Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Home Theater Do I need curtains to contain sound?

He folks, below is a quick drawing I put togethor of what my new HT in the basement will look like once complete. The concern I have is with the area to the right and behind the primary viewing locations. As you can see, it is all open to a 30ft x 30ft room. I'm worried when watching movies, having this open space will affect the surround speakers for the listener. I guess what I'm trying to say, with no walls, to the right and behind, will that affect the accoustics?

I'm thinking about adding dark black curtains to the right and behind, that I can easily pull out to enclose the area when watching movies, but open when I want to crank up the tunes.

Randy, I'm no scientist, but I subscribe to the the theory that the shape, size, and furnishings of any room will affect the sound of a sound system in that room. I have a not dissimilar situation in that my left main is about 3 or 4 feet from the left wall, and my right main is next to an opening into a 10 by 10 dining area, which means the right main is about 14 feet from the nearest right side wall. To boot, I've got two, large, glass covered movie posters on that left wall. Result? Very reflective left side; non existent right side. Does it make a difference? You bet. I suspect it will make a difference in your room as well.

The thing to do before you spend any money is to set everything up and see what you think. It might just be fine. If not, then you can take steps to fix things. The problem with a curtain over the open space on the right is that, while it WILL make a difference, it will be a different surface from the wall on the left. Hard reflecting surface on the left; soft absorbing surface on the right. Again, if you feel it's necessary to do something, experiment before you spend your hard earned money. Hang a blanket or something to see what, if any, affect a curtain would have.

You may find that you don't have to do anything at all. Or, perhaps a hard screen that would be more reflective than absorbing, that could be rolled out of the way, would work better. Perhaps not. Perhaps some absorbing wall treatments added to the wall on the left would balance things better. Perhaps not.

Anyway, I wouldn't fret too much about it until you get things up and running. Let us know how it goes.

Thanks Jack for taking the time to reply. I think it is a good idea to get everything setup first to see if I even have a problem. Sometimes I like to get the cart ahead of the horse, why do you think I bought my Axiom speakers and receiver about 6 months before I get the basement HT room done

Randy

Oh, I don't think you're getting the cart before the horse. You're anticipating possible problems, and that's a good thing to do. Just don't let any possible problem get you upset until you assess how much of a problem, if any, you have. And, whether you have a problem, or not, in the end, you'll work things out just fine.

I don't think any curtain is going to match the acoustic effect of the wall on the left. If anything I would try to make the left wall extremely non-reflective (absorbent, not diffusive) to try to match the open wall.

I'm not sure, but I think you would need a framed wall on the right to really match the sound...

Good idea John, I'll have to check into maybe creating some acoustic panels to absorb some of the reflection. I guess my main worry is that the right and rear surrounds will not have any walls to contain the sound to the HT area, it will escape elswhere into the room. However, the Left surround has the Left wall to reflect the sound. I guess only time will tell, I just went out last night and got some paint called "Black Leather" for the back screen wall. I will also be painting the side walls and ceiling a darker blue color to reduce light reflection from the projector...