The behind the wall design desired by architects, interior designers,
and design savvy consumers
San Clemente, CA–February 2006–Sound Advance, the invisible in-wall loudspeaker solution that literally envelops a room with music yet is completely undetectable to the eye, recently held a showing of their products to the trade at the Consumer Electronics Show. An interior designer’s dream, the Sound Advance loudspeaker system is designed to be installed completely hidden from view, flush behind walls or in the ceiling. Homeowners can now enjoy listening to their favorite music in true, natural, high fidelity sound while maintaining an uninterrupted and uncluttered surface.
Sound Advance offers musical solutions for residential, commercial, retail establishments and offices–anywhere where music can be enjoyed and yet remain invisible. The secret is in Sound Advance’s combination of extended response, surprisingly full bass and smooth, remarkably well-dispersed sound that radiates throughout a room. Once installed, they can be covered with latex paint or water-soluble wall coverings which make them literally disappear entirely into the room surfaces.
Steve Crawford, Chief Marketing Officer, says, “The Sound Advance technology at last gives us the ability to install loudspeakers that are literally indistinguishable from wall surfaces. Decor-driven customers and designers will be impressed by their disappearing act, but we’re equally convinced that even experienced listeners will be stunned by their sound.”
Designed for installation between wall studs, the Sound Advance SA2 flat-panel loudspeaker features a rigid, flat panel, expanded-polystyrene foam diaphragm with carefully engineered density and zone-controlled flexibility, driven by dual, specially developed voice-coil assemblies. The arrangement yields both extended low-frequency reproduction and very wide dispersion of mids and highs–performance factors that are difficult to obtain, if not mutually exclusive, among traditional loudspeakers.
How it works:
A Sound Advance flat-panel loudspeaker work by acting as a transmission line, radiating vibrations from its entire surface so they can radiate naturally balanced sound over a wider area, enveloping the surrounding area even when covered with plaster, paint or wallpaper.
The variable-thickness diaphragm, which sets Sound Advance’s transducer technology apart from any other type of radiating source, features special grooves and channels on the rear surface to precisely control vibrations. Damping weights are added to tune the motional response of the entire surface. The diaphragm is then stretched and bonded to its supporting frame with proper amounts of tension.
The entire diaphragm radiates sound at lower frequencies, and, as frequency increases, the diaphragm’s design reduces the effective radiating area. All of this activity causes the polystyrene beads in the diaphragm to radiate like miniature point sources, to create exceptionally wide angle sound coverage at all frequencies down to 20Hz.
The Sound Advance SA2 is 21 x 14 x3 inches (HxWxD), and weighs less than 8 lbs. Available accessories include installation “back-boxes” for wall depths of 4 and 6 inches, a metal-stud install kit, and 70V and 100V transformer adapters for commercial distributed-audio installations.
About Sound Advance:
Based in San Clemente, California, Sound Advance is a division of Sonance, the company that introduced the world’s first in-wall loudspeaker products. Sound Advance has been the leading manufacturer of invisible flat panel loudspeakers for commercial and residential audio and entertainment systems for over 25 years.
Highly respected by architects, designers and sound-system integrators around the globe, Sound Advance products are installed the world over at numerous design centers, including the idea houses in San Francisco and the Pacific Design Center in Los Angeles, and fashion retailers on Madison Avenue and Rodeo Drive.
