Design of a Home Cinema Room

Accoustic Treatment

"If there’s one factor which is frequently forgotten at the time of purchase of a Home Cinema system, it’s the resonance of the room in which you’ll be installing all your gear. In fact, two installations composed of the same units will not function at all in the same fashion in two different rooms, and in some cases, the acoustics can be deplorable. One shouldn’t forget that five speakers will be submerging you in a deluge of sound that you’ll have to brake, reflect and absorb once it’s been heard.

Three surface types, combined together, allow you to optimise your installation.

Reflective surface: flat walls and picture windows, etc. - the sound is reflected like in a game of billiards,
Absorbant surface: carpets, rugs, curtains, soft wall fabrics, etc. - the sound is more or less absorbed by this type of surface,
Diffusing surface: shelves, rough stone walls, blinds, etc. – the sound breaks-up on this surface and is scattered to the four corners of the room.

Golden rules for optimising your installation: they’re not so complicated nor exorbitant if everything is thought out in advance. A Home Cinema needs to have a "warm" atmosphere to work as it should: thick carpet, rugs, large lounges as well padded as they are comfortable, as well as long, thick curtains on the walls will all contribute to making the room as comfortable as possible. You shouldn’t , by the same token, make a room which is totally absorbent with carpet from floor to ceiling, because the ideal room is the fruit of a subtle dose of the three types of surfaces outlined above. A well optimised room will allow you to get the best from your system, as opposed, for example, to a large room with floor tiles and very little furniture, which will have a terrible echo problem. It’s a shame to invest a large sum of money in quality equipment to install it all in a room that resonates like a cathedral. "

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