Planning a private cinema: where to start
A private cinema is far easier to get right before the walls are finished. Here is where to begin.
20 October 2026 · By Alpha Audio
Start with the room
The best room is often not the largest one. Look for a space you can make properly dark, away from bedrooms, with some choice over where the screen and seats go.
A rectangular room usually sounds better than a square one, where bass problems tend to double up. Hard floors and large windows reflect sound as well as light, so plan for carpet and curtains.
Light first, then the screen
A projected picture looks its best in the dark. Even a little daylight washes out night scenes, so plan blackout blinds or curtains early, and choose dark, matt finishes near the screen.
Screen size and seating belong together. A common rule of thumb is to sit about one and a half screen widths away, though tastes vary. Before you commit, tape the screen's outline on the wall and sit where the chairs will go.
Height channels and isolation
Height channels add speakers in or near the ceiling, so sound can move above you as well as around you. With a soundtrack mixed for it, rain can fall from overhead and an aircraft can cross the room. Their positions depend on the seats, so fix the seating first.
Sound isolation is a separate matter. Soft furnishings calm echoes inside a room but do little to stop sound leaving it. That takes mass, sealed gaps and separated layers in the walls, ceiling and door, all far easier to build in than add later.
Hide the kit, let it breathe
Most people want to see the picture and none of the kit. A rack in a cupboard or nearby room keeps things tidy, if cables have a clear route to the screen, speakers and projector. Conduit lets you pull new cables later without opening a wall.
Electronics give off heat, and a closed cupboard traps it, so plan a way for air to get in and out. In the room itself, quiet air conditioning matters too.
Plan before you finish the room
Almost everything here is simple to decide early and awkward to change later. Speaker positions, power, data and conduit all depend on work done before plaster and paint.
Our staff can help you choose and install a system. The best time to talk is while the room is still a drawing.
When you are ready, come and listen in our showroom.