How to set up a home theater system: a step-by-step guide

Creating a home theater setup that will entertain you and your friends and family is easy and affordable. We’ve created this guide to walk you through the steps needed to create a great home theater experience and enjoy your entertainment, your way.

Dolby Vision is visual technology that lets you see beyond standard quality, and Dolby Atmos audio puts you in the center of a multidimensional soundscape with sound that dances all around. Together, these technologies ensure that you’re getting an experience as close as possible to the creator’s vision. Dolby has been enhancing moviegoing for over 50 years, continually innovating with viewers in mind. Dolby Vision enhances picture quality, while Dolby Atmos delivers immersive sound.

Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos have been adopted by the entertainment industry as the go-to formats for dynamic HDR and spatial sound. Streaming services offer entertainment in Dolby, with the number of choices growing. That’s why Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos should be part of your home theater system. In this step-by-step guide, we’ll walk you through everything from planning your room to fine-tuning your sound.

There is no one-size-fits-all solution when creating a home theater. A home theater can be a dedicated room or part of the living room. You can use a guest bedroom as a compact home theater with a good TV and soundbar. Spend time planning where to set up your home theater. That will help you choose the best components for your needs.

 

How should I plan my home theater setup for the best experience?

Room size and shape is important. These will determine what can fit in the room and guide you to where you can place the various elements. You’ll want to consider where to place your speakers for the best sound. The best home theater system will be built to suit the room you are using, and it will ensure that you get the best performance from all of your equipment.

Figuring out what size TV you want is a key part of the planning. The ideal size TV for a home theater depends on your viewing distance, the size of your room, and the type of TV. These will help you to determine TV size for the room, as well as where to place it and your furniture. If you sit too close, you might need to move your head to see the whole picture. It might also mean that you can see individual pixels, which can reduce immersion. Sit too far, and you won’t get the full immersive effect of a big screen and your TV might look too small for the room. The formula for calculating the best viewing distance for a screen size is straightforward: 

Viewing distance (in inches)/1.5 = Optimal screen size

Example: 82.5 inches /1.5 = 55 inches

 

We also made a table, if you don’t want to do any calculating:

 

What’s the ideal distance between seats and the screen?

 

Screen size	Optimal viewing distance
42 inches	63 inches (~1.6 m)
55 inches	82.5 inches (~2.1 m)
65 inches	97.5 inches (~2.5 m)
75 inches	112.5 inches (~2.9 m)
85 inches	127.5 inches (3.2 m)

 

How should I arrange seating to improve sound and viewing angles?

When creating a home theater system, consider how many people will be viewing your entertainment at the same time. What’s needed to create an immersive experience will differ depending on whether it’s just you, a couple, a family of four or five, or a movie night with all of your family and friends. A viewer’s seating position in the room will affect their viewing experience and the quality of the audio they hear.

For the best visual experience, you’ll want your audience to be facing the screen directly, not at an angle, and to be as close to the centerline of the screen as practical. The larger the screen, the easier this is to arrange.

 

Where should I put my speakers for the best sound?

For audio, the “golden rule” of speaker setup recommended by many experts is that pairs of speakers should form triangles with the listener’s position. For the main speakers (front right, front left, center, left surround, right surround) it is more important to have each pair of speakers an equal distance apart and forming a triangle with the listener at the point. The actual distance is flexible based on the power of the speaker and size of the room. For multiple viewers in your home theater, try to get them as close to the “sweet spot” as you can. With Dolby Atmos as part of your home theater system, they’ll be enveloped in the dome of sound and able to enjoy the magic as cars race by them, planes zoom overhead, or music wafts into the scene from a smoky nightclub when its door opens.

And don’t forget to plan for lighting and acoustics. For the best home theater experience, you’ll want to control the light in the room. This means using blackout curtains to cover any windows, lampshades to cover lamps, and, if possible, dimmable lighting. Consider remote-controlled light, whether using a home assistant (Google, Alexa, Siri, etc.) or a dedicated app. At the same time, if you’re hanging curtains, consider installing soft treatments such as wall hangings or acoustic panels to your walls to minimize sound reflections to reduce echo.

There’s no single perfect layout for a home theater. Use the theory to your advantage but also experiment with what works best for your space.

 

How many watts per channel do I need for my room size?

 

Room size	Watts per channel
less than 200 sq ft (~19 sq m)	50–100 watts/channel
200–500 sq ft (~19–46.5 sq m)	80–150 watts/channel
500+ sq ft (~46.5 sq m)	100–150 watts/channel minimum

 

Connecting your home theater system will require a good number of cables. You’ll need HDMI cables to connect your devices either to your TV or your AV receiver. You’ll want cables that support HDMI 2.1 or higher. You might also need speaker wires to connect speakers to your AV receiver or to connect satellite surround speakers to your soundbar. However, there are wireless options so that you can enjoy speakers without wires. If that’s important to you, check if that’s an option for your chosen configuration.

A good home theater setup should immerse you in a world of entertainment. That’s why Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos should be a priority when building a home theater. The mind-popping colors and high contrast made possible by Dolby Vision help to create deep immersion that brings your entertainment to life, and the immersive dome of sound created by Dolby Atmos surrounds you with music, dialog, and effects. See and feel your entertainment like never before.

 

Should I choose a TV, a monitor, or a projector?

At the center of your home theater setup will be your display: the screen you watch your movies and TV series on. The easiest way to get a great image is to buy a good TV that you like. A TV incorporates  a display screen, speakers, Dolby Vision, Dolby Atmos, and other features to enhance your viewing experience. You can take it out of the box, connect to your internet, set-top box, or other video source and enjoy your entertainment.

Projectors, on the other hand, are typically found in more advanced home theater setups. A good projector for a home theater can produce very large images, with between 100 inches and 150 inches being the most common. While there are projectors at different price points, the best projectors, enabled with Dolby Vision for brighter brights and darker darks and the immersive audio of Dolby Atmos, are less common and might be more expensive. Projectors can have one or two speakers built into them, but to get a rich, immersive experience, you will need to connect to a soundbar or an AV receiver and speakers.

Decide if you want a TV, monitor, or projector. Be sure to look for a display enabled with Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos. A TV has a display and a tuner for receiving TV broadcasts. A monitor has a display and all the smart features of a TV, but no tuner. If you’re going all out, a projector can let you build a home theater with a very large screen that stands out, but you’ll also need to install a screen and take care where you mount your projector.

 

What type of display should I choose for my home theater?

There are many types of displays available, including one that is right for your needs. LED TVs can be the most budget friendly and are great in bright rooms. There are a wide variety of great TVs. QLED, Micro-LED, and Mini-LED offer improved picture quality and come at a range of price points. OLED TVs offer the best contrast and deepest blacks and vibrant colors, but tend to perform better in darker viewing environments.

Get a 4K UHD TV because they offer a great viewing experience and are now common and available to fit any budget. There is a wide variety of 4K entertainment on streaming services and cable and satellite, much of it in Dolby Vision and/or Dolby Atmos. They’re also great for playing games. While there are some 8K TVs on the market, there isn’t much 8K entertainment available yet.

Once your display is ready, the next step is to create immersive sound that matches the picture. Creating a home theater environment requires great sound, and a great immersive sound comes from incorporating Dolby Atmos into your home theater. You can enjoy Dolby Atmos whether you use a soundbar or a full surround-speaker system. Dolby Atmos is like an instruction guide for the speakers in your TV, your soundbar, or your speakers, and it tells these devices how to sound their best when you watch entertainment in Dolby Atmos. Best of all, it’s handled automatically.

There are several ways to bring Dolby Atmos to your home theater. If you’re building a small viewing environment, such as in a small spare room, using virtualized Dolby Atmos from your TV’s built-in speakers can work well. To really fill the room, adding a soundbar, either with or without satellite surround speakers, can add volume and create a larger dome of sound. 

A soundbar is also a good Dolby Atmos home theater solution for a living-room home theater or a family room, offering a balance of convenience and room-filling sound. For an advanced home theater, especially if you have a dedicated space, using in-ceiling or upward-firing speakers for Dolby Atmos can help create a large, multidimensional soundscape with the viewer at the center.

 

How do I choose the right speaker setup for my home theater?

Choosing and installing the speakers for your home theater audio is easy, especially if you check out our speaker setup guide and our article on active vs. passive speakers. Of course, you can use your TV’s built-in speakers, but to get a cinematic experience, consider adding on.

The first step is to choose and connect a soundbar enabled with Dolby Atmos, either with or without surround sound satellites. Soundbars are easy to set up. They hook right up to your TV to give a big, rich sound. Surround sound satellites can help to create a more vivid soundscape and can also include upward-firing speakers to deliver overhead audio and create a multi-layered dome of sound. Use a subwoofer to get punchy bass you can feel.

 

Do I need an AV receiver, surround sound, or a subwoofer in my home theater?

If you’re building a dedicated home theater and have space to include multiple speakers, an AV receiver with individual speakers for each channel lets you precisely tailor the sound to your room. You can use upward-firing speakers for Dolby Atmos or you can install speakers in the ceiling. You have the choice to shop for individual components or you can look for a “system-in-box,” which includes speakers and sometimes a receiver, all matched to work together. A multi-speaker setup does take more space but many dedicated cinephiles love it.

An AV receiver and multi-speaker setup is the choice for home entertainment lovers who want to go all out with an advanced home theater system. An AV receiver, or audio/video receiver, is a component at the heart of many home theater systems to receive and process audio and video signals from a range of sources, including smart TV apps, set-top boxes, Blu-ray players, streaming devices, and gaming consoles. It amplifies the audio and routes the video to display devices like televisions or projectors. The AV receiver powers the speakers installed throughout the home theater. These speakers can be freestanding, on stands, or wall mounted to provide surround effects. 

Surround sound numbers in a Dolby Atmos speaker layout, such as 2.1.2, 5.1.2, or 7.1.4, indicate how many speakers, including subwoofers, are in a system. The first number tells you the number of standard, ear-level speakers. This includes left, right, and center, as well as surround speakers. The second number, after the dot, indicates the number of subwoofers (special speakers for bass). The third number, if there is one, is the number of height speakers for Dolby Atmos.

A subwoofer rounds out the speaker arrangement and gives it a kick. For a true cinematic experience, you’ll want at least one subwoofer to deliver the intense bass notes that can make a scene come alive. Depending on the size of your home theater, you might want multiple subwoofers so that the sound can properly fill the room.

If you do decide to install an AV receiver, be sure you get one that has up-to-date HDMI connectors (2.1 or higher) so it can pass through 4K UHD video and Dolby Atmos. Also be sure to get enough power to drive your speakers and fill your room. Talk to retailers and read specifications to help choose, but you can check our table for a rough idea of how much power you will need for each channel.

Once you have your video and audio hardware set up, you’ll need some entertainment to bring your home theater to life. Most modern streaming devices and Blu-ray players support Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos for enhanced picture and sound. You have a lot of choices when it comes to how you get your entertainment. You can go with as few or as many options as you like. Or start small and add on as your needs change. 

Entertainment options include:

 

• Smart TV apps are the apps installed on your TV by the manufacturer
• Set-top boxes are provided by your cable company or satellite provider
• Streaming devices (Apple TV, Roku, Amazon Firestick, Google, Nvidia, etc.) let you consolidate and run streaming apps as well as certain TV channels
• 4K UHD Blu-ray players let you play back high-quality discs, many of which offer Dolby Vision and/or Dolby Atmos
• Gaming consoles, such as Microsoft Xbox Series X or Sony PlayStation 5, allow you to make gaming part of your home theater and can also be used to run streaming apps
• Media servers (such as Kaleidescape, etc.) allow you to play entertainment on the server through the home theater     

Once you have your TV (or projector) and your audio system set up and you’ve hooked up all your devices to feed entertainment to your home theater, you’re ready to go. But there are some cool home theater accessories that can enhance your experience that you should consider as well. Even small changes, like better cables or speaker stands, can noticeably improve your home theater experience. 

 

• Wall mount for TV: You can set up your TV on a table or media cabinet, but if you want a sleek, built-in experience, a wall mount can put the TV exactly where you want it, exactly at the perfect height and angle for viewing.
  
  
• Electrical/cable safety equipment: Surge protectors, which prevent damage in the event of a power surge, are a worthwhile investment to protect your home theater equipment. Cable management accessories can help you to keep things tidy and prevent trips and falls. 

 

• Screen for projector: To get the best image from your projector, you’ll want a high-quality screen. Good screens are made of reflective material that help direct light back to you so that you get a brighter picture. 

 

• Blackout curtains, if needed: A theater is dark for a reason: so the picture looks brighter and more colorful. If your home theater space has windows, such as a living-room home theater, blackout curtains are a must. They’ll let you block out sunlight, ensuring you get the best picture that your device can deliver.

 

• Unified remote controls can help you control all your devices. There are dedicated units that you can program to operate everything, or you can use a tablet or phone app to consolidate control with one remote to rule them all.

 

• Seating: You and your family and friends want to be comfortable once the show starts. That might mean arranging your couch and armchairs for good viewing spots. Or you might want to go further. A recliner can let you get your feet up as you immerse yourself in entertainment. Dedicated home theater recliners deliver extra features like power headrests as well as built-in cupholders. And if you’re going for an advanced home theater setup, you can even install tiers of seats, giving you multiple rows of seats so everyone gets a great view when you host viewing parties.

When you’ve chosen and purchased your display device, sound system, media player, or streaming device, and extra accessories, you’ll be ready to install your new home theater setup. Remember to refer back to our guides on viewing distance and watts per channel for different room sizes to make sure you tailor your setup to your space. 

Once you’ve got everything in its right place, it’s time to test your home theater with Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos content. You’ll be able to judge whether you need to make any tweaks, for example, to your seating position, once you try out your setup. It’s worth recalibrating occasionally, especially if you move speakers or adjust your furniture placement. 

Now that your system is fully connected and calibrated, it’s time to sit back and welcome home entertainment in Dolby.