Music Room vs. Home Theater Design Question?


I am in the process of remodeling my Music/HT Room. This room is approximately 12.5'x 20'x 8'.

Here is what I do not understand.

In nearly every Home Theater I have ever been in or have seen pictures of on the Internet, they have carpet for the flooring.

However for nearly every Music listening room I have ever been in or have seen pictures of on the Internet, they have hardwood for the flooring. I have also noticed the hardwood flooring trend for recording studios.

Why do you think this pattern exists?

Acoustics? Budget? etc.

Thanks,

Josh
beatboy77
If you want to hear from the speaker what was recorded any reduction of room distortion (reflections) is desirable.

If you wish to "create" a specific type of "preferred sound" then shaping the sound with various sonic reflections from reflected surfaces and materials is useful.
My room is the exact same size as yours.I went with carpet and a good quality underlay to cut down on reflections and not have it too lively.

I have 78 inch high, 16 inch round ASC tube traps in all 4 corners with absorbtion at the 1st and 2nd reflection points.
Without doubt and regardless of size, room dimensions do have an influence on your system's sound.

But on the other hand sound is sound. Your system and room make no distinction between the sound of a music and a movie performance, nor should it. And neither should you.

As such, either room type should be relatively neutral if your goal is to capture what is in the recording and with minimal influence from you or your room.

That's assuming of course you're confident the majority of recordings themselves were sufficiently engineered (and do not require your help) and that your system is able to retrieve and process the vast majority of information embedded into the recording.

If you are, then why add your room's acoustic info on top of the ambient information that is already plentiful and embedded in the recording? It would seem there is nothing natural or authentic about such a strategy either in practice or in theory.

If you are not, then all bets are off anyway.

If unsure, then it would seem your best bet is to err on the side of neutrality. At least this way you have potentially one less variable to correct later.

-IMO
I do low nap office carpet in mine and I love the results. Mind you I am not at the level of many here but its a real world dual use room with good to great results.