Home theater and multiroom

A home theater is not just a big TV. It is an acoustically prepared room, a projector or a large OLED, surround sound acoustics, image and sound calibration for the room.

Multiroom is an audio system that plays different music in different rooms from one server or several streaming services. Sonos is the most popular option for home, Bowers & Wilkins Formation is for Hi-End.

Before installing equipment, an acoustic calculation is needed. The shape of the room, wall and floor materials, furniture arrangement — all affect the sound.

Acoustic treatment: sound-absorbing panels on the walls (fabric or specialized), bass traps in the corners, diffusers for dispersion. Without treatment, even expensive acoustics will sound bad.

Insulation: a home theater must be isolated from other rooms. Otherwise, watching a movie with loud sound will wake up the whole house.

Acoustics — Dolby Atmos, DTS:X, Auro-3D. Configurations: 5.1 (basic), 7.1 (extended), 7.1.4 (with overhead channels for Atmos). For a small room 5.1.4 is optimal.

Speaker systems — Bowers & Wilkins, Dynaudio, Focal, KEF, Monitor Audio, JBL Synthesis. For the premium segment — McIntosh, Sonus Faber.

Amplifiers and processors — Marantz, Anthem, StormAudio, Trinnov. A surround sound processor is required for a serious cinema.

Projectors — Sony, JVC, Epson (budget). For 4K HDR — Sony VPL-XW7000 or JVC DLA-NZ9. Screens — Stewart Filmscreen, Screen Research, Elite.

TVs — for small rooms: LG OLED G3/G4, Sony A95L (QD-OLED). 77-83 inches is the ceiling for comfortable viewing without a projector.

Image — calibration according to ISF (Imaging Science Foundation) or THX standards. Without calibration, the image will be too bright, blue or green. A calibrator with a spectrophotometer and a test pattern generator.

Sound — room calibration using Dirac Live, Audyssey MultEQ XT32, ARC Genesis. Measures the room frequency response and corrects it.

Acoustic measurements — REW (Room EQ Wizard) + measurement microphone. This is for enthusiasts and professionals — allows you to see and eliminate room problems.

Sonos is the most popular ecosystem. From budget Era 100 to Hi-End Era 300. Support for AirPlay 2, Spotify Connect, Tidal, lossless audio. Easy setup, reliable operation.

Bowers & Wilkins Formation is Hi-End multiroom. Formation Duo, Formation Wedge, Formation Bar. Best sound quality, but more expensive.

Crestron Sonnex / NUVO is professional multiroom with integration into control systems. Up to 16-32 zones, matrix for audio distribution, amplifiers for each zone.

Music storage servers — Sonos supports local files and streaming. For Hi-End — a dedicated NAS (Synology) with a lossless library.