by Hans Hell

Created on: October 22, 2010

While more people abandon the cinema in order to watch movies at home instead it's getting more important to have the right atmosphere. The most common thing and, of course, most important is to have is a nice screen along with a decent surround-system in order to even be able to call the setup a home theater. But because these things are so basic I'll instead describe how you can prepare the entire room to make it a true experience when it comes to home theater atmosphere. If you're dedicated to take this a step further than the average-Joe, continue to read:

The shape of the room
The most important thing is that you can center the screen in the room. If you can't do this but must place the screen on the diagonal in the room it will be difficult to achieve centering of the sound equipment. It's recommended to place the scree on one of the short walls if the room is elongated. You should try to make a small room subject for you home theater, the reason for this is that it could otherwise be very difficult to achieve a good result with the ordinary consumer products; the larger the room the more professional/expensive equipment will be needed for a good result.

Darkness
No home theater will be fine if you cannot darken the room. For that reason, I recommend that you put the home theater in basement (if available). Otherwise, you should assemble some kind of black curtains in the windows. However, it is good if you can have some kind of mood lighting for the side walls or back wall. Direct lighting is not recommended, it should be hidden, for instance behind a light bar.

The acoustics
Yes, acoustics is one of the most important factors in the theater building as a quiet room is a must for a good home theater. First of all, then it goes without saying that you do not have any windows or doors that can vibrate and therefore rattle. Then there's the room itself that must be well damped in order to achieve a good sound. A room that is not well damped can give very negative impact on sound quality.

Then it is important that you consider the attenuation of the sound when you start to bolt the inner walls. This is to prevent the low bass sound to be spread further into the rest of the house. An easy way to do this is to add a rubber strip between the existing floor and the inner wall. The same applies to the existing ceiling, and then bolts as usual.

The walls
Regarding the walls, I would recommend that you mount two layers where the first is either plywood or particle board and the second of gypsum. Ideally, both layers could be of gypsum (for silencing sake) but to have the flexibility to mount the speakers it is an advantage with plywood or particle board underneath. Just do not forget to ensure that you insert tubes for all the wires in the wall before you mount the wall panels.

The ceiling
As regards this, I recommend that you mount a sound-absorbing ceiling, especially if the ceiling of the room is made of concrete. I recommend that you choose a dark color; preferably black, because the darker it is, the less light is reflected from the screen. Interior ceilings can be installed in two different ways. One is that you glue it directly to the existing roof (good if you have low ceilings). Then you can mount it with some space up to the ceiling, which is the usual way. This second assembly makes it possible to trap the lighting or speakers in the ceiling.

Yes, now that you have done all this; the only thing that remains is to connect and calibrate your equipment, and you're ready to go with a really good home theater atmosphere.

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