Resulting from standing waves, bass sound can resonate and play for longer than originally intended in certain areas. You should know that standing waves usually only extend to around 300 Hz. An area of low pressure where there is a very noticeable decrease in volume.Īll of these acoustical issues disrupt the integrity of the low-end frequencies inside the room.Sounds extending for longer than they were intended. An area of high pressure where there is a very noticeable increase in volume.

You should try to mitigate standing waves in your home theater room because they can cause three different acoustical issues. A standing wave is a low-frequency resonance (reinforcement of sound by reflection) caused by a source wave colliding with a reflected wave of the same or similar frequency. The ceiling, walls, floor, etc.Ĭontained within a cube room, it is more likely for standing waves to occur. Sound waves will travel from the speakers and bounce off of just about any flat surface in a room. The issue with a cube-shaped room is how the acoustics will travel. The Shape of a Room Effects How Sound Travels Within ItĪs I mentioned at the beginning of this post, you want to avoid using a cube-shaped room as a home theater room. There are some things you can do to control the acoustics in the room if you are unable to change the actual size of the room. Just because a room is large enough to fit all of the components to a home theater, doesn’t mean it is ideal for how it will sound! However, do keep in mind, a room that doesn’t match one of these “golden ratios” is still perfectly acceptable to use as a home theater room. The shape of a home theater room is pretty important with regard to acoustics. Ratio AĮxample 1: Height of 8ft = 8 x 9.12 x 11.12 with a cubic volume of 811.32ft³Įxample 2: Height of 10ft = 10 x 11.4 x 13.9 with a cubic volume of 1584.6ft³ Ratio BĮxample 1: Height of 8ft = 8 x 10.24 x 12.32 with a cubic volume of 1009.25ft³Įxample 2: Height of 10ft = 10 x 12.8 x 15.4 with a cubic volume of 1971.2ft³ Ratio C (Much Larger Rooms)Įxample 1: Height of 8ft = 8 x 12.8 x 18.64 with a cubic volume of 1908.74ft³Įxample 2: Height of 10ft = 10 x 16 x 23.3 with a cubic volume of 3728ft³ How Important is the Shape of a Home Theater Room? I will explain more about this below, but first, here are some examples of room sizes using the above “golden ratios”. A room within one of these ratios is much more likely to carry low-end frequencies better with less acoustical problems. These ratios were developed by studying the wavelength of low-frequency sound and how it reacts inside of different sized rooms.

Note that these ratios are based on the height of the room! L.W. I am going to recommend three “golden room” ratios developed and researched by L.W. There are so many different ones out there that deciding on which one is “right” can be extremely difficult. There have been countless studies done on ratios for the best acoustics in a room.

I will do my best to explain some of the common or recommended ideals for the sizing of a room, as well as, other things to consider when choosing a home theater room.

The topic of home theater room dimensions has been debated for many years. Ideally, the room should also be large enough to accommodate a projector screen/television, seating, enough space for speakers, and sometimes the equipment. Instead, use a generally accepted ratio of H (Height) x 1.28H (Width) x 1.54H (Length/Depth). The biggest suggestion is to avoid cube-shaped rooms where the height, width, and depth of the room are equal or very similar. Unfortunately, there is no one size fits all for a Home Theater Room.

Media room lighting