Specifications

5.1-Channel Production Guidelines Production Environment
3-6
3.2 Monitoring
Some aspects of multichannel studio monitor setup are understood and accepted. The
best approach to others is still open to debate. The following guidelines offer
commonly accepted practices for setting up multichannel audio monitoring systems.
3.2.1 Front Speakers
Multichannel sound systems add a center speaker to the Left/Right pair used in stereo
systems. To promote good imaging, all three should be identical, just as conventional
L and R stereo speakers must be matched. If all three cannot be the same model, the
center speaker may be a smaller model from the same product line.
The front speakers should be equidistant from the listener, with their acoustic centers
in the horizontal plane; that is, on-axis to the ear. The center speaker may need to be
positioned above or below a video monitor forcing the acoustic centers of the three
front speakers out of alignment. If this occurs, attempt to situate the speakers so the
tweeters are in as close to a horizontal straight line as possible. This may require
either an inverted or lateral orientation of the center speaker, as well as rotating the
tweeter (when possible) to maintain the proper dispersion characteristic.
If the center speaker is not equidistant with the L/R pair, signal delay may be used to
obtain coincident arrivals. Please refer to Section 3.4, Level Calibration.