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Q How would I go about setting up multiple surround speakers in the same channel—two side left and two side right speakers, for example—as in a commercial movie theater? One more question: If I used a Y splitter and additional amplifiers to power the speakers, could I still employ Audyssey processing to calibrate the speakers? I am planning to build a home theater with two to three rows of seating. —William Lee / via e-mail

A When asked a similar question on the Ask Audyssey forum, Audyssey founder and CTO Chris Kyriakakis confirmed that Y-cording surround channels to duplicate surround signals was perfectly acceptable since movie theaters use the same method to distribute uniform ambient sound throughout a large space. His only concern regarding Audyssey calibration in such scenarios was that the surround speakers be in line with each separate seating row. He additionally suggested that the microphone should be placed at ear level for each row during calibration, particularly if your theater uses tiered seating.

Since you’re planning on building out a new theater, however, I’d be remiss if I didn’t recommend considering a Dolby Atmos installation with in-ceiling or on-ceiling top speakers. Object-based surround seems to be the future of multichannel audio, and with Atmos-compatible gear now rolling out, your timing is good to get in on the action.