First Speaker In

The center channel speaker should be put in place before the rest of your system. Why? Simple. It depends on where you put your TV. You're not going to have much leeway in moving your wide screen television, so your speakers have to move instead. Your left and right speakers are going to need to be adjusted to conform to the center speaker's placement, as well.

Put it On Top

The center channel anchors dialogue, and other on-screen sounds to the screen. If Brad Pitt is talking on screen, you don't want to hear his voice from somewhere behind you. Generally you can put your center channel speaker right on top of your TV, centered with the screen. If you've got a flat screen TV that won't hold a speaker case, consider putting up a shelf of some kind that will. Just don't put the shelf more than 18" above your TV, or the ceiling will be talking to you instead of the actors.

Why Not Below the TV?

Some people find good results putting them just under the TV. If you've got a television stand that will support that, or you've got a flat screen TV, you may want to consider it. My only concern with this idea is that the tweeters of your left and right speakers will be kicking out high frequency sounds, above the tweeters in the center channel. Personally, I prefer setting the tweeters of the left and right speakers at the same level as the tweeters in the center channel (see below). A lot of people have reported good results this way, though, so if you need to, give it a shot. In fact, I've even heard of people buying two center channel speakers for larger rooms: one above the TV and one below. Who am I to stop your from buying more speakers from me?

Speaker Magnets and CRT Screens Don't Like Each Other

Make sure of one thing. Your center channel speaker needs to be video-shielded. Magnets drive your speakers cones, and the magnetic field produced by an unshielded speaker will distort, or even damage, a CRT-type television. Great sound is important, but not if it destroys your TV.

A Note About TV Cabinets

You've spent a lot of money a great TV, and a great sound system. Why in the world are you chintzing out on the TV cabinet? Make sure you get a good one, especially if you bought a flat screen TV. Not many of those can hold a center channel speaker in place. In that case, you'll want to make sure that your cabinet has a space above or below the TV that you can put the center channel speaker on.

Ready, Aim, Fire

Most forward-firing speakers don't direct the sound as narrowly as a laser, but they're still directional. Some of that depends on the frequency. High frequencies are very directional. Midrange frequencies, where the human voice normally sits, are pretty directional too. Move around in front of your center channel speaker, and you'll notice changes as you get "off-axis," off the center of the speaker. Midrange and high frequencies become muddy and voices start sounding like they're speaking through your kid's paper mache' project. To stop that you've got to point your center speaker right at your listening chair. If you've put your center channel speaker on top of a big TV, it might be higher than your seating area. All the important dialog is going to go right over you head, actually if not figuratively. Get a couple of small rubber doorstops and stick them under the back of the speaker base. Push them forward and back until you get the speaker pointed directly at the top of the listening chair, where you head would be if you were sitting in it. If you put the center speaker on a shelf beneath the TB, put the doorstops in front and angle the speaker upwards, instead. Make sure that the center channel speaker's front edge is aligned with the front edge of your TV. If the speaker's on top of the TV, that means the bottom edge of the speaker. If the speaker's on the bottom, that means the top edge should be flush. You don't want the sound bouncing off either the TV or cabinet. This kind of sound reflection can cause distortion (and in some cases diffraction), and center channels are all about clarity.

Center and Mains, Living In Harmony

If you've already read the guide to placing either your bookshelf or floor speakers, you know that they follow the rules of the Golden Triangle. The distance between each speaker and the listening chair should be the same, just like the points of an isosceles triangle. Your center channel speaker follows a similar rule. It should be the same distance from your listening chair that the left and right speakers are (of course that means your TV is just as far away). Ideally, they should form an arc in front of your listening chair.

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 If you can, adjust the tweeter height of each side speaker to match the height of your center channel speaker (another good reason to put the speaker above the TV) so that the sound frequencies blend better across that arc. It doesn't have to be perfect, but a difference of more than 12-inches can be problematic.

Continue on to place the mains.