correct listening?

[codebutcher]

OK, I know this may have been discussed a zillion times before, but I want a straight simple answer. What is the correct listening position? This means speakers position/orientation relative to head, distance between speakers, etc. Please don't hate me for being a novice.

[Monstrous Mike]

Let me give this a shot although I am no expert and am doing this off the top of my head.

Let's start with speaker positioning. The two main speakers should be set up like a two channel system. That is they need enough separation to get the stereo effect (I believe something like an equilateral triangle is about right). The tweeters should be at ear level when sitting in the listening postion and some people like the speakers toed in a little. The center speaker should be beside or on top of the TV so that voices appear to come from the TV. The surrounds should be slightly behind you and elevated above ear level to give an overhead sound field. The position of subwoofer is irrelevent to the listening position and should be placed for desired bass output. Max output is in a corner and min output is somewhere in the middle of the room.

Now the final piece of the puzzle is making sure all of the speakers (except subwoofer) are the same distance from the listening position. This is to ensure all the sounds arrive at the same time. Sometimes this is not possible in your own room so all receivers should have the capability of delaying any particular channel to achieve the same result.

I have seen an excellent diagram of this but unfortunately I cannot find it. Basically picture the listening position in the center of a circle. The center speaker is at 12 o'clock, the mains are at 10 and 2 o'clock and the surrounds are at 4 and 8 o'clock (or perhaps 3:30 and 8:30). If all the speakers fall on the circle, they will be the same distance from the listener. So if this is physically impossible in your room, you will need to adjust the timing of the channels that are off the circle.

[TinHere]

I agree with what Mike said except that I would say to place the center on top or under the monitor [tilted up], and not beside it.

Here's a link that might help:
http://www.dolby.com/ht/Guide.HomeTheater.0110.html