Positioning Your Thx Surround Sound Speakers; Front Speakers; Placement Of Thx-T3 Front Tower Speakers; Placement Of Thx-Center Speaker - Crystal Acoustics THX-T3 Instruction Manual

2. Positioning your THX Surround
Sound Speakers
Your THX-System speakers are designed for high performance multichannel sound in a variety of listening
environments. They deliver powerful, engaging, you-are-there movie soundtracks, plus a nuanced,
detailed and dynamic musical presentation.
Follow these suggestions for best results:
All five speakers in a 5.1 system would ideally be equidistant from the listener. That way receivers
and processors wouldn't have to electronically time delay the sound from each speaker to arrive at the
listening area at same time.
Speaker output levels must be adjusted for equal output at the listening position.
Our new patented External Rotating Tweeter optimizes high frequency reproduction without having
to rotate the entire speaker cabinet
Turn the Free Air top-mounted Spherical Tweeters to point towards the listening area
Experiment by toeing the spherical tweeters inward and just outward of the listening position
for the best compromise between solid image focus and overall size of the soundstage
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Figure 1: Speaker Configuration for 5.1 Systems

2.1 Front Speakers

The front L/R speakers are largely responsible for producing powerful dynamics, a textured midrange,
clear, accurate highs, plus soundstage imaging, stability and focus. THX technical specifications for front
and center speakers improve dialog intelligibility and support soundstage size and imaging in two ways:
Flat frequency response and wide horizontal dispersion characteristics assure off-axis listeners
enjoy surround effects as well as those in the middle
Controlled vertical dispersion lowers ceiling and floor reflections that muddy intelligibility,
soundstage integrity, and focus

2.1.1 Placement of THX-T3 Front Tower Speakers

Place front speakers equidistantly and slightly in front of the TV/video display
Measure the distance between the left and right front speakers
Measure the distance between the listening position and the midpoint between the front speakers
The difference should be no more than 15% of the L/R speaker distance
Angle the Spherical Tweeter Enclosures inwards towards the listening area.
Find the optimum tweeter angle that produces a wide yet focused soundstage
Adjust the speakers so the tweeters are at about ear height if possible
Move the speakers towards the wall to reinforce bass frequencies, and away to reduce them
Sometimes small changes can have a big result, so it's worth experimenting
Do not place them too far apart or you'll have a hole in the center of the soundstage
Do not place them too close together or the soundstage collapses into a fuzzy mono ball of
sound with no definition or separation

2.1.2 Placement of THX-Center Speaker

TV/Video Displays: Place the Center-THX directly above or below the screen,
whichever best points towards ear level
Projector Displays: Place the Center-THX behind or in front of the screen whether
it is acoustically transparent or not
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