Calculate acoustic panel requirements for your home theater.
The Acoustic Panel Calculator inverts the Sabine equation to tell you exactly how much absorption you need to install. Given a measured or calculated current RT60 and your target RT60, it solves for the additional sabins required, then converts that to square meters of panel area at your panel's NRC rating. This removes the guesswork of buying acoustic treatment by the eyeful.
From room volume V the calculator derives current total absorption A_now = 0.161V / RT60_current and target absorption A_target = 0.161V / RT60_target. The added sabins required equal A_target − A_now. Dividing this by your panel's NRC (typically 0.70–0.95 for 2-inch rigid fiberglass with fabric wrap) yields the panel surface area in square meters needed to hit your reverberation goal.
Enter your current RT60 (measured or estimated from the RT60 calculator), your target RT60, room volume, and the NRC rating of the acoustic panels you plan to install.
The formula derives how much additional absorption (in m² or sq ft) is needed to bridge the gap between current and target RT60. Divide by the panel NRC to get the required panel coverage area.
Target an RT60 of 0.3–0.4 seconds for a dedicated home theater, or 0.4–0.5 seconds for a multipurpose room. High-quality acoustic panels (NRC 0.85+) are more efficient than basic foam tiles.
Starting from an untreated RT60 of around 0.8 s and targeting 0.4 s, that 76 m³ room typically needs 8–14 square meters of 2-inch panels at NRC 0.85. That equals roughly 12–20 panels of standard 60 × 60 cm size, distributed across first reflections and rear wall.
Look for NRC 0.80 or higher. A 2-inch (5 cm) rigid mineral wool panel with fabric wrap usually achieves NRC 0.85–0.95. NRC under 0.50 indicates a decorative panel that won't meaningfully change RT60 — even a 'pyramid foam' tile at NRC 0.30 needs 3× the area to do the same job.
Treat the first reflection points on side walls and ceiling between speakers and listening position — use a mirror walked along the walls until you see the tweeter from the seat. Then add rear-wall and front-wall coverage. Bass traps go in corners. This sequence is more important than total square footage.
Yes. Below 0.25 s RT60 a room sounds unnaturally dry and fatiguing, and dialogue can lose presence. The calculator helps you stop adding panels once you hit the 0.3–0.5 s target band. Over-treatment also kills the sense of space that surround formats rely on.
Yes — panel thickness controls the lowest frequency it absorbs. A 2-inch (5 cm) panel works well above 500 Hz; for 100–250 Hz you need 4-inch (10 cm) panels or air-gap mounting. True bass control below 100 Hz requires dedicated bass traps or membrane absorbers, not standard NRC-rated panels.