If staying in rather than going out to catch a movie is your cup of tea, then why not invest in a deluxe home theatre or upgrade your existing audio-visual hideaway? Ever since our ancestors first scratched their primitive tableaux on cave walls and sat back to watch them by the light of a flickering fire, home entertainment has been treasured. Fifty thousand years later, creating a first-class private theatre in a study, den, extra bedroom, basement or garage has become a requirement of the refined modern lifestyle.

Home-theatre newbies first need to think about space: do you have a spare room you are willing re-assign for this dark pleasure? If yes, then the next step is to engage a specialised designer or engineer to perform an acoustical analysis, and then draft the mechanical and electrical layouts for your space, listing the various devices and installation methods required, the position of electric wires, and the materials to be used in the walls.

Next, it is time to choose the perfect speakers. Simply selecting a set with high output is not usually the best course of action: your decision should be based on the room size and where you intend to place the equipment. Patience is a virtue in the budding home-theatre baron, as careful equipment selection is a process that should be guided by experts who will help you determine the most suitable positions and angles. Most insiders recommend that you don’t mix and match brands as they all have different tones and acoustical effects; even if these are only minor differences, it would be a shame not to maximise the potential of your sleek new equipment.

The material used in the construction of the room is also very important. The space will be bombarded with sound waves once the power of the amplifier and speakers is unleashed, so some strengthening modifications may be necessary to avoid damage to the walls. The sound absorbency and reflection effects of different materials vary, and this determines the location of the panels, speakers, theatre screen and seats.

Sounds Sensational

The placement of subwoofers, for instance, significantly affects the sound quality, and some experts stress the importance of placing them on specially designed platforms for improved acoustic quality. Cement, steel and industrial rubber can be used to absorb and therefore minimise vibrations from the speakers – unless you are keen on the unintentional cinematic effect of a throbbing seat. In general, the room will not need to be reconstructed unless it has an awkward design that prevents the installation of equipment. “Custom-designed and custom-built to fit your décor and exact acoustic needs, all speakers can be 100 per cent hidden and shaped according to the decorator’s needs,” says Véronique Adam, Head of Acoustics at Geneva-based home-audio specialist Goldmund.

There has always been a misconception that a private theatre is not much different from a hi-fi room. The main difference, it might be thought, is the presence of a large screen. But whereas a hi-fi room tends to consist of just a few seats positioned in the middle of the speakers, a private theatre may have 10 or more highly modified seats, with Dolby Surround providing thrilling 360-degree aural stimulation to each occupant. This may require 20-30 speakers to be installed behind the walls, which seems a lot but if your home is a veritable palace, it can be as many as 60, giving you better surround sound than many public cinemas.

The home-theatre design industry has matured and is highly professional today, with a plethora of companies providing different and unique technologies to cater to individual customer needs. With sound sources at the front and rear of seats providing the most stable and extensive ranges, it is possible for modern home-theatre systems to vividly capture even the subtle whisper of falling leaves.

Amplified Pleasure

Problems such as sound effects causing overlapping distortion have been all but solved by engineers, who utilise the locations of bass amplifiers and high-frequency speakers to reduce these errors to a negligible impact. Of course, all of this is designed to make your ability to control your home-theatre experience as simple as possible, aided by features such as AMX remote control, a touch screen that lets you manipulate the different visual- and sound-effect functions with ease.

As stated, it is not a case of simply selecting the most powerful and expensive amplifiers as the best choice for your theatre. Putting overly powerful amplifiers in a small room will result in an unpleasant, overpowering sensation or ‘shock to the system’, even at low volumes. According to Dutch electrostatic speaker designers Final, high-performance electrostatic speakers require more powerful amplifiers with 100-200 watts per channel. It is suggested that series speaker panels, used in creating surround sound, will work well with 50 watts per channel.

With the global gaming market now worth some US$200 billion a year, another popular use for home theatres is as an exciting environment for the latest game consoles like PlayStation 5 Pro or Xbox Series X. In such an environment, PC games are taken to the next level.

Dressing for the Theatre

Achieving the highest quality enjoyment relies not only on the performance of your audio equipment, but also on the total design of the room. Most devices are hidden behind the walls and ceiling if the space is large enough. You have the opportunity to tailor a private-theatre room according to your own tastes and preferences; in fact, the cost of decorating can surpass the cost of your super audio system. Some enthusiasts incorporate special themes in the room, from Egyptian style to sports memorabilia.

The decoration of your private theatre has a direct impact on the quality of your viewing experience. Illumination is generally provided by LED lights, just like in public cinemas. Chairs can be the traditional kind, which have a drink support and flip-up seats to give the room a more spacious feeling.

Screen Saviours

If you can’t spare a dedicated room for this kind of extravagance, your living room can become a temporary home theatre instead with the acquisition of a projector and a flat screen – devices that are designed to save space. The nifty little Nebula Capsule 3 Laser Projector is a great option for movie nights, beaming 1,080-pixel HD visuals across a 120-inch screen. With full 3,840 by 2,160 pixels, the Epson Pro Cinema LS12000 offers amazing colour accuracy, contrast and detail.

Screen size is important as it affects how clear the image is and how comfortable your viewing experience will be. If the room is small, there is a danger of being overwhelmed by the size and the proximity of the screen. In more cramped surroundings, don’t plump for any larger than a 100-inch projector screen, while 120 inches is a safe choice for a medium-size room.  For optimum viewing comfort, locate your seats two times the width of the screen away.

US visualisation technology company Planar brings leading-edge technology, design adaptability and the slimmest profiles to its LED and LCD video walls. With a range of models and sizes to choose from, home-theatre devotees can seamlessly integrate their screen with the architectural elements of the room and complement their interior décor. Staying home to be entertained has never been more compelling.