Home Theater Dimensions

There’s more to choosing a home theater room than just good location and ventilation. The size and shape of your room can greatly affect the way your sound comes out and how you should place your speakers. If you’re building your home theater from scratch, here’s a quick guide to home theater dimensions to help you start off right.

Room shape

Most Canadian home theater rooms are long and narrow. Unfortunately, this is one of the worst room shapes for a home theater—it causes the bass to be distributed so that you get too much in one area and barely any in the other. The areas of high and low bass can be as little as one foot apart. The ideal room has slightly uneven walls with one end larger than the other.

Floor area

There’s no such thing as the best home theater size—it’s more about making good use of what you have. If you have a small room, don’t go for an extra-large screen as you may have problems placing your seats for a good viewing distance. Likewise, don’t go to small if you have a large home theater. There are many Canadian home theater guides that can help you find the ideal size for your room.

Speaker placement

Home theater speaker placement varies from one room to another, but you should have a basic idea where each one goes. Center channel should be close to the TV, while surround speakers should be evenly distributed. If you’re not sure, have it professionally installed by your Canadian home theater dealer.