AUSTRALIA’S No.1 AV GUIDE

17-19 OCT

A BRIEF GUIDE TO ARCHITECTURAL SPEAKERS

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FOCUS ON: KEF, KRIX, SONANCE, STEALTH ACOUSTICS, WISDOM AUDIO

ON-WALL, IN-WALL, IN-CEILING & INVISIBLE SPEAKERS

ARCHITECTURAL SPEAKERS

Whether they’re in the wall or in the ceiling, nearly invisibly hidden between the wall joists or sticking out slightly

behind relatively unobtrusive grilles, the goal of “architectural” speakers is to please the architect, interior designer and owner of a home by delivering entertainment without creating a grievous impact on the carefully-selected décor.

There is always one vital question to be asked, however. Do you compromise your sound by hiding away your speakers? And the answer is invariably yes, but perhaps not for the reasons you might think. It is not the quality of speaker itself — there are some very high-end architectural speakers which sound superb. It’s more about the positioning. Hi-fi speakers require careful positioning at the best

of times, and having them in walls and ceilings creates an obvious limitation on achieving the clearest accurately-imaged and integrated soundstage. Still, after 30 years of development, sound quality has improved dramatically, with new techniques both to improve performance within limited space and in making these speakers even more discreet. And if you’re just wanting widespread music around the home, no doubt under the wonders of iPad control, then you’re spoiled for choice today. Indeed if you’re working with a qualified custom installer such as the CEDIA members featured in the CEDIA Awards this issue, they’ll be well placed to recommend particular brands for particular purposes. In this article we’ll explain the different categories available, along with various developments and unique offerings to show what’s available.

THEY’RE ALL THE SAMEYou can pay thousands of dollars for the highest quality in-wall and in-ceiling speakers. Yet here at Sound+Image we receive regular emails from China enticing us to buy 100+ units of in-wall speakers at well under a dollar a piece. If these were conventional speakers, the differences would be clear — ugly cheap boxes versus beautiful real-wood veneers, exotic driver design versus paper cones. But with in-wall and in-ceiling speakers aiming for invisibility, the pictures in the brochures almost always look like white-grilled circles (usually for the ceiling) and squares (for walls) regardless of their price.

The differentiating technology lies within, of course, in the materials used for drivers and crossovers and, if present, the quality internal amplification. Clever mounting mechanisms

Hiding speakers has become an industry in itself. Up in the ceiling, hidden in coves and walls, a wide

range of options allow custom installers to deliver the best possible sound, with the smallest possible intrusion.

In-wall speakers provide the three front channels of sound

In-ceiling speakers can deliver a spacious surround effect

All three images on these pages are from an installation in Brisbane by CEDIA member Electronic Living. The home’s entertainment, lighting, security, access and other systems were integrated under a simple and intuitive RTI control platform for iPhone or iPad.

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make some speakers quicker to install (and thereby cheaper in labour for the customer). Some have pivoting tweeters to aim the sound and improve soundstage imaging.

And despite superficial similarities, there can be big differences in how well those circles and squares disappear into the surrounding walls. Each year new models present speakers with thinner bezels, ever-flusher mounting, more paintable grilles, designs that perfectly match downlights. And where one company innovates, others are quick to follow. These things are not easy to achieve and require just as much development as boxed speakers — more, indeed, since they are solving new issues, without the benefit of the century of development behind boxed loudsepakers.

So no, even a cursory glance beyond shape and colour will show you that, just as with conventional speakers, architectural speakers are very much not all the same.

INFINITY AND BEYONDDespite those positional limitations, the wall can be considered a useful thing in one regard. It provides an approximation of the ‘infinite baffle’ considered an ideal but impossible loudspeaker design — a driver mounted in a rigid flat panel of infinite size with infinite space behind it. The ideal infinite baffle would entirely remove all trace of sound waves pushed from the rear of the driver, vibrations that have to be addressed in boxed speakers by porting and/or damping.

But your average wall is not, of course, ideal. It lacks infinite rigidity and infinite space behind it. And if you send all that back energy away to avoid affecting your listening room, it will not only produce unpredictable frequency response, especially at lower frequencies, it will dissipate through your house structure to annoy those resting in adjacent rooms. David Moseley of Wavetrain Cinemas has memorably described sound as being like water — it will always find a way through.

So a good custom installer will plan to include suitable acoustic treatment around an in-wall/in-ceiling installation. And there are speakers which use back boxes within the wall to provide predictability of response and to avoid sound spill. The room design itself will affect both set-up and system choice — for example in the home shown in the CEDIA entry on p50, Zentec’s Ian Corless faced some tricky acoustics in high-void timber-lined areas, so he specified extra amplification and high-quality speakers to achieve low-distortion high-quality sound at lower volumes.

Should you install architectural speakers yourself? It’s possible, but not really advisable if you want the best results from what is a tricky set of variables. Understanding your options, on the other hand, is always good. So for more tips and guidance, read on...

Floyd Toole is one of the world’s great gurus of loudspeakers, with 25 years at Canada’s National Research Council before joining Harman International, where he created the legendary hydraulic Multichannel Listening Lab. His most recent book ‘Sound Reproduction’ (Focal Press, 2008) is one of our bibles here at Sound+Image. In that book, Toole was already admitting that the best in-wall and in-ceiling speakers were already comparing favourably with their conventional counterparts, and that if they could be positioned properly following the same rules as for conventional speakers, there was no reason not to use them. He remained distinctly unconvinced about the use of ceiling speakers for front-channel sound, however...

“The most objectionable situation involves the front L, C, and R loudspeakers in the ceiling. In the beginning, downward-firing units provided decent sound only for the family pet lounging in front of the TV... More recently, designs have appeared that make an effort to radiate both mid and high frequencies toward the listeners... but a problem (I call it the ‘voice of God’ problem) remains. For family members, adaptation and the ventriloquism effect can do wonders to enable them to ignore the fact that the sound is coming from above—sometimes far above— the video display. Visitors will notice it right away... In spite of the popularity of these installations and a great deal of marketing hype, this is obviously not ‘real’ home theater.”

For outdoor areas, in-ceiling speakers with weatherproofing can deliver patio sound with almost zero visual impact

The combination of in-ceiling speakers with a drop-down television screen keeps the decor untouched until the entertainment system is activated

FLOYD TOOLE ON IN-CEILING SPEAKERS...

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ARCHITECTURAL SPEAKERS

The whole point of architectural speakers is discretion — hiding them away, delivering musical impact without the

visual impact. Sonance has been a clear leader in this regard for as long as in-ceiling and in-wall speakers have been around… Indeed Sonance calls itself “the inventor of the In-Wall and In-Ceiling speaker category” and certainly the Sonance 1, from 1985, is identified as the world’s first in-wall speaker for residential use (there is some controversy over who invented the very first ever in-wall speakers).

Over the years Sonance and its current parent company Dana Innovations have delivered ever better ways of hiding speakers, leading the market with ever thinner bezels, paintable grilles, the first in-wall subwoofer, flush-mounting grilles, invisible speakers.

The latest and greatest is an evolution of the company’s Architectural Series featuring a “Discreet Opening System” designed to match small aperture trim-less downlights. These present a 102mm round or square grille with a totally-flush aesthetic, resulting in continuous sight lines that should please not only the home owners, but their interior designers and architects too!

A typical system might use four AS38RS two-way speakers combined with either one or two BPS6 Bandpass Subwoofers — the smaller satellites and the subwoofer share exactly the same grille size and shape.

BIG SOUND, SMALL HOLEThe BPS6 subwoofer boasts a 165mm (6.5-inch) dual voice-coil, carbon-fibre/Rohacell laminated driver — so how is this large woofer able to supply its sound through a far smaller aperture? The answer is a 65cm tube connecting the room grille to the in-wall subwoofer; Sonance recommends that the sub should be within a foot of the opening for everything to work correctly. The subwoofer unit is 20 × 30 × 40cm, designed to be installed within joists spaced 40.6cm on centre or greater, with rubber damping pads used between the sub and its fixing to a joist.

Sonance is not alone in using port-fed subwoofers; the innovations are in combining this with high-quality speaker components and the precision grille-levelling platform inspired by Sonance’s sister company Trufig, which specialises in making power sockets and light controls entirely disappear into any chosen décor. For higher-ceiling installations or those seeking very high volume levels, the larger AS68RS speakers (25mm/165mm drivers) can be combined with the all-new BPS8 Bandpass Subwoofer (an eight-incher).

Sonance is distributed in Australia by Amber Technology: www.ambertech.com.au

So very discreet that we had trouble even finding them in this picture, the Sonance Discreet Opening System allows speakers and subwoofers to port through flush circular or square grilles sized to match downlights

The satellite speakers and the subwoofer in the Discreet Opening System share identical exit holes into the room, sized to match trim-less downlights

KEEPING IT DISCREET

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ARCHITECTURAL SPEAKERS

Krix Epix in-wall speakers are a concealed version of the company’s flagship Neuphonix — a six-driver three-way speaker that can nevertheless fit between 450mm studs

Centre-channel speakers are likely to extend beyond the space between studs, so that additional framing will be required

Krix Loudspeakers claims to be the only Australian loudspeaker manufacturer that specialises in building speakers

that can be hidden away from view, and it is firmly of the view that in-wall and in-ceiling speakers should be boxed.

“The rear of all our speaker systems are fully enclosed, and the great majority fully sealed,” Gary Krix tells us. “This is the best way to guarantee that every Krix system delivers the best possible high-fidelity performance in your room — the performance of any in-wall or in-ceiling speaker that does not come with a designed rear enclosure will always vary dramatically, depending on where and how it’s installed in your room. Having a fully-

enclosed back not only provides predictably high quality audio, it ensures minimal possible sound leakage, so sound will not spread into other rooms in your home.”

Krix has a wide variety of sizes and styles in its Concealed Audio range, from tiny ‘Holographix’ speakers that fit into the ceiling space occupied by a standard halogen down-light, up to the mighty Epix pictured below during installation, and above in their final (though ungrilled) state. To this you add the grille frame, which is covered in cloth that can

be dyed to match your wall colour — helping the speakers ‘disappear’ in your room. The Epix is a concealed in-wall version of the company’s flagship award-winning Neuphonix stand-alone loudspeakers. And despite being a six-driver three-way bi-ampable speaker, the Epix still fits inside a standard 450mm wall cavity. And the fully enclosed back-box on ensures that no matter where the Epix are installed, acoustic integrity will be maintained.

Krix Concealed Audio: www.krix.com

BOXING AT THE BACK

The same kind of framing solution would be required for most in-wall soundbars, but some companies have designed sectional soundbars (like the Niles Cynema Soundfield 48 below) that drop into adjacent joist spaces

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If the goal is to make your speakers as unobtrusive as possible, then the idea of “invisible” speakers is clearly an attractive

one! The method is again to fit the loudspeaker units within the timber studs of your wall, but instead of leaving a grille or port into the room, they present a flat smooth surface. With a suitable hole cut into your plasterboard, this surface should, if correctly installed, be entirely flush once you get your plasterer to plaster right over the top of it.

Since a plaster wall over the top of the loudspeaker is an obvious barrier to sound clarity, invisible speakers are not usually recommended for sound-critical applica-tions, nor for areas where pumping volumes are required, given the possible issues with shaking a plaster surface beyond its limits. But we’ve heard installations of invisible speakers provide excellent background music at reason-able levels — subwoofer units are also available to deliver a full frequency range — and they live up to the invisible tag, often leaving only a subtle rectangle visible under certain lights, or better still, no trace at all.

SOUND BY STEALTHOne of the earliest (and most successful) to market with invisible speakers was the appropriately-named Stealth Acoustics, a company from Seattle in the US, which debuted its first invisible speaker back in 2003, and garnered various awards, including one from Sound+Image. Stealth is promising that its latest development — a new ‘Fidelity Glass’ face panel — will tackle the two aforementioned limitations head on, providing unprecedented voicing for invisible speakers, and also robust power handling for louder listening levels.

The new range is identified with a ‘g’ as the LineaResponse G series, and includes five full-range speaker models and two subwoofers. Often the subwoofers won’t be necessary — the pictured LR3g, for example, is specified down to 40Hz, a three-way speaker with a 25mm neodymium tweeter, two more similarly-sized drivers for midrange, and an eight-inch bass woofer. This model can be installed in either wall or ceiling, and you can do more than simply plaster over it — on-site finishing options include latex paint, light wallpaper, fabrics, even advanced finishing such as Venetian plaster. Stealth speakers can also be fitted with metal back boxes.

Stealth Acoustics speakers are distributed in Australia by QualiFi: www.qualifi.com.au

Spot the speakers! Properly installed invisible speakers live up to their name, leaving the room décor and lines clean

INVISIBLE SPEAKERS

How to make your speaker disappear! Top left is the LR3g speaker, then two images showing the positioning of Stealth’s metal MBA back box (with damping material behind). Once the speaker is in place and its surface flush with the plasterboard, the whole is plastered, sanded and painted.

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ARCHITECTURAL SPEAKERS

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So the architectural speakers we’ve seen so far aim to be hidden as much as possible from view. The loudspeaker pictured here — Wisdom Audio’s LS4 — doesn’t look remotely invisible. But these still qualify as architectural

speakers because they go right against the wall, rather than requiring the space demanded by box speakers. Since they don’t suffer the constraints of minimal depth and fitting within studs (the LS4s are, nevertheless, only 30cm deep at their centre), they can deliver truly audiophile results. We’ve heard both the LS4 here and the slightly smaller LS3 in systems that have been cranked to the nines, and they can deliver serious high-end sound without compromise.

The Wisdoms achieve their shallowness of depth through the use of thin-film planar-magnetic technology for the upper and midrange of the audio spectrum, in conjunction with voice-coil woofer designs and subwoofers to generate a matching low end. And as line-array speakers they have several other advantages. Line arrays radiate with far less dispersion up or down — like an expanding cylinder rather than an expanding sphere. This reduces reflections from floor and ceiling, which traditionally muddy the sound and often require room treatment. The wallmounting assists this still further by removing the reflections that would come from behind a freestanding speaker.

A second effect is that this directionality of sound means there is less drop-off in power as you get further away from the speakers — a phenomenon that is noticeable as a more even soundfield through a room space, useful if you have multiple seating positions in a large area.

It also means you get more acoustic power from your amplifier at any given distance. Speaker sensitivity figures are traditionally measured only one metre from the driver; few people sit so close. At four metres distance a point source will be 12dB down on the 1m figure, notes Wisdom, where a line array will be only 6dB down, half the propagation loss. You can also go for higher listening levels without endangering the hearing of someone situated closer to the speakers. Mind you, Wisdom claims that even at four metres a single LS3 is capable of reproducing sound pressure levels in excess of 127dB. That’s front row of a rock concert stuff.

PLANAR MAGNETIC FILMSWisdom may use conventional cones for lower frequencies, but it has developed the art of planar magnetic drivers for frequencies above the bass. These are not the same as ribbons, which use tall narrow strips, usually metallic, and anchored at two ends. Planar magnets sit behind and in front of the diaphragm, a more robust arrangement like a trampoline, with the diaphragm under some tension. Electrostatic panels are similar, but use no magnets, exploiting instead the relatively weak electrostatic field created between electrical poles. In a magnetic planar speaker, the ratio of available force to the moving mass is huge, so there is almost no ‘hangover’ to a signal transient, while the film is strong and fast enough to deliver large and rapid movement. Planar magnetics have much lower inertia against movement than a traditional cone, so can respond to smaller details, and can do so more rapidly. As we say, we’ve heard the results, and it’s well worth the compromise of a little on-wall visibility! Wisdom Audio is distributed in Australia by Entertaining Environments: www.e-e.com.au

ON-WALL NOT IN-WALL

The Wisdom LS4 uses four modules (right), each with two low-frequency panels and one vertical high-frequency radiating area

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ARCHITECTURAL SPEAKERS

Got a favourite loudspeaker brand? Then there’s a good chance it has a range of in-wall and in-ceiling

speakers which you may never have heard about, because they usually only promoted within the industry. Just as many hi-fi retailers have gone into custom installation work, manufacturers have done the same — and there’s a fair argument that a company with a heritage of hi-fi speaker design has got something of a headstart on those starting from the notion of in-wall concealment and then developing speakers to do the job.

There is also the advantage that the architectural range can be voiced to match (or developed directly from) a successful range of boxed speakers, so that they can be used in combination to best effect.

KEF is one such longstanding manu-facturer of renown who has turned to the archtiectural space, and Sound+Image’s Edgar Kramer asked David Kroll, who heads the CI Division, about the company’s current models and future plans.

SOUND+IMAGE: What trends do you see for the whole custom installation market?DAVID KROLL: We’re seeing growth in custom installa-tion and that will continue. For the last couple of years in custom installation, many people were doing whole-house multi-zone systems and then they were doing an elaborate and expensive home theatre. We’re seeing a decline in that scenario and now people still have the whole-house system but also a dedicated two-channel set-up. Sometimes more than one — there may be a small pair of speakers like the LS50 in an office, and then a more serious system with large floorstanders… they desire one room with superior sound quality. This trend is elevating and it presents the audio industry with an opportunity to offer a larger choice of premium products.

So some operators are offering a whole lot of in-ceiling and in-wall speakers, but never present the larger option. Those who are presenting the option for one or two rooms of elevated music quality are finding a high percentage of clients taking them up on it. You’re not getting the ‘man cave’ home theatre room but it’s now the two-channel room, whether it’s a retreat or a family room.

S+I: What’s the latest in KEF’s CI range?DK: We’re just in the process of releasing R Series in-wall products which will be excep-

tional for music and home theatre. They will be at a higher price point and with elevated levels of detail and resolution than one is used to finding in a custom installation product. I like the term “in-wall hi-fi” — they’re CI speakers with such a level of resolution, dimensionality and depth of bass that you can have your cake and eat it too.

And we’re now offering several options and combinations of, for example, in-wall subwoofer matched to in-wall satellite speaker. These products offer the performance of floorstanding speakers but in the wall. So now there’s a choice of CI products for somebody who wants audiophile performance but has the lifestyle or décor where conventional speakers will not suit.

S+I: How much consultation takes place between the KEF engineering team and archi-tects and builders, to establish what’s needed?DK: We’re out in the market place constantly talking to builders, architects and the custom installation community, and we’re picking up on the feedback so that we can create products that make their life easier or their installation faster and better, both for the installer and the customer. We’re always considering improve-ments for future products; it’s a renewal, development and refinement process.

And we have done a number of unique things too. We have one product, the Ci160TR [pictured right], that needs less than 36mm of mounting depth and is an exceptional sounding speaker. That is a problem solver in

many circumstances, especially in a modern multi-story building where there’s very little space in the ceiling because they maximise ceiling height. So we have a product where virtually no other will fit. We had a number of yacht builders take on this product for the very same reason where the living spaces are made to be as large as possible and the ceiling space is minimal. We’re able to do a speaker like that

WHAT’S IN A NAME?

Problem solver: KEF’s Ci160TR requires less than 36mm depth, ideal for shallow ceilings

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because we have the engineering skills to create a driver that is 25mm deep. It was created for our T Series and adapted for CI use. So we have a unique solution to solve instal-lation problems and to have music virtually any- where you wish in your home.

S+I: Is KEF’s signature Uni-Q driver used throughout the ranges?DK: The Uni-Q is used through most of the products and in all of the R Series. It’s ideal for an in-wall speaker

because it’s a point source with all frequencies radiating in all directions from virtually the same source. With a conventional speaker, as you move off axis the tonal character changes because of the interaction between the drivers. With the Uni-Q driver you can move severely off axis without any tonal shift.

One of the unfortunate sides of a CI speaker is that we don’t always get to install them where they sound best. They’re sometimes installed where they blend in a bit more, or where they look good, or where the layout permits and not necessarily where they sound at their best. Because the off-axis response with a Uni-Q in-wall speaker is so wide, even when you have them in a less than ideal position, you can still get room-filling sound and correct imaging and soundstaging.

S+I: Do you assist the CI industry in speaker selection and correct placement?DK: Yes, and we have a service on our website, it’s a free tool, where you can download our software that allows you to select a KEF speaker, select the room size and ceiling height and decide on the number of speakers — and it will work out the sound pressure levels in different parts of the room so you can see the variability and the coverage pattern. It will also recommend the number of speakers for best coverage and you can also compare the sound pressure levels between the softest and loudest areas. You can then decide whether you can live with, say, a 9dB difference, or whatever. Then you could add more speakers, recalculate

and do a comparison to see how four, or six, or eight speakers work in a given room. Use this software with non Uni-Q and with Uni-Q speakers and you find out that you can get the same coverage with two Uni-Q speakers as you get with four conventional speakers.

S+I: Does KEF offer in-wall subwoofers?DK: Yes, we do. We’re in the process of releasing R Series in-wall subwoofers that have THX Ultra2 certification. The interesting thing with subwoofers is that most often a single-box subwoofer is difficult to place in terms of room interactions and so on. Multiple subwoofers can be the answer but who wants two or ideally four subwoofers in their room, especially if it’s a multi-purpose room? The KEF in-wall subwoofers are almost invisible and can be placed asymmetrically to resolve room issues without taking up any floor space. That’s a remarkable solution. And of course with wall cavities you get a sub with, effectively, a large enclosure for deeper more powerful bass without taking up floor space.

Also, with Dolby Digital, all channels are full frequency and there are a number of very good movies where if you’re running subs in

all channels you really get the sense of realistic sound passing over and by you. It enhances the whole experience.

S+I: Do the subs offer DSP and microphone room tuning?DK: No they don’t, but the sub amplifiers feature DSP front-ends with a number of settings, so depending on the construction… you know, if you’re trying to take 20Hz out of it and you have loose light fixtures in your room, there are different settings to tail off the sub’s bass response to suit the environment.

S+I: Are there plans for a KEF ‘Reference Series’ CI product? DK: The R Series CI products are a very expensive line of speakers in the ‘in-wall’ realm as it is, and we’re not planning a more upmarket range at this stage. They’ve reached an extraordinary level of sophistication and have THX Ultra2 certification. In terms of performance, they are well beyond what most people expect from this type of product.

KEF is distributed in Australia through Advance Audio: www.advanceaudio.com.au

KEF’s new Ci5160RL grilled, ungrilled and in situ (left)

Out-of-the-way positions can be aesthetically pleasing but may not be the best for sonic results.

The ‘point source’ of KEF’s coaxial UniQ drivers can improve off-axis response in such situations.

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ARCHITECTURAL SPEAKERS

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