In this product review by the AV Today team, we take a deep dive into Sonance Invisible Series.
Designed to integrate form and function seamlessly, the speakers fit into surfaces like walls and ceilings and easily blend in with standard architectural finishes. The Motion Flex technology allows a transducer-excited flat acoustical surface to produce sound, while the split speakers minimize distortion and deliver sonic transparency at levels that were previously impossible.
Headquartered in San Clemente in Southern California, Sonance was founded 40 years ago, when college friends, and AV integrators, Scott Struthers and Geoff Spencer recognized the need for an audio solution that could deliver unsurpassed performance combined with minimal visual intrusion. It was this revelation that led them to invent the world’s first architectural in-wall and in-ceiling speakers. Since then, Sonance has continued to innovate with state-of-the-art products that deliver best-in-class sonic performance while being designed to blend into the environment.
Nothing speaks to Sonance’s “Designed To Disappear” philosophy better than invisible speakers, however, the category has always been somewhat of a compromise when it comes to sonic performance. Promises were often made by manufacturers that these speakers could sound as good as regular speakers, however, installers and clients alike would find themselves disappointed once they were finished installing and testing the finished product. That is not the case with Sonance’s latest generation of Sonance Invisible Loudspeakers.
Sonance’s Executive Team challenged Todd Ryan, its Chief Speaker Engineer for three decades, to “build the best sounding loudspeakers Sonance has ever made.” With an open brief and no boundaries, Ryan was excited at the prospect in front of him. And then came the catch “They have to be invisible”.
Never one to turn down a challenge, Ryan set about designing Sonance’s latest generation of Invisible Series, and the results are nothing short of outstanding.
The IS6T and IS8T are a ground-up design, utilizing completely new technologies that deliver a level of fidelity that is unheard of in this category. High frequencies are achieved with Sonance’s “Motion Flex Technology,” which consists of a “Wave Flex Drive Unit” with wide bandwidth driver with a bending wave diaphragm featuring a 1.75” (44mm) voicecoil, while the low frequencies are generated by an “Air Flex” Woofer with an air pulse diaphragm driven by either a 6” (165mm) or 8” (203mm) carbon fiber woofer. The result is a frequency response of 50Hz – 30KHz and 40Hz – 30KHz –3 dB with 170 degrees of dispersion up to 10KHz – something not even a conventional commercial loudspeaker can achieve.
The IS6T and IS8T feature Sonance’s Laminated Core Technology transformers (SLCT), delivering full-fidelity sonic performance in either 70V or 100V mode with tap settings of 30W, 15W, 7.5W and 3.8W (70V) and 60W, 30W, 15W and 7.5W (70V) respectively and a 6 Ohm bypass.
An integrated metal enclosure reduces sound spill into adjoining rooms, whilst also allowing for conduit connection in regions where it is required to meet code.
The range also includes several low impedance models where 70V/100V is not required. These include the IS6, IS8, and IS10 full range speakers and the IS10W, IS12-W and IS15W subwoofers.
The new Sonance Invisible Series is designed to install flush into a ceiling or wall and be finished over with up to 3mm of finishing compound such as compound, venetian plaster, wood veneer or wallpaper, to provide a completely invisible aesthetic.
Sonance’s proprietary “D.I.S.C. System,” utilizes a depth gauge (not unlike a tool used to measure automobile body shops to measure body filler), that allows the installer to accurately determine the thickness of topping material over the diaphragm to ensure optimum sonic performance is always achieved.
The new Sonance Invisible Series are perfect for retail boutiques, luxury automotive showrooms, museums and galleries, fine dining restaurants, corporate reception areas and boardrooms, or anywhere full-fidelity sound is required, with zero-compromise to the aesthetics of the space.
