Acoustics: Cinema Rooms are much more than just big screens

To create a fluid home cinema, there are factors you need to consider beyond the screen to provide a real immersive cinematic experience.

Acoustics, furniture and comfort are all features that you need to consider when creating and designing your home cinema. Without these, your room can become flat and uncomfortable, definitely not your desired outcome.

Acoustics play a big part in how you experience your cinema room. Imagine watching an action-packed movie with lots of bangs and excitement, but your audio system and acoustic set-up doesn’t amplify this around the room correctly, making it flat and unenjoyable.

There are lots of options out there to create the perfect acoustic environment for a home cinema, but how do you know what’s right for you?

The specific room and its existing features will determine how much acoustic treatment it will need. Smaller rooms will have very different requirements to larger rooms, or those of unusual structure or shape. Because of this, having a bespoke design and investing in the best quality products for your cinema room means that the result will be much more worthwhile than if you were to use generic materials with no real thought to their placement or function.

The acoustics will also determine the layout of the room, the sound system used and its placement. There are many different sound systems available on the market, but opting for surround sound technology will provide a much more immersive experience than any other. The layout of your room will dictate where your speakers need to be placed for an optimal viewing experience, and therefore where and what other acoustic treatment is needed.

To optimise the sound pathways, acoustic wallcoverings and/or panels can be placed at ‘reflection points’ to prevent reverberation and direct the best quality sound towards the viewer. Bass traps quite literally ‘trap’ lower frequency sound in the corners of the room, reducing any booming sensations reflecting.

Whilst all this consideration is going into directing the best quality sound towards the viewer, it’s important that these ‘impact points’ are also optimised. Keep your space clear from any hard surfaces. Soft furnishings will absorb sound better, so opt for carpet or rugs over wooden floors, cupholders in comfy padded sofas over side tables, and avoid filling the room with too much additional décor. After all the acoustic investment, the last thing you want to do is fill the space with hard furniture that bounces the sound around the room.

It's important to get this balance right to create an immersive experience in your home cinema, so consulting with design and install experts like Potters Home Digital will ensure your outcome is the best it can be.