The determining factors for how big your cinema room needs to be are:

1) How many seats you want to fit in the room

2) The performance level of the cinema, which dictates the level of soundproofing required, and internal spacing

3) Whether you want an aesthetic finish with hidden speakers

4) Whether the performance at every seat matters equally, or if the focus is on just a few

When it comes to home cinema projection, there is one question that rules them all: “How big should we go?”.

Typical surround sound systems include five or more speakers configured on roughly the same level as the listener(s), with all front and surround speakers ideally aligned along the same horizontal plane. This layer is called the listener-level layer.

Immersive audio systems add the crucial third dimension of height. These height speakers are typically found high on walls, and/or on the ceiling, and are directed towards the listeners. The wall height speakers, and ceiling speaker layers can be utilised as separately, or processed jointly as the upper layer.

Controlling frequency response and reflections in a room by intelligently implementing absorption and diffusion panels will be the single biggest improvement to sound quality in your space bar none, regardless of how good your electronics or speakers are.

The new recommended practice for immersive audio design (RP22) redefines how we quantify system performance. This is the first time that system performance metrics are defined by four distinct levels, instead of vague “good, better, best” packages.