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Home Theater Acoustic Panels Guide

Muddy dialogue, boomy bass and echoey surrounds come from the room's bare surfaces. Panels go in three places: the front wall behind the center speaker, the side walls where the first reflections land, and the rear wall behind the seats.

By roomtreatment.diy editorial team ·

Where the panels go

  1. The front wall, behind the center speaker: 2" thick panels stop the wall's reflection from comb filtering dialogue.
  2. The side walls, at the first reflections: treat where the front left, center and right speakers reflect toward the seats, so the sound stays anchored to the screen.
  3. The rear wall: with the seats close to it (under 4 ft), use absorption panels; with them far from it (over 6 ft), use diffusers.

How much to treat

Home theaters typically cover 15% to 25% of the room's surfaces with absorption: enough to stop flutter echo and keep the center channel's speech clear. The acoustic panel calculator below works it out for your room's size.

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