OTHER TECH

Q. My home theater employs small tower speakers with a matching center speaker below my rear projector, dipole surrounds, and a 12-inch powered subwoofer. I'm building a new family room and would like to move to a flat-panel TV with in-wall or ceiling home theater speakers. Got any tips for speaker selection and placement to help me get a level of performance similar to what I'm used to from my standalone speakers? Mike Cameron Rancho Cordova, CA

A. Chris Wyllie, Owner, S.E.A.L. Solutions, Inc. (homesealsolutions.com), East Hampton, NY, says: You should get excellent performance from an in-wall or ceiling setup by first buying speakers with sealed backs, or installing back boxes within the walls. Available in preconstruction or retrofit designs, back boxes help ensure that the speaker has the correct volume of air behind it for best bass response and that the backwaves have a solid, non-resonant surface to react with (as opposed to a sheetrocked wall cavity). You'll probably still want to supplement the main speakers with a subwoofer, though.

Beyond this, speaker placement is very important for good imaging. Put the center channel in its usual location directly above or below the display and the left/right speakers to either side, but place them as close to ear level as possible while sitting in the listening position. If the speakers have tweeters that can be aimed, you can use them to compensate for installation height. The surrounds should be at ear level while you're standing. Also, keep in-wall and ceiling speakers away from corners. The more open wall space around them, the better the sound.

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