I did the web searching for you this time! While I was looking around sites that talked about home theater design and decor I noticed a lot of people talking about the types of acoustic wall panels they were investing in. If you’re reading this article, chances are that you’re wondering the same thing. The other question I had, like most of you, is do I need to invest and get one?
So what is a home theater wall panel and how important are they? Acoustic wall panels can be used to soundproof your home and increase the quality of your speaker’s output. It’s usually a good idea to install these if you truly have a dedicated theater room that is fully enclosed in a space that is only meant for movie watching (ie not your bedroom).
I haven’t come across people who have been using them in rooms that aren’t solely for a dedicated theater. I’m talking about the ones you see in basements where they have popcorn machines and LED lit stairs all the way down to the front row of their home theater seats.
What is a Home Theater Wall Panel?
To give you a more in-depth answer, they are used to further enhance the quality of the sound output. They are also good if you truly want to soundproof your home theater. They can be used for general decor as well, as many home theaters have them sprinkled throughout their set-up. This means that they aren’t fully covering their layout from wall to wall. They’re built to fit walls and ceiling and are made out of a lighter material. The most common material for them to be made out of a padded plywood and you can get them at different thicknesses. The material varies and it’s best to speak with customer service in your local area to find out which one is best for you. Some of them are made out of a specialty designer material while others are made with a rigid fiberglass.
Do I Really Need One?
Acoustic wall panels are ultimately good if you don’t want sound entering or exiting to other rooms of your living space or if you want to crank up the volume and not have to worry about anyone else hearing it. Yes, sound quality can be improved in the theater itself but if you already have a really good speaker system established then you should already be good. Also, note that most panels come with sound quality enhancement ratings. A panel with a .95 average rating will work perfectly. A relatively empty room will cause a significant amount of echo and sometimes you might notice there is a slight reverb noise when watching a loud movie.
How Much Do They Cost?
I’ve looked at a couple websites that have various prices on them (I’ll link below at the end of this article- again, non-sponsored links). Prices range anywhere from $40 to $350 per panel. You can get them for an 8ft x 4ft ceiling for $150 on most websites. Know that the price you pay for each panel varies depending on size and how many the site offers in one package. Some of them can get extremely expensive and if you’re on a budget then I recommend searching through Amazon in the Acoustic Panel Section. If you want to find one that cuts the price almost in half, find one that isn’t also made with the intent to display a fancy design. I recommend just getting a dry background one and then hanging a cool poster of some sort on the wall.
How Do I Easily Soundproof My Theater?
The most important thing is to get the correct amount, overall placement doesn’t actually matter. So the decision about how much to get would be to decide how many you need per square inch based on the size of the room. Also, note that cheap material such as acoustic foam is not well known for being 100% efficient at soundproofing. It’s easiest to actually talk to a customer service rep to find out which one works best for you. If you want to reduce echoing in your room without using a dedicated sound panel, try the following tips
Hang movie posters on the wall to give it some padding
Fill your room with more objects! (just not dirty laundry)
Install or place a carpet in the room
The following is a list of the best materials for sound absorption. Choose a fabric that would, in theory, absorb water well, that material will also be good for absorbing sound.
- Acoustic fiberglass
- Acoustic partitions
- Hanging baffles- these work because they are not 100% efficient at reflecting sound- they do more absorbing instead and that results in less echo and less sound exiting the home theater
- QuietBoard Water Resistant Panels
- Specialty wood- this isn’t ideal but it can block some amount of sound. Consider placing a softer material or pad the wood in a different type of specialty foam
Sometimes blocking windows with a thicker curtain ( a blackout curtain works too) can also do the trick and make all the difference.
I would say these are most important for studio recorders than they are for movies. Most people will find that their home theater by default has good acoustics in them. If you’re not a crazy-over-the-top-crank-up-the-volume #maxout kind of person, I would save your money and invest in these only if you want to take your theater to a more serious level. There’s a lot of things you can do on the do-it-yourself side of things before having a professional installation of acoustic wall panels. I’m happy that I have a relatively high-quality Bose speaker system that already does a good job at delivering sound evenly throughout my room. It’s always cool going into Best Buy and sitting in on their makeshift home theater systems to really see how much sound quality can be improved with their panels.
But I wouldn’t say I’m totally sold on the idea of installing them. If you have a small room or have a room that is either a bedroom, living room or not a dedicated theater, I really don’t think there is an immediate need to have these installed. If you’re ready to get more serious about your theater experience or truly feel that this will fix the echoing issue in your den, then, by all means, go for getting these installed! If you have any questions feel free to comment or reach out at entertainmentden.ns@gmail.com and I’ll do my best to reply!
A cool site that provides installation services (non sponsored link):
https://4seating.com/home-theater-decor/acoustical-wall-panels-standard.htm
Another one
https://www.soundisolationcompany.com/solutions-products/products-by-use/home-theater-soundproofing/
