DIY Network

Acoustic Treatments Discover how to enhance your home theater's sound quality with acoustic panels. From "Home Theater" episode DHTW-104

Host Corey Greenberg, a technology expert, engineer Mark Midyett and homeowner Peter Moore began with an empty room in the basement, and then wired the room for equipment and lighting, built special walls to control the sound and constructed a floating floor to help enhance the big-screen experience.

Now it's time to further improve the sound quality in the theater by building and installing acoustic panels, and this is a trick "any" do-it-yourselfer can do.

The first goal in improving the room's sound is to eliminate the reflection points (figure A), which is where the sound bounces off objects in the room making the sound less clear. To reduce these reflection points Peter will hang absorption panels on the walls of his new home theater.

Host Corey Greenberg beside one of the acoustic panels that Peter Moore will hang in his home theater.

Figure A

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	Figure B
	Figure C
	Figure D

Peter is using thick insulated panels and covering them with acoustic fabric, which is loosely woven (figure B). The fabric will add a decorative touch to the room as well as help with the panel's sound absorption.

The next step is to figure out where to place the panels:

Q: Mark, we've actually built the side panels that are going to go on the walls, but how do you figure out the best place to put them for the best sound?

A: Well, one way to find your primary reflection point is to use computer analysis. But a trick I like to use -- and people can use at home--is moving a mirror down the side wall.

One person needs to be located (sitting or standing) in one of the seating positions, and the other person holds and moves the mirror along the wall until the seated person can see the right speaker mount (figure C), then mark the point. Do the same for the left speaker mount. Once you've found the reflection points, cover both with the acoustic panels.

Note: If your room is a perfect rectangle the panels will go in the same location on the other wall, but if your room isn't symmetrical, you'll need to do the mirror test on the other walls.

Once you've marked the areas where the panels will hang, it's time to find and mark the studs, then screw five mounting brackets -- called "impaling clips" (figure D) -- into the wall. Finally, mount the panel onto the clips and make sure it's firmly in place. Also hang an acoustic panel (also known as an absorption panel) of the same size directly opposite the first one on the other wall because both walls cause reflections.

Note: You don't have to worry about primary reflection on the floor because the carpet acts as an absorption panel.

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