Published
Choosing great speakers and amplifiers is essential, but the acoustics of your room play an equally significant role in how your home theatre sounds. Hard, parallel walls, bare floors and glass reflect sound back at you, smearing dialogue and making bass boomy and uneven. Acoustic treatment controls those reflections so you hear what the soundtrack's creators intended.
What acoustic problems sound like
- Muddy dialogue: early reflections from side walls blur speech
- Boomy or uneven bass: standing waves make some seats loud and others thin
- Harsh, fatiguing sound: too many hard surfaces make high frequencies bright
- Weak surround effects: reflections confuse the directional cues of each channel
The three tools: absorption, diffusion and bass control
Absorption
Absorptive panels at the first-reflection points on the side walls and ceiling reduce echo and sharpen dialogue and imaging. Fabric-wrapped panels can be made in colours that suit your décor.
Diffusion
Diffusers scatter sound rather than absorbing it, keeping the room lively and spacious. They often sit on the rear wall behind the seating.
Bass control
Low frequencies are the hardest to tame. Bass traps in corners, careful subwoofer placement and calibration work together to deliver even bass to every seat.
Treatment and calibration work together
Room correction and calibration can only do so much in an untreated room. With the room under control, calibration becomes far more effective, and the difference is obvious from the first scene.
Planning a dedicated theatre? Our home theatre design and construction service includes acoustic planning from day one. Or book a free consultation to talk through your room.
