Creating Great Looking and Sounding Home Theaters

While the technology for home electronics keeps getting more sophisticated, the prices for these devices keeps getting more affordable. A true Home Theater experience can now be realized by many more people today than ever before.



But wait! Before you spend your entire budget on your high-end A/V equipment you need to consider the acoustic environment that you will be placing them in. One of the most overlooked aspect of a quality Home Theater design is the acoustic environment of the room. The size and shape of a Home Theater Room can significantly affect the quality of your Home Theater system.



The ideal shape for a room is rectangular. However, if possible stay away from rooms where the length and width are multiples of the height. For example, if the height of your Home Theater is 9’, the length and width should not be 18’ x 27’ (both multiples of 9’). Try altering at least one dimension by a foot or so. A square shaped room is the worst acoustic friendly shape there is.



If you have invested a considerable amount of money in your A/V system, the weakest link in your Home Theater is usually the acoustic properties of the room. Just about any room requires some kind acoustic treatment. You hear sound directly from the speakers, but you will also hear sound that is bounced off all the hard surfaces of your theater. This sound will arrive at different time intervals, which results in a "muddy" effect. So the quality of your equipment will be sabotaged by these "bouncing" sound waves.



The best way to counteract these devious sound waves is install acoustic panels in your room. The primary purpose of the acoustic panels is to absorb the sound waves. By doing so, the panels help diminish the reflecting sound waves. In theory this sounds like a great solution to your acoustic problems. However, most acoustic materials are rather dull and ugly. Usually women or interior designers will be more interested in how the room looks rather than how it sounds. There are often battles over the use of acoustic materials in any room where aesthetics are also considered.



Fortunately, everyone’s goals can now be met with the recent introduction of decorative acoustic panels. These panels basically contain acoustic friendly prints which are wrapped around acoustic panels. The prints may feature original art, movie posters, photography or any other type of imagery that you can imagine. There are several companies who offer acoustic panel decor. Be sure to research the quality of the images, prints and acoustic material being used for the panels. If you require large acoustic panels, then it is imperative to use high resolution files for your prints. Smaller files will result in an inferior print.



In Conclusion, if you are planning on creating a true Home Theater experience, then you must certainly consider how the dimensions of your room affect the overall sound of your equipment. The use of decorative acoustic panels will help you create a great looking and sounding Home Theater.