Custon Installation Equipment Reviews

Sonance has long held the lead position in the architectural, in-wall and in-ceiling speaker marketplace. Now, the company that invented—and popularized—this category has announced the availability of their latest innovative variation—the Invisible Speaker Series. The flat-panel driver technology developed by Sonance is featured in three new models, two of which utilize improved planar technology. The Sonance Invisible Series speakers are entirely flat and vanish into the room design, delivering ambient music that emanates from the walls and ceilings.

Sonance has long held the lead position in the architectural, in-wall and in-ceiling speaker marketplace. Now, the company that invented—and popularized—this category has announced the availability of their latest innovative variation—the Invisible Speaker Series. The flat-panel driver technology developed by Sonance is featured in three new models, two of which utilize improved planar technology. The Sonance Invisible Series speakers are entirely flat and vanish into the room design, delivering ambient music that emanates from the walls and ceilings.

The advantages of the Invisible Series extend beyond the visual. The underlying physics of planar transducers empower the Sonance SA3 and SA1.5 to radiate sound omnidirectionally, to achieve smooth, accurate, and remarkably broad and even coverage over nearly a full hemisphere (140) up to an amazing 10kHz—performance that a conventional cone-and-dome driver cannot match. This delivers attractively spacious, lifelike sound and makes the Invisible Series a superb application for background or ambient music in a broad variety of rooms, including casual and transient spaces.

Each model features improved installability and upgraded performance. The SA3 and SA1.5 combine unique, variable-thickness planar flat-panel midrange/tweeters with conventional, round dynamic woofers. The Invisible Series SAW is a subwoofer featuring conventional drivers. In all three models the surface of the finished unit is covered with a perfectly flat, acoustically transparent vellum overlay that can be painted with a water-based finish, wallpapered, or covered with textured wall coverings without significantly impeding performance, while leaving a single, continuous, unblemished surface.

The SA3 mates a 48-square-inch planar-diaphragm driver with an 8-inch conventional cone woofer to achieve impressively extended response from a completely concealable source. A second model, the Invisible Series SA1.5, pairs the same planar unit with a 6.5-inch woofer for similar performance with slightly less bass extension, while delivering a mounting profile that is reduced by one-half: 16x12 inches versus the SA3’s 16x24 inches. The SAW subwoofer has dimensions identical to the SA3’s, with dual 8-inch low-frequency drivers for even greater deep-bass extension and dynamic potential when deployed in “subwoofer” applications. The SAW subwoofer is optimized for use with Sonance’s Sonamp A800 subwoofer amplifier.

All three models require just 3-7/8 inches of depth and can be installed in any conventional 2x4-studded construction. They incorporate new MDF baffle structures that ease installation while improving acoustical performance. They also include integral, supplied metal back-boxes that ensure specified low-frequency performance regardless of wall-structure details and dramatically reduce adjacent-room spillover.

Suggested Retail Pricing:
SA3 $1400.00/pair
SA1.5 $1000.00/pair
SAW Subwoofer $1000.00/each