How to Acoustically Treat a Home Cinema
Home Cinema Acoustics
—
If you’re an avid film lover who wants access to an immersive cinema experience 24/7, a home cinema is the perfect addition to your home. However, the difference between a good home cinema and an exceptional one often comes down to the acoustics.
Why Acoustics in Home Cinemas are Important
Acoustics are important in any space but more so in an environment such as a home cinema. No matter how good your speakers are or how big your screen is, if your room’s acoustics are poor, you won’t achieve the immersive experience that a regular cinema provides.
It’s important to get the balance right between too much and too little sound absorption within the space. If the room doesn’t have enough sound absorbing materials, sound can become muddled and unclear. If you have too many materials and furnishings offering absorption, the sound could become dull and flat.
Types of Acoustic Treatment for Home Cinemas
There are several types of treatment that will improve your home cinema room’s acoustics.
Acoustic Panels
"Acoustic panels for home cinema"
Acoustic panels are a popular solution for home cinemas. Wall panels are easy to install and are available in a wide range of colours, shapes, sizes, and designs – an incredibly versatile solution. It’s unlikely you’ll struggle to find an acoustic panel that won’t suit the aesthetics of your home cinema. In fact, most acoustic panels enhance the interior design of a space!
Acoustic Wallcovering
Acoustic wallcoverings and wallpapers are a cost-effective way of acoustically treating your home cinema. You can easily cover an entire wall with a sound absorbing material that will aid in the reduction of reverberation and improve interior sound quality.
Acoustic Wallcovering
A home cinema isn’t complete without comfy seats! Luckily, soft furnishings naturally add an element of sound absorption to the space that helps improve acoustics and enhance the overall cinema experience. Acoustic furniture is specially designed to achieve enhanced sound benefits.
Bass Traps
"Bass trap"
Bass traps are essentially exactly what they sound like, they trap bass frequencies. In smaller and midsize rooms, bass can be the biggest problem so ensuring good bass traps have been included in the room is essential to sound quality.
Where to Place Acoustic Panels in Your Home Cinema
High-quality acoustic panels are essential and by placing acoustic panels in the right areas of the room, you can enhance the effects that the panels provide.
At Reflection Points
Putting acoustic panels in the best places is simple, you just need to find the reflection points within the room.
How to Find Reflection Points
- Take a seat (where you would normally sit in the room)
- Find a friend and get them to slide a mirror across the wall until you can see the speaker in the mirror. The mirror should be around head height of the person sat down.
- Lightly mark the wall at the point where the speaker is visible in the mirror – this is where you should place your panels
Rear and Front Walls
Placing acoustic panels opposite each other on the front and rear walls will help keep reverberation to a minimum and achieve a high-quality surround sound effect.
Where to Place Bass Traps
We recommend placing bass traps in each corner of the room, this is where they will successfully absorb the most sound energy. It’s also a good idea to place a bass trap at either side of your speakers/sound system.
Where to Buy Home Cinema Acoustic Treatment
Acoustic treatment is easy to find online but we always recommend purchasing from a brand that has plenty of acoustic knowledge so you can get the best out of your products. Here at Muffle, we have a wide range of acoustic panels, acoustic wallcoverings, acoustic furniture, and bass traps available to buy online.
If you would like some acoustic advice to set up the perfect home cinema, feel free to get in touch with a member of our sales team – we’re more than happy to help!
