The reason folks invest in elaborate home theatres is that they want to 'bring home' the thrill and excitement of watching a movie at a commercial theater. You know… the palpitations you get right after the trailer when the massive THX woosh explodes with light and sound? OK… Get ready! You are about to experience a bit of techno magic.

So what is the science behind the magic? To sum it up, it is the culmination of the big screen delivering a bigger than life picture along with a sound system that excites your aural senses with magnitude. Not just loud - it is the dynamic range or difference from ultra quiet to 'jump off your seat' loud that gets the old heart pumping. To achieve this, you basically need a relatively large viewing screen, a 5.1 surround sound system and a well behaved acoustic space. Good news is these are more affordable than ever! You can get a great flat screen TV for around a thousand dollars and a relatively good 5.1 surround system costs about the same. And you no longer have to spend $20,000 to fix the sound in your room either. Today, anyone can afford to build a great sounding home theatre.

Home theatre acoustics basically involve controlling sound so that it does not bounce off the walls and cause echo. Next time you go to a commercial movie house, look at the walls. You will notice that they are fabric covered. Behind the fabric are acoustic panels that absorb sound energy. By eliminating echo, it is much easier to discern where sound effects are coming from and because the 'brain' is not trying to compare the direct sound with the sound reflecting off the walls, it is mush easier to understand the dialogue. Improving intelligibility and helping us localize sounds is the primary benefit of acoustic treatment. Best of all, it is easy to do!

OK - you have to treat the walls. This begs the question: how much treatment should I use? The answer depends on many factors: the size of the room, available wall space and good old fashion common sense. To help get you started, these are the dimensions of some typical home theaters or media rooms. Select the room size that closest resembles yours to start.

Typical room sizes Light Medium Dark
A. 12'x 15' x 8' (ceiling) 150 sq/ft 200 sq/ft 250 sq/ft
B. 14' x 15' x 9' 200sq/ft 250 sq/ft 300 sq/ft
C. 15 x 18 x 10'
D. 16' x 20' x 12'

As you can see, the amount of absorptive material you choose to install will determine the outcome of the room. There is no right or wrong when it comes to making this decision. A lightly treated room will be more ambient while a darker room will have more control. Your decision will depend on many factors including available wall surfaces, doors, openings and how loud you play your movies!

The first place to start is to treat the four corner joints where two walls intersect with the ceiling. Primacoustic Cumulus traps are designed for this. Sound tends to gather in corners and because the Cumulus traps create a deep cavity behind them, they will help attenuate some of the lower mid range bass that is often most problematic. These are spring mounted in minutes using a single eye screw. And even your spouse will think they look terrific!

Next in line is managing primary reflections. Sound - particularly in the voice range - is directional. What this means is that sound coming from your speakers will travel in multiple directions as it leaves the speaker and expand just like a flood light. The most powerful beams will be those that are direct lines (what you want to hear!) and the primary reflections from nearby walls (what you should try to attenuate). Using a mirror to view the vectors is the easiest way to determine where to mount panels so that they will be most effective. Simply sit in the listening area and have a friend slide a mirror around the side left and right hand side wall surfaces. Mark the areas where you see your front loudspeakers and you will have identified the main areas you should consider treating. [link] You do not need to cover this area completely - all you have to do is spread some Broadway panels around this area in an attractive array. 2" thick beveled panels are the most common for this. Primacoustic Broadway panels are really easy to install. Handy impalers attach to the wall surfaces using Easy Anchors and the panels hang on the impalers just like a picture.

Once you have taken care of the primary reflections, use the rest of your panels to help tame the flutter echo in your room. This is created by the front-to-back echo caused by the parallel surfaces. Most acousticians will split panels in a 60% : 40% ratio whereby one end will have more absorption while the other will have more air. This can be either end depending on available wall space.

Now the big challenge! Probably the most important factor in home theatre acoustics is not the sound at all but getting approval by the 'shareholders'. Wall panels like the Primacoustic Control Cubes and Columns look great to some folks while other may find that they do not match the room décor. Good news is that you can cover them with a second fabric without affecting their performance - so long as you use a breathable fabric. This is easily done using spray-on adhesive. Another great option is to mount your panels mounted behind curtains. This can be advantageous as you can increase the thickness of the panels or stand them off the wall to create an air space behind them. This mounting is easily done with stand-off impalers and will increase the bass absorption.

Next you have to listen to your room. If you find that during playback, your room sounds boomy due to excessive bass, you may want to consider adding bass traps. Primacoustic corner mounted traps are available in various designs to suit various needs and budgets. Remember - you cannot go too far room with room acoustics. It is mostly a matter of good-old common sense! Have fun!