A beginners guide to setting up a basic 5.1 home theater surround sound speaker system. In this video we go step-by-step on how to set up your home theater system. - By Andrew Robinson

Easy How To Set Up Home Theater Surround Sound System

If you enjoy movies, then you’ve probably thought about buying a home theater. But like many first time home theater enthusiasts the question of how to setup a home theater quickly becomes overwhelming. This is why we’ve made an easy how to set up home theater surround sound system guide. You can go ahead and WATCH THE VIDEO above or keep reading and come back.

What is a home theater?

A home theater is any room in your home that you use to watch movies using a speaker system greater than the speakers that are found in your smart TV. While some home cinema enthusiasts may disagree with my definition of home theater, I find it fitting -and more accepting.

In my opinion a home theater doesn’t mean your room has to be overrun with loudspeakers, AV electronics or use a projection screen. A home theater is definitely a room with all of those things, but it can also be a room that uses a simple soundbar connected to a large UltraHD TV.

Surround Sound

Technically, in order to have a true surround sound home theater one has to have, at a minimum, five loudspeakers and a single subwoofer. This setup is known as a 5.1 surround sound setup or home theater. Types of home theaters are often denoted via a numerical “code”, for example; 5.1, 7.2, 9.2 etc. The first number is always in reference to the number of loudspeakers one has in their system and the second number -the .1, .2 etc - is referencing the number of subwoofers present.

In a 5.1 home theater setup there are three loudspeakers located across the front of your room or near your display and two off to the side of your seated viewing/listening position. The front three speakers are called the left, center and right channels, with the two speakers nearest your viewing position being the left and right surround channels. A quick note on the left and right surround channels, in a 5.1 home theater setup, they go to the right and left side of your viewing/listening position, and not behind.

*How To Setup A Home Theater in 2020 using the Jamo center speaker* *here*.

The center speaker is arguably the most important loudspeaker in a home theater. Movies feature a lot of dialog so naturally a center speaker -the one resting just under your screen -would see the most action. It is important when shopping for a center speaker that you don’t skimp, as people often do. A center speaker that is too small may result in the actors or action on screen not being BIG enough to be truly cinematic.

Using an AV receiver is the easiest way to power your home theater. AV receivers can be had for relatively cheap on up to very, very expensive. But don’t worry, there is an AV receiver for everyone and every budget, and most modern AV receivers are pretty great sounding regardless. Connecting your speakers to your AV receiver is easy as connecting your speaker cable to the back of each speaker, then connecting the other end to the corresponding speaker terminal on the back of the AV receiver. Connecting a subwoofer is just as easy.

HDMI cables make connecting your smart TV to your AV receiver a snap. You only need one HDMI cable to run between your AV receiver’s HDMI out and your TV’s HDMI/ARC input/output. If you use third party devices like a Blu-ray player or media streamer you may need additional HDMI cables, but even then, connecting them should be straightforward.

Most modern AV receivers have illustrated, on-screen menus that walk you through their unique setup procedures. Many even have auto setup functionality, which is something we always recommend first time home theater users follow when diving into their AV receiver’s menus.

Home Theater Installation

Here’s everything you’ll need for your first home theater installation:

We’ve used the Jamo Studio Series S 803 Home Cinema System in our home theater setup. You will also need an AV receiver and subwoofer. Ours is the Marantz NR1510 and the Kanto SUB6. We’ve paired our speaker system with the LG NanoCell 90 Series Smart TV placed on the BDI Octave Media Cabinet. To connect our system we used the following speaker and HDMI cables: AmazonBasics Speaker Cable, AmazonBasics RCA Audio Subwoofer Cable, High-Speed 4K HDMI Cable

You can easily use the speakers you already have or consider some of our other recommendations seen below.

Featured Home Theater Products

For more tips and tricks on how to install your first 5.1 home theater be sure to watch our easy to follow home theater guide at the top of the post.

If you’ve been worried that installing a home theater in your home would be too complicated, we’ve made it super simple. Enjoying movies in your own home is becoming more relevant to more people, so why not maximize your enjoyment with your very own home theater today!

more recommended home theater favorites

Before you go! Be sure to check out our video showcasing our favorite home theater demo movies! We discuss exactly what we use to test all the new home theater equipment we get in for review.

Easy How To Set Up Home Theater Surround Sound System