Room sizes

arppt01 · 02-28-2007, 04:18 AM

There are many home theatre systems available all around which prompts us to rush and buy one for our home. I would only suggest that while considering a home theatre system we should consider the room size to get maximum effect.

vicki2 · 02-28-2007, 02:55 PM

I think it really pays to look at your room. Not only the size but where the system has to be located if there are constraints. Make a drawing, go into stores and see what the salespeople have to say. It's interesting some of the advice you get!

arppt01 · 02-28-2007, 08:47 PM

Sometimes even minor adjustments here and there make a lot of difference in the overall sound effects. I feel if the room is free from too much furnitures and other equipments then the output must be satisfactory.

tater03 · 03-01-2007, 12:23 AM

What about if a room is a small one should you really invest in something like this? Just curious, I am not sure if it would even matter.

quinda · 03-07-2007, 11:49 AM

A well laid out speaker set can work in a small room - I have a 7.1 setup around my computer, and it took a bit of tweaking, but I managed to get the surround sound effect to work.

parise1 · 08-01-2007, 06:45 AM

I have seen some pretty decent small speaker setups work surprisingly well.

chrispenycate · 02-01-2008, 05:33 PM

In a small room, the surround effects and the correct M&E / dialogue balance are available to a small (one or two) viewing public, whereas a larger room quickly allows for a larger audience.
A small space can't contain the longer sound waves (=the ultra lows) A subwoofer can go "thump" but not "Woom". This can be handled by active bass trapping, but it is an expensive and labour intensive technique, normally not attempted except by fanatics. However, these frequencies are relatively unimportant for comprehension of the film, and merely make the experience more impressive.
There is a much higher risk of a small room having a resonance in the audible region, which has to be tuned out. This can be partly eliminated by choosing non-harmonic eigenvalues – room dimensions which are not small multiples of each other, or of any smaller value, but since room sizes are frequently set by the architecture rather than personal choice, changing dimensions is not a reasonable option.
Small spaces tend to distort at high sound pressure levels.
All that said, one can have a very satisfactory (if solitary) listening experience in quite a small space, if one respects speaker distances and has a none too reflective environment.