TL;DR: Great home-cinema sound is made by the room, not just the gear. You need to control three things — reflection, reverberation and resonance — and balance them evenly across the space. Treat the first reflection points, tame low-frequency build-up in the corners, bring reverberation (RT60) into a tight target on every axis, and keep the left and right sides symmetrical. Done properly, the treatment is invisible and need be only about 50 mm deep.
Why the room matters more than the equipment
In a dedicated cinema or listening room, most of what you hear is the room — reflected and resonant energy arriving after the direct sound from the speakers. Uncontrolled, it smears dialogue, blurs stereo imaging and makes bass boom at one seat and vanish at the next. No amount of electronics fully fixes a room that hasn't been treated; room correction can tilt the response, but it cannot remove a reflection or a room mode.
The three Rs of room acoustics
C-ATS frames every room around three distinct problems, each needing a different treatment:
| Problem | What it does | Where it's treated |
|---|---|---|
| Reflection | Early reflections smear imaging and clarity | First reflection points on side walls and ceiling |
| Reverberation | Sound lingers too long, reducing intelligibility | Broadband absorption across the room's surfaces |
| Resonance | Low frequencies build up unevenly (room modes) | Corner-loaded low-frequency control |
Where treatment goes
- First reflection points. The spots on the side walls and ceiling where sound bounces once before reaching the seats. Treating these protects the direct sound and tightens imaging.
- Corners. Low-frequency energy concentrates where surfaces meet, so resonance control is corner-loaded — including the ceiling corners, which are often the missing piece in the vertical (height) axis.
- Symmetry. The left and right of the room should mirror each other so the stereo image stays centred and stable across every seat.
Per-axis balance: why one RT60 number isn't enough
A single, room-averaged reverberation time can hide a room that decays correctly along its length but rings along its width or height. C-ATS targets RT60 on every axis (length, width and height) rather than on average — which is what keeps the sound consistent as you move between seats.
How much — and how deep?
Conventional treatment can take 100–200 mm off every wall, especially once bass trapping is added. In a prime room, that lost floor area is expensive. C-ATS is engineered to deliver measured control in a system just 50 mm deep, so the room keeps its proportions and its space. (See: how thick do acoustic panels need to be?)
Make it invisible
The best acoustic treatment is felt, not seen. C-ATS panels are designed to sit behind a finished surface. Concealing them cleanly — with an acoustically transparent, made-to-measure finish — is a specialism in its own right; for that we work alongside FabricWalls.
How C-ATS approaches it
C-ATS is a complete system of three control panels — Reflection, Reverberation and Resonance — each independently tested by BSRIA to BS EN ISO 354 (Report 100241/1). The Reverberation panel is a broadband absorber whose absorption coefficient rises toward 1.0 across the mid and high frequencies; the Resonance panel is corner-loaded for low-frequency control; the Reflection panel is tuned as a clean reflector. The free Room Selector turns your room dimensions and speaker layout into a suggested package and layout in seconds. Read more about the method on The System, or start a project.
FAQ
Do I need acoustic treatment if I have room correction?
Yes. Room correction adjusts the electrical signal; it cannot remove a physical reflection or a room mode. Treatment and correction work best together.
How thick do the panels need to be?
C-ATS controls all three problems in a 50 mm system. Most conventional approaches need 100–200 mm, mainly for bass. See our depth guide.
Will I see the panels?
No — they're made to sit behind a finished, acoustically transparent surface.
Is the performance measured?
Yes. Every panel is independently tested by BSRIA to BS EN ISO 354.