Can I Build a Home Theater in an Apartment and is it Worth it?

Living in an apartment can dissuade many people from building a home theater for a number of reasons. You might be worried about being too loud for your neighbors, not having a ton of space, or not wanting to set up or install a screen and speakers in a potentially temporary living situation. I can tell you, as someone who has had this exact thought process, that building a home theater in your apartment is definitely worth it and all of these concerns are outweighed by the results.

Disturbing the Neighbors?

Let’s address the first concern of your audio being too loud for neighbors. I live on the second floor of my apartment building and share walls with two other neighbors. We definitely can hear each other doing things from time to time so having a bunch of surround sound speakers must blast noise into their apartments, right? Not necessarily.

Having more speakers or better speakers does not necessarily mean louder speakers, but it will mean a superior audio experience. Clearer audio with a surround sound experience could produce the same volume as your TV speakers or soundbar with way better results. I personally use a full 5.1 speaker setup in my apartment and have asked my neighbor if it bothers them, and have been told they don’t even notice.

Remember, you can also calibrate your speakers to what works best for you.  For example, my subwoofer is on a very low setting most of the time as I am on the second floor and that is what neighbors would be hearing the most.

A Big Screen in a Small Space

Most people in an apartment setting will have a TV set up in their living room. While you can definitely add surround sound to your TV setup to enhance your experience, you shouldn’t limit yourself to that. Most projectors in any living situation can dwarf the size of your TV. I use a 120″ projector screen in my apartment for everything from movies, to shows, to youtube videos and video games. With a few blackout curtains and my very bright ViewSonic PX747-4K projector, I am not limited to using my home theater at night, despite having two large windows and a sliding glass door letting in light during the day. 

You might be thinking to yourself that it’s just not worth the setup and time commitment in a place you don’t plan on living permanently. Don’t let this stop you, because setting up a home theater is not as intense as you might think. A few speaker stands or well-placed furniture can save you from wall mounting and speakers or projector and a rug can hide any wires running throughout the system to prevent extensive cable management.

Setting up your screen would be the only piece that may need to be mounted to the wall or ceiling. Even if it’s your first time, you could easily set up a home theater and start enjoying the experience in a day. 

Is an Apartment Theater Worth it?

Home theaters can be as big or as small as you’d like them to be. There’s no required amount of space for a proper setup. If you are passionate about movies and want to watch them the way they are meant to be seen, start upgrading your setup today even if that means just getting a receiver and two bookshelf speakers. Home theaters are pretty modular, so you can improve your setup by adding and upgrading over time.

I can tell you from experience that when I see movies on a normal tv with a built-in speaker, it feels borderline disrespectful to the people that made the movie. I promise that once you start, you will never go back.