproducing a certain band of frequency levels.  Hence, a subwoofer is responsible for reproducing very low frequencies, a woofer low frequencies, a mid-range speaker middle frequencies, a tweeter high frequencies, and a supertweeter for extremely high frequencies.  Subwoofers have the largest dimensions (specifically the biggest diameter), and a supertweeter would have the smallest dimensions.  When a cabinet contains two such drivers, it is referred to as a 2-way speaker system.

It is possible to buy a cabinet (structure housing one or several drivers) that houses many if not all of these drivers, or it is possible for each of them to be stand alone units.  Having these different drivers spaced correctly from each other, and creating a rich sound environment in a room is basically the most important aspect of properly setting up a speaker system.  To make sure that your speakers are being used in the most ideal fashion, you need to have a crossover system in place, which is a device that divides the audio input into different frequency bands (which, as we will see, can be exactly configured in certain crossover systems) and routes each of these bands to the driver that is most ideally suited to reproduce that range of frequencies.  Any speaker system using more than one driver has a crossover, though these are usually passive crossovers, which do not require an additional power source and are relatively built-in to the units.  More complicated systems use active crossovers, which do require an external power source and are a often a separate unit: these active crossovers can achieve higher amplitudes (which can break certain drivers of inadequate size or poor construction materials), can be more precisely configured, and separate the audio input into separate frequency bands before amplification, not after as passive crossovers do.  Having an active crossover will allow you to be able to fine tune your system a lot more than a system with a passive crossover, though of course not using an active crossover properly would be worse than simply listening through a passive one…so be careful of what you choose, and be honest with yourself about how much you really are able to do!

Now comes the important part—knowing where to position things.  It is incredible how much frequency interference there can be inside a room, and the best way to avoid this is by having each speaker (or rather, each driver) positioned properly.  First, a few definitions: in the room you will be setting the speakers system up in, the back wall will be the term used for the wall behind the speakers, and the side walls obviously the ones to the left and right of you as you sit there listening.  The optimal set up will inevitably require a significant amount (aka time) of tweaking with the arrangements, the spacing and all, but will be achieved if you are patient enough.  To begin to have an idea of the relation the speakers should have with you in the listening position, imagine yourself and the two spots where you will put your main cabinets (ideally containing a 3- or 4-way speaker system) as the three points of an equilateral triangle.  Make the distance of one side of that imaginary triangle equal roughly six to eight feet.  Now, make sure that the speaker cabinets are positioned at equal distances from their nearest side wall, which is to say that when you look forward at your speakers playing in your direction, the space to the right of the speaker on the right is the same length as the space to the left of the left speaker.  Try to vary the distance between each main speaker cabinet and the back wall, with one of them two feet from the back wall and the other three or four feet from the back wall.  Angle the speakers slightly inwards (i.e. facing slightly in towards each other, not away from each other), more or less pointing at the center point of the room (or wherever it is that your most common listening position will be, like a couch, for example).  Maintaining these general guidelines, fidget with the precise values, changing them a bit every few days and comparing the listening experience between the different orientations.

Generally, try to make sure that tweeters are positioned higher up on shelves or mounted to the wall, and keep subwoofers and woofers lower down to the ground.  Nonetheless, try to keep cabinets elevated to roughly the height you will be in when listening to your system, with tweeters (assuming they are independent units, which they may not be) slightly above the height of your head.  A great way to ensure optimal set up is to invest in some high quality speaker stands.

The knowledge involved in properly setting up any of the many different home electronics components is not something that everybody possesses. In fact, most of us need to have a pro (or more savvy elder sibling, or what have you) install our video and audio systems, so as to avoid the frustration that inevitably follows a failed attempt on our own behalf (something which usually takes many more hours than it should). One aspect of a good home entertainment system that many people don’t have the foggiest clue about would have to be the speakers system: where to arrange them, what kinds of stands to use, etc.

Speaker stands are nothing more than physical props upon which to rest a speaker, with the intention of improving the audio dynamics in a given room—that is to say, to reduce destructive interference, achieve better sound depth, balance, and clarity. Speaker stands weren’t always a common item in home entertainment systems or even as part of the stage set up for major musical acts. It wasn’t till roughly the 1980s that musicians began to notice that when they propped their speakers on other items, raising the speakers higher up into the air, the sounds were much, much better. From there, further research and perfection has led to the products that we can easily find today at any audio store.

Professional speaker stands are made out of special materials that deaden vibrations as much as possible, able to resist the vibrations of the sound waves being emitted by the speakers. If this were not the case, the speaker stands would absorb part of the noise being produced by the speakers, and the improvement over having these placed on the floor would be negligible to nonexistent, and we would be back at square one. Hence, whenever buying speaker stands, verify that they are made of non-vibrating material. The need for specialized materials was made evident after experimentation with ordinary home furniture equipment, which proved too susceptible to the vibrations and performed rather poorly. Nonetheless, there are some ordinary household items that have proven to serve fairly well as converted speaker stands, such as the base of an adjustable fan (the adjustability of the height is indeed a key quality that has made this item a popular one among audio enthusiasts).

The alignment of your speakers is crucial, and along with deadening vibrations this is the main function of speaker stands. Research has shown that, for best results, the speakers in a room should be more or less on the ear-level of the person(s) listening—hence, when arranging the speakers for your home theater system, use the level of your ears when you are seated on the couch, or whatever article of furniture you sit on when watching the tube. In particular, the tweeter (the driver in a speaker system that is responsible for reproducing high frequency sounds) should be roughly at, if not slightly above your ear level; tweeters, when built into a multi-driver speaker cabinet, are usually installed in the upper portions of the cabinet (looking at it in the upright position).

All precautions need to be taken to minimize resonance of other surfaces, especially those surfaces close to or in contact with your speakers. Even if your speaker stand equipment says that it deadens vibrations with maximum efficiency, try to take a few extra steps to guarantee that this really is the case. For example, put rubber pads on the bottom of your speaker stands, isolating them from the ground: the rubber will minimize and possible vibration between the speakers themselves and the stands. Always look for the sturdiest possible speaker stands, and feel free to use the reliable “shake test” to verify their quality…if you hear or feel something moving around when you shake them, they aren’t as good as they say they are! In general, thick glass and steel stands will perform above and beyond the quality of most other materials.

When buying your speaker stands, make sure you get enough to really round out your home theater system. Use separate stands for your large and mid-size speakers, your satellite speakers, your center channel speaker, and any other ones you may have. Speaker stands aren’t the only option, of course; there are a variety of wall mounts that can serve your purposes perfectly well.

Knowing where to position speaker stands is perhaps just as important as knowing what to look for in a speaker stand. Read the manual that came with the speakers themselves, and ask at the place you buy your speaker stands from if they have any recommendations on distances and arrangements for optimal sound quality in the room you are setting your system up in. The dimensions of the room (position of the walls and furniture) will be the determining factor in this. Basically, you need to think of yourself and your two principal speakers (or speaker stands, since they occupy the same space) as the three angles of an equilateral triangle; make the distance of one side of that triangle roughly equal to 8 feet, or less if your room isn’t that spacious. Have your speakers pointing towards you (the third angle of the triangle), instead of pointing straight back to the far wall (the one behind you, or in front of the speakers, however you want to look at it). Remember, as said earlier, that your speaker stands should be adjusted so that the speakers themselves are roughly at the level of your ears.

To recap, don’t settle for speaker stands made out of inferior quality materials, like ordinary furniture wood, cheap plastics, or thin metals or glass. Sturdiness means reliability when it comes to speaker stands! And make sure that the contact between speaker and stand, and stand and floor, is such that no resonance is occurring, with contact at the most minimal levels possible. From there, it will take some time experimenting with different positions for your stands to achieve the best arrangement possible—and you will know when you get there.