Acoustics? You don’t want to know about acoustics. That’s complicated, requiring all sorts of graphs and little pictures with crazy lines and quite possibly even … math. Leave that to the acoustical experts. Ah, but you can know a little about acoustics, especially if you’re equipping a room for a home theater system. It isn’t that difficult. You really only need to know three words: reflection, absorption and diffusion. Most rooms have too much reflection, caused by hard floors and walls, and therefore need more sound absorption. Too much absorption, and you have trouble hearing anything. Diffusion spreads sound evenly throughout a room. Ideally, your home entertainment space will have a mix of all three.

If you need more reflection, absorption or diffusion in a room, special acoustic panels can be added and placed behind fabric walls, for example, to make the adjustment. There are other ways to increase sound absorption and diffusion while reducing reflections as well.

But first, take our Really Fun Acoustical Quiz. Seriously, it’s fun, and you’ll learn even more about acoustics. And we promise: There are no graphs, no confusing lines—and certainly no math.

1. What isn’t an acoustic property that should take place in a home theater?
Reflection
Diffusion
Absorption
Confusion

2. Too much reflection in a home theater can result from …
Hard surfaces like wood and tile floors
Soft surfaces like drapes and carpets
An annoying mother-in-law
Long psychiatric sessions

3. Reflective panels in a home theater should be located …
Over the bathroom sink
On the sides near the front of the theater
Somewhere in the back
Buried underground

4. Absorption of excessive sound reflections in a theater room can be achieved by …
SpongeBob SquarePants
Those little yellow things you stick in your ears
Carpeting, fabrics and padded walls
I am sick of this room with the padded walls!

5. Absorptive acoustic panels are generally applied to …
Your mother-in-law’s mouth
Right under your kid’s nose
The side walls from the middle to the back
Your final bill

6. Diffusion of sound in a home theater means …
It disperses evenly throughout the room
It comes out of the speakers, becomes confused and leaves
Only the dog can hear it
Only you can hear it

7. Diffusion panels in a home theater are generally placed …
Under the screen
In the rear or on a ceiling
In place of an exit sign
Under your seat

8. A bass trap is …
Something to help you catch fish
A good football play
Like a bear trap
A way to limit excessive low-frequency sounds

9. An expert acoustical analysis of your theater room will determine …
That you paid too much
Whether the room needs additional acoustical treatments
Your karaoke singing style
If you need medication

10. How can you treat your ceiling to achieve better room acoustics?
Have some uneven surfaces
Use a drop ceiling with tiles that have a Noise Reduction Coefficient (NRC) rating of .75 to .95
Unroll acoustic foam over a drop ceiling
All of the above.

ANSWERS: What, you don’t know? Okay, since you’re just “double-checking”:
1-D
2-A
3-B
4-C
5-C
6-A
7-B
8-D
9-B
10-D

KEY:
10 correct: You could perform an acoustical analysis of this page.
6–9: You absorb information well, grasshopper.
3–5: Your acoustics knowledge is somewhat diffused … and confused.
1–3: Consult an expert. This stuff bounces off of you like a highly reflective surface.
0: If you … you … you … had a home theater … theater … theater … it might sound … sound … like this … this … this.

If you need more information on home theaters, check out these stories:
-Speaker Shopping Dos and Don’ts
-Get the Best Picture From Your New TV
-Gearing Up For Home Theater