I did a reno of my two channel listening room (our living room - most of the family’s actual "living" takes place in the back family room), turning it in to dual duty as a projection-based home theater and 2 channel audio room. I involved an acoustician in the design.
We did a drop-down ceiling which contains acoustic absorption at strategic points (including some very large areas of bass-trapping-type structures), but it’s all hidden in the drop down ceiling which has a felt-like material stretched over it. This makes the drop down ceiling look like a solid ceiling, when in fact it’s got all sorts of absorption properties (also which kills light reflections back to the screen).
The room has a large shag rug and an over-large custom built sofa. The walls are uncovered except that I have thick brown velvet curtains that can be pulled to any location on the walls, to modulate reflectivity as desired.
This has all worked wonders. Any speaker I drop in the room tends to sound fantastic, and I can modulate the reflectivity depending on the speaker, or even on what type of sound I happen to desire.
In fact there is an added acoustical bonus: I designed a 4-way automated masking system for the screen wall behind my speakers. The projection screen is about as large as the whole wall, but I have full control of it’s size and shape by remote-controlled velvet masking - horizontal and vertical. So from the same remote I use for volume when listening to 2 channel music, I can alter the position of the masking - drawing the masking in over the screen increases absorption behind the speakers making for a more intimate, lush and subtle sound. The more I open up the masking, exposing more reflective screen surface, the more open and airy the sound becomes.
I’m a fan of flexibility so this all works great for me.
