Technical
The Importance of Soundproofing a Luxury Home Cinema
January 2022
Soundproofing helps keep the noise of the movie in the room as well as keeping distractions out of the room.
A luxury private cinema can be a significant investment. It is not unusual for a premium room to represent a similar value to a new kitchen, or 5 to 10% of the property value. With a cinema in your home, it is important to maximise the enjoyment of that investment, with the freedom to enjoy a film any time, night or day.
Sounds leaving the room or entering the room can both prevent you using the space when you would like to. That is where sound isolation, or soundproofing, comes into play.
Why sound isolation matters
Sound isolation is required for two distinct purposes:
- To prevent noise from compromising the carefully engineered low background levels in the theatre.
- To prevent high sound levels inside the theatre from being audible outside the space.
Source: CEA/CEDIA-CEB22
Acoustically transparent fabric
Many of our home cinema designs feature upholstery or stretch fabric on the walls. This allows us to introduce a beautiful finish whilst also concealing acoustic absorbing and isolation systems behind a seamless surface.
Soundproofing effectiveness
Sound will always enter and exit the cinema through the weakest link. That could be a small gap which is not fully airtight, the door, cable and plumbing penetrations, or an under-isolated wall.
Before undertaking any sound isolation project, we will always test and measure the existing structure where possible. This provides valuable information on how much noise is currently blocked and how much further improvement is needed to achieve the target.
For a simple TV room adjoining a neighbour's property, we may only need a modest increase in performance to reach an acceptable level. A high-performance dedicated cinema room, however, may require considerably more isolation to meet its objectives.
Choosing the right system
Where a small improvement is needed, a super-slim system may suffice. The addition of extra mass in the form of plasterboard and a damping layer of Tecsound membrane can prevent the noise of a neighbour's TV entering the room and disrupting your enjoyment.
For high performance, we need additional tools: air gaps and resilience. With 60 to 120mm available on each wall, we can construct a new internal stud wall completely decoupled from the original structure, essentially creating a new room within a room. A resilience system such as MuteClips or Genie Clips with furring strip will deliver a significant further improvement.
When the adjoining room is especially noise-sensitive, such as a child's bedroom, additional measures may be required, including extra fibreglass insulation and further sheets of Tecsound damping membrane.
A considered investment
The most important thing is to understand that high-performance sound isolation will require both physical space and a budget for materials. But when designed and installed correctly, the system will allow you to use the cinema uninterrupted, day or night. That is a true luxury.