The Right Place in a Home Theater for Acoustic Treatment
As soon as the 5.1 surround sound loudspeaker are kept in place as well as the video display and seating arrangements, you now need to thing about the acoustic treatment for your home theater. Here I have given information about points in a home where placing acoustic treatment could enhance the quality of speaker sound considerably.
As home theater is a small room, the behavior of sound is different. The characteristic of low frequency response is the unique modal resonances that depend on the room’s size and proportion, including the length, width and height. With a higher range, response of low-mid to high frequency has the characteristics of Specular reflections (mirror-like) sound reflection.
One common mistake is to consider sound as moving like a laser in the direction of the source points. The common loudspeaker as used in home theater has very low directionality, with the mid-range and bass energy spreading in every direction. The acoustic energy on hitting any hared / smooth architectural surfaces that act like acoustic panels, such as plaster, masonry, drywall, hardwood, floors, windows, etc. reflects off.
The reflected sound wave reaches the ear of the listener after the direct sound from the loudspeaker, leading to the audio quality getting distorted and colored. Even it is a fraction of a second gap between the direct sound and the reflected sound, a comb filtering takes place, causing a type of echo. Hence, there will be a perception of reverberance as the sound continues to bounce around. Peta Dunia All these result in lowering the natural clarity, stereo imaging, balanced frequency response, and possibility of surround localization cues from the sound system.
So how to go about preventing this echo? The highest energy is with the peculiar reflections that move on a conventional path from a speaker, reflecting off a hard surface and reaching the ears of the listener. The incident angle and the reflected angle of sound are equal. This conventionality is used to determine reflected points which can be treated for sound absorption. By properly placing absorptive wall sound panels with acoustic foam, the reflected sounds can be eliminated.
Each of the five speakers should have an image point at the four walls, the ceiling, and the floor. Hence there will be 20 specular reflection points (five speakers x (4 walls + one ceiling + one floor). However, there will be some reflection points that are blocked due to presence of light fixtures, television, open hallways, etc. and marking or treating them may not be possible. Peta Dunia . However, the reflection points found on windows can be marked. And the ceiling too.