Acoustics in home cinema

Commercial movie theaters are designed from the ground up to have very few large, flat surfaces that could cause hard reflections. But when a normal room is converted to a home cinema, reflections can become a real problem. Absorbers should be used in spots where the sound waves coming from the speakers are reflected. Absorbers placed on the side walls and ceiling halfway between the loudspeakers and the viewing/listening position can remove some of this unwanted sonic energy.

Most of our absorbers are porous absorbers, which is the most popular category. They are made of special acoustic foam. We offer a variety of modules in different sizes, shapes, colors and designs, so you can choose absorbers that go well with the interior design theme of your home cinema. The modules have different acoustic characteristics. The thicker the absorber, the more mid range frequencies it absorbs.

It’s not a good idea to simply cover all flat surfaces with absorbers. When trying to achieve desirable room acoustics, the goal isn’t to drown out all sonic energy. Instead, it should be distributed in the room as evenly as possible and without any unwanted reflections. Diffusors are a great way to achieve this.

Instead of reflecting incoming sound like a mirror, diffusors disperse the sound waves in different directions. This helps to achieve a homogenous and lively room sound. Like absorbers, diffusors come in different shapes and with different working principles.

1D diffusors are effective along one axis. When used horizontally (e.g. on the back wall), they disperse the sound in a horizontal pattern, parallel to the ceiling and floor. This type can be recognized by its elongated structures. Conversely, 2D diffusors disperse the sound on both the horizontal and vertical axes. These diffusors use a variety of square elements. One positive side effect: They look very eye-catching! We offer both types of diffusors.

Most speaker arrangements for home cinemas include subwoofers, which deliver a lot of low-frequency energy from the LFE channel. But the bass often sounds muddy instead of rich and punchy. Compared to watching a blockbuster in a theater, this can be a disappointing experience. Removing excess low frequency energy can help – especially in the corners, where the bass tends to build up.

We have developed various broad band and low frequency absorbers with special shapes to fit into the corners of your room. Because low frequencies contain more energy, a higher amount of material is required for effective dampening than for higher frequencies. The dimensions of the room also have a considerable effect on low frequency reproduction.