Superbowl Sound: Four Tips For Four Amazing Quarters

Hosting the big game at your place this weekend? You'll hear every call if your Superbowl sound is coming from a well set-up surround sound speaker system. Getting great Superbowl sound relies on a few factors:

1. Power: without enough of it, your gametime audio is like a quarterback who forgot his Wheaties. Make sure you you have enough amplifier power to do justice to the speakers. Not sure how to tell? Most manufacturers publish at least a maximum amp power - try to get as close to that as possible. Axiom publishes a minimum power as well, so make sure you have at least that much power going in! Tip from the Secret Playbook: The bigger your room, the closer to the maximum amplifier you should be to get that won't-watch-the-game-anywhere-else-every-again experience.
2. Play: Make sure you're not using a stereo receiver - or worse, your TV speakers - when the big game is being broadcast in Dolby Digital. The National Football League led the sports charge with the first high-definition surround-sound broadcast with the 2000 Superbowl. All NFL games and most other sporting events are now being broadcast in 5.1 surround sound - don't miss feeling like you're right in the audience. Nothing is as authentic as hearing a heckler coming from right behind you with Superbowl audio providing the calls.
3. Positioning: Is your home theater set up properly? Have you taken the time to do the subwoofer crawl? Ensure that your front speakers form a triangle with the 'sweet spots' on the couch: your front left and right speakers should be the same distance from the seating position, and slightly forward of the center channel. The distance from the right and left speakers should be equal from the center channel. Tip from the Secret Playbook:If your center channel has gotten shoved to the back of a shelf, pull it slightly forward over the lip of the shelf for the big game (really for every time you listen, but I understand the wife vote!) to get the clearest dialog. Need to invert your center? Check out our center channel placement video here.
4. Proper Balance: Make sure all your speaker levels are balanced properly. Sometimes curious fingers get playing around in the menus and suddenly one channel is turned way down. Check the on-screen display and if you have SPL meter, run pink noise through your speakers. Check out this great superbowl sound must-have app if you don't.