Home Theater Systems Set Up Properly, In Your Room

This terraced house near Armley Road had a narrow living room and no desire for visible speaker stands. We mounted a 65-inch television flush to the chimney breast and ran a 5.1 speaker layout with cabling hidden inside the stud wall, avoiding trunking altogether. The AV receiver sits in a low cabinet with ventilation gaps cut into the back panel.

An unused garage in Headingley was converted into a dedicated screening room. We built tiered platforms for two rows of seating, installed a 120-inch fixed-frame screen and a short-throw projector, then covered the exposed brick with acoustic panelling to reduce reflections. Wiring for a 7.2 system runs beneath the raised flooring.

Renting meant no drilling into load-bearing walls, so this Kirkstall flat received a soundbar and subwoofer pairing on a low media unit rather than a wall mount. Cables were routed through paintable surface trunking along the skirting board, keeping the deposit-return conditions intact while still giving a clear stereo image.

The sloped ceilings of this Chapel Allerton loft ruled out standard bookshelf speakers, so we used in-ceiling units angled toward the seating position instead. The 7.1 system needed two separate calibration visits to account for the room's uneven geometry before the sound stage felt balanced.

This Roundhay family wanted background music beyond the lounge. We added ceiling speakers in the kitchen and hallway, wired to a shared amplifier rack in the utility cupboard, all controlled from one wall-mounted panel. Four independent zones let each room play a different source without interference.

A glazed rear extension in Horsforth connected the main living room system to two weatherproof outdoor speakers mounted under the eaves. The same source now plays across both spaces, switched from a single remote, making garden gatherings and indoor evenings share one audio setup.

Space was the main constraint in this Burley studio flat. We fitted a slim 3.1 system with the subwoofer tucked under a window seat, keeping every cable run under 3 metres to avoid unnecessary trunking and signal loss in such a small footprint.

This Bramley basement had already been damp-proofed before we arrived. We lined the walls with acoustic foam, installed a 4K projector with a fixed screen, and wired a 9.1.2 Atmos configuration. Ventilation and cable routing were planned around the limited under-floor access before any drilling began.

We first fitted this client's home theater back in 2022. After a house move to Meanwood, they asked us to update the old 5.1 system rather than start from scratch. The rebuild used a wireless rear-speaker kit and a newer AV receiver, cutting down on visible cabling in the new lounge.