Speaker Placement Calculator
Where should your speakers go?
Enter your room size and layout (2.1 to 7.1.4) to get exact speaker positions, angles, and a top-down diagram based on Dolby and ITU guidelines.
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Quick answers
Speaker placement by layout and room
How it works
The math behind the answer
Surround sound formats are mixed with speakers at specific angles around the listener. Dolby's home theater guidance puts the front left and right at 22 to 30° off center, side surrounds at 90 to 110°, rear surrounds at 135 to 150°, and overhead speakers roughly 45° ahead of and behind the seat for Atmos.
This calculator places the main seat (by default 62% of the way back, following the well-known 38% rule), then solves for where each speaker should sit along the walls to hit those target angles. When your room is too narrow or too shallow for the ideal angle, it clamps the position to the wall and tells you the compromise.
The output is a set of measurements from the left wall, the front wall, and the floor, so you can mark positions with painter's tape before you drill anything.
Common questions
- What is the 38% rule?
- Placing the main seat about 38% of the room length from the back wall (62% from the front) tends to avoid the worst bass nulls and peaks in a rectangular room. It is a starting point, not a law.
- Where do surround speakers go in a 5.1 system?
- To the sides of the seating, slightly behind, at 90 to 110° from the center of the screen and about 1 to 2 feet above ear height.
- Can I do 7.1 if my couch is against the back wall?
- Not well. Rear surrounds need a few feet behind the seats to sound like they come from behind rather than from right next to your head. A 5.1.2 Atmos layout is usually the better use of those two channels.
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