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New member Username: BruceburnsavPost Number: 1 Registered: Jul-10 | Hello - Quick question I am redesigning my home theater, and am tired of either a choice between ugly/bulky loudspeakers or sonically impaired in-walls. Does anyone know of a good hidden speaker company/product? And I mean completely hidden, as in, not even a visible grille. Thanks! Bruce |
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Gold Member Username: MagfanUSA Post Number: 1323 Registered: Oct-07 | What is the goal? A non-theater/theater? I've never heard of a speaker which was completely invisible which also had even minimal HT pretensions. Have you considered panels? Magnepan makes some rear speakers which fold flat against the wall when not in use. The fronts, however ARE imposing. Post back if/when you find something which fits your goal. About the least intrusive speaker I've ever seen are the Orb line. not bad, for what they are. You'll still need a sub. |
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New member Username: BruceburnsavPost Number: 2 Registered: Jul-10 | The theater I am designing is for a fairly small room. 18'x15' with 9' ceiling. I want the speakers to be invisible because I want the room to double as a guest-bedroom. I already have a murphy bed installed in the back wall, and really don't want freestanding speakers. I was originally going to do in-walls, but I just don't like the look. I actually had a pair of planar/ribbon speakers a couple years back, and, although surprised by the quality, once the "cool" factor diminished, I realized that, acoustically, they weren't producing the sound I thought I had paid for. I've done some initial research and have come up with these companies. Amina, Stealth Acoustics, and Lucidity. However, I haven't really heard much - or read much, about these brands. Hoping for some insight! |
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Platinum Member Username: Jan_b_vigneDallas, TX Post Number: 14990 Registered: May-04 | . What you are asking for is a compromise. You are willing to compromise ultimate quality for the invisibility of the system. I can't say much about the companies you've mentioned having never heard the brands at all. However, I would make an educated guess the companies which produce invisible speakers are willing to make much the same compromise you are. Two of the companies use transducers which excite the surface they are mounted to. This isn't new technolgy even for home audio use, Sonic Impact has offered such designs for several years now though they never claimed "high fidelity" results for their designs which were meant more for personal audio systems. The idea is to turn any solid surface into a sound radiating material. Like any other audio technology there are compromises here. The links I find (when they work) talk about plastering over the surface of the transducer and allowing the plastered wall to become the radiator. They also discuss other materials working equally well. Personally, while I find there is far more to understand about audio than we presently know, our contemporary knowledge of physics says this is taking compromise to a new level. It may be perfectly satisfactory for the trade offs you're willing to make but I would do more investigation before I dedicated a room to this experiment. Your third choice, Stealth Acoustics, has me feeling much the same way about their ideas. Plaster over speakers doesn't yet say "good sound" to me. I could be mistaken, there are stranger things than walls becoming speakers. But I would think, without hearing them, any of these choices could be bettered by a mid-priced speaker of more conventional design. . |
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New member Username: BruceburnsavPost Number: 3 Registered: Jul-10 | Thanks for the response, Jan, it was very informative. I do know a bit about surface exciters, and understand that I will, of course, be compromising sound for my aesthetic appeal. I actually just made an appointment with one of my friends to check out his brother's A/V store which apparently has a demo room with hidden speakers. Hopefully I'll be able to make a better informed decision after I hear them firsthand. I'll keep you guys updated. |
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Gold Member Username: MagfanUSA Post Number: 1325 Registered: Oct-07 | The ORB speakers sound much better than the exciter stuff. There were even wall hanger / picture speakers many years ago. |
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Silver Member Username: James_the_godLancaster, Lancashire England Post Number: 851 Registered: Jan-05 | http://www.artcoustic.com/products.aspx I believe the designer of the equipment worked for Bang and Olufsen. I recently had a power amp from Artcoustic for a while and it was fantastic. If you look around the site I'm sure there will be some useful information on how discreet they can make systems whilst maximing audio quality which you can use. |
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Gold Member Username: GavdawgAlbany, New York Post Number: 1523 Registered: Nov-06 | If you dont want sonically impaired in-walls, have you looked at MartinLogan or bohlender graebener? They both use iterations of well proven planar speaker designs (in this case, they both use BG neo drivers). I have heard the voyage, and was very impressed by it... much better than the recent mass market oriented freestanding ML gear. http://www.bgcorp.com/in-wall-speakers.html http://www.martinlogan.com/products/voyage http://www.martinlogan.com/products/passage |