To create a nice space to do all the things such as watching movies and playing games, you need to plan it properly. For surround sound, it will be great to have a large space to set it all up.
But that is not meant for all of us, and some may have just a small space to use for a home theater. That is when you need to become creative and make the best of what you have available for your home theater.
So let us take a close look at how to set up home theater in small room for a great experience.
The Basics of a Home Theater
A home theater consists of the visual as well as the audio components to provide you with your entertainment content; these are the main features of a home theater, but there is a lot more to it than just that.
The Visual Part
For the visual component, you have more than one choice, and that is not always easy to get it right. You have the option of getting a TV for your display or use a projector with a screen or just display your content straight onto a wall.
Projector
By selecting a projector, you may have a larger viewing surface that will be much cheaper than a TV of the same size. This simply means that you will get a larger screen size for your money, and that makes it cost-effective.
You need to buy the projector and a screen, or you can choose a part of the wall as your screen. There is more work involved with this choice because you need to mount the projector in the right place.
If you have a room with a lot of ambient light, you will have to go for a brighter projector, which will cost more. But if your room is naturally dark, you do not need to go for a brighter projector for a good picture.
TV
With a TV, you will pay more the larger you go, so it will be far more costly to purchase a larger viewing size. And if you have a small room to use, there is going to be a lot of heat generated from the electronics.
So if you keep that in mind, your space cooling system is going to be larger and also more expensive than the smaller one.
The Sound Component
This is very important and will have a significant effect on how you experience the home theater quality and sound. There are many ways to set up the sound in your home theater, and it all depends on your budget.
You may use many different types of surround sound configurations, but you need to determine what is best for your home theater. The acoustic quality of the room will have an enormous influence on the type of sound setup you can use.
For a small room home theater, you can also consider the modern overhead sound effects that will make a huge difference. And because of the small space you have, you need to make the best of it.
There are many sound configurations, such as the 5.1 and 7.1, and the point 2 channels that you can use. Dolby Atmos is also a great way to create good 3D sound effects in a small home theater.
Many of the movie streaming agents, like Netflix, support most of the sound configurations, including Dolby Atmos, for your home theater. The minimum requirements for using Dolby Atmos is the standard 5.1 surround channel configuration to use in your home theater.
Acoustics
There are a few ways you can improve the acoustics of a small room home theater for a better sound experience.
Carpets and Rugs
Carpeting in the space between the front speakers and the seating is very important. These soft materials of the carpets will help to absorb the angular sound waves for an enhanced sound experience.
Wall Paneling
You do not need to get the very expensive wall paneling materials to do this. Cheap dark spots of egg crate foam are efficient. This can be installed near the front speakers to absorb some of the sounds. You need to experiment with these foam for the best acoustic effect.
Furniture
When it is time to get the furniture and seating, you should go for soft, lush materials. The soft materials will help to absorb some of the sounds, and you can use large loose cushions as well.
Sound Insulation
It will be useful if you can keep the noises from outside out of your home theater. This will help to improve your experience inside a small home theater, and there are a lot of ways to do that. Adding dry walling is a good start, but you do not need to spend a lot of money on that, keep it simple and affordable.
Doors and Windows
Cheap hollow doors is a definitive no-go for your home theater; they will just let noise in from outside. Solid doors are more expensive but the better option for your small home theater. Double-paneled windows are also an ideal way to keep the noise outside, but they can be quite expensive.
Sound Damping
This is easily done by using heavy curtains, especially those made from thick velvet in front of the windows.
When you plan your small home theater, you should think about a good balance between keeping sound out and absorbing the sound inside.
Final Thoughts
Always keep in mind that there is an expensive option and the cheaper option and the expensive one is not always the best. If you cannot afford something in the initial setup of your home theater, you can always upgrade at a later stage.
This is your room, so you can set it up with what you can afford, and what you have at your disposal. And later, when you can afford more, you can improve and upgrade even the electronics that are part of the home theater.