FREE TOOL
Can my room fit 7.1.4?
Enter the room and the layout you want. You get a verdict, where each speaker goes, and how many amplifier channels it takes.
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What it checks
- Front left and right at 22–30° either side of the screen centre (Dolby Atmos home theater guidelines), inside the side walls.
- Surrounds: 110–120° for 5.x (ITU-R BS.775), sides at 90–110° and rears at 135–150° for 7.x (Dolby). When the side walls end before the angle, they go on the back wall.
- Overheads in side view, where 90° is straight above the seat: top front 30–55°, top middle 65–100°, top rear 125–150° (Dolby). The check looks for enough ceiling in front of and behind the seat.
- Rules of thumb, labelled as such: about 0.6 m behind the seat for 5.x and 1 m for 7.x, a ceiling of 2.4 m or more for overheads, 0.15 m between a speaker and a side wall.
DTS:X publishes no fixed angles; a layout that suits Dolby Atmos suits DTS:X too. Auro-3D uses height speakers on the walls, so try it in the design studio.
Amplifier channels
Count the speakers, not the subwoofers: 7.1.4 needs eleven amplified channels. Many receivers process more channels than they power; the extra pair then needs a stereo power amplifier connected to the receiver's pre-outs.
What it does not check
Bass. Room modes and seat position decide how even the bass is, whatever the layout. The design studio estimates the room modes and reverberation, and the REW Analyzer reads real measurements.