Satellite speaker setup

Product Registration. About Us. Authorized Dealers. International Dealers. Satellite speakers typically have the smallest cabinets of any speaker powered by an AV receiver and their size gives them great flexibility to play many roles in a home theater. The satellite speaker category has traditionally been dominated by a lot of boom and sizzle.

They often sound great in a store demo under perfect conditions with an ideal supporting cast, but when taken home, the performance is much less convincing. Fortunately, by understanding a few key factors, you can find great sounding satellite speakers with amazing dynamics and sound quality that also offer tremendous range and flexibility. Satellite speakers are great for creating immersive surround sound in small to medium sized rooms, often in a 2.

They can also be used as side or rear surround sound speakers in a larger system that uses tower or bookshelf speakers as the mains. Satellite speakers also work great as part of a desktop system and pair well with turntables, PCs, gaming consoles and other nearfield listening experiences, especially given their compact stature.

From a sound quality perspective, they should produce a full, neutral and balanced sound with thrilling dynamics that make you believe the sound is coming from a much bigger speaker. Although they can be used by themselves and provide a great listening experience, satellite speakers sound their best when supported by a powered subwoofer. The added bass muscle allows satellite speakers to emphasize the mid- and high-range frequencies, which they are much better equipped to handle.

When paired with a subwoofer, satellite speakers in a 2. The reality is, high performance 5. All without taking over the room physically.

Satellite speakers are perhaps the most versatile speakers of all, so if you have any questions about their uses or set-up, please contact our Sound Experts at custservice svsound. Please enable JavaScript to view the comments powered by Disqus. Moreover, all described products can be easily installed on shelves, stands, or even mounted into the wall. While shopping for high-quality satellite surround speakers, you need to clearly understand what type perfectly meets your demands.

Such a speaker is perceived as a standard variant with drivers embedded in the front of a case. Thanks to such an arrangement of drivers, the sound emitted travels directly from the speaker to a listener without covering the sideways area.

Lots of speakers currently available in stores belong to this category. I believe that you have a couple at home or installed in your car.

They are wedge-shaped units with drivers working in a phase. In other words, the drives are moving synchronically. Bipole speakers direct a portion of sound towards a listener, while the rest of the waves will be scattered across space.

There is no definite answer to the question because much depends on your demands, the room where you will locate your sound system, and the number of people who will listen to the audio. Primarily, you need to determine how acoustically-controlled your room is. Most people usually rely on the trial-and-error method, but if you have purpose-built equipment to check this parameter, go for it.

For example, if the room acoustics is well-damped , you can safely purchase bipole speakers. Another important criterion is the size of a room. For compact spaces, bipole speakers are a sufficient choice, while monopole counterparts ideally cover larger areas 5, cubic feet and larger. I also believe that the choice of satellite speakers depends on how large your audience is.

They will evenly distribute sound across space, and you can hardly demand more. I also believe direct-radiating options better suit the single-listener scenario. Though many users are chasing genuine Atmos sound, few really understand how to achieve it in the comfort of a house without going bankrupt. Dolby Atmos technology is unrivaled when it comes to mixing movie soundtracks and boosting object-based listening experience. To savor such sound effects, you need to shell out for 5.

As for the speakers, you can use either ceiling-embedded or Atmos-enabled surrounds located at stands with drivers facing the ceiling. The choice of surrounds may be confusing, but avid audiophiles claim that direct-radiant speakers are more fitting for this task. I studied the topic in detail and learned that Atmos itself recommends using monopole speakers for the Atmos system.

The only case when bipole speakers may serve as a replacement is in a tight setup. However, the situation may change in the near future as Atmos technology is constantly evolving. So, chances are high it will be optimized for beautiful sounding even with bipole speakers. Polk Audio S10 is an excellent device that is specially designed for home theaters to give the users incredible and ambient listening experience. I think S10 can rightfully be called the best satellite speakers for home theater.

Guys from Polk have done their maximum to bring the huge and surround sound theater and music experience into the comfort of your living room. Moreover, there are some things Polk surely boasts.

First of all, it is their patented Power Port technology. Basically, it delivers a more ambient bass response than a regular back-ported speaker. Construction is designed as impressive as it is even imaginable. S10 smoothly transitions air flow from the speaker and spreads it slightly all over your room for deep, extended bass impact while minimizing turbulence and distortion.

Besides, S10 has pretty comfortable placement options. In my honest opinion, it is really important because it lets you find the right place for them so that the soft, ambient sound would cover the whole room and bring the highest quality experience. Specifically, these mostly can be bookshelf and wall-mountable satellite speakers.

Polk Audio S10 provides you with the crystal-clear high-end response for vocals and instrumentals in movies and music. In addition, it supports 40kHz to perfectly reproduce the most popular high-resolution audio files.

Overall frequency starts from 67Hz up to 40kHz which I find really satisfying. Maximum sensitivity is also pretty solid, about 87dB. It means they cannot fairly boast deep bass sounds or provide high-frequency effects. Honestly, this part Somehow lacks. Generally, it does not change the basic essence and value of these beautiful compact satellite speakers, and they are still extremely good.

View on Amazon Polk Audio. These bookshelf budget speakers are compact and easy to place, even in small rooms. They are made in a damped MDF enclosure with a very neat finish. About Us.

Authorized Dealers. International Dealers. SVS receives lots of questions about loudspeaker and subwoofer placement for home theater and stereo systems.

When home theater was in its relative infancy, a 5. Now even 7. Emerging audio formats like Dolby Atmos, DTS:X and Auro-3D are also bringing immersive height effects into the home, creating more channels that extend to 5.

Regardless of the number of speakers in a home audio system, the final goal is the same — precise localization of special effects, a spacious sound stage, seamless panning across all channels and three-dimensional imaging.

This can only occur if each speaker channel is properly placed. It does not refer to the room dimensions in any way. The importance of symmetrical speaker placement for near field listening, especially in small to medium sized rooms, is hugely important for optimizing stereo sound quality. After the speakers and main listening position are set as close to a perfect equilateral triangle as possible, the speakers must be angled slightly toward the listening position also called toeing in.

When done correctly, you will be able to clearly perceive a center focused voice when the sweet spot is hit. Check out the entire SVS Speaker line-up to choose the speakers that are best for your music experience. The main speakers should be placed degrees off-axis, relative to the primary seating position. The best imaging will be obtained when the tweeters are close to ear height when seated.

Most tower speakers accomplish this naturally, and a bookshelf monitor will require stands. Pulling the main speakers away from the corners to the extent allowed by room traffic will reduce boundary reflections and improve imaging.

The center channel should be placed directly on-axis, relative to the primary seating position. But depending on the placement of the video display or projection screen, this is not always possible. In a 5-channel system, the side surround speakers should be located degrees off-axis. For the best sense of spaciousness, the tweeter height should be about 2 feet above ear level.

Place the rear surround speakers at degrees off-axis, relative to the primary seating position. As with the side surround speakers, position the rear surround tweeters about 2 feet above head level when seated. Since native Blu-ray formats are currently only available in 7.

The wide speaker channels are intended to be placed between the main front speakers and the side surround speakers. The goal of the wide speaker is to minimize any gaps in panning and imaging between the front main speakers and the side surround speakers and provide an additional sense of envelopment. The optimal location for the wide speakers is about 60 degrees off-axis, relative to the primary seating position.

Audyssey recommends that the wide speakers be placed at head level when seated. Typically, this will be degrees off-axis and about 8 feet in height. The height speakers enhance imaging in the vertical plane and can even be used to create sound effects which seem to come from directly above the listening position, which provides total immersion into the surround sound experience.