Invisible speaker installation · Kansas City.

Below: how an invisible speaker is installed, what the finisher needs to know, how we choose between the two makers, and where Wisdom fits.

How an invisible speaker gets installed

In new construction the wire is pulled into the stud bay before drywall, and the speaker location is marked on the framing. With Sonance, the speaker is set flush to the board with the shims supplied and played for a full minute before any compound covers it. With Stealth Acoustics, PlaceSavers hold each location through hanging and come out before mudding. Then the finisher builds the surface, the painter primes and paints, and we return to tune.

A finished house is the same job with a patch. The speaker goes into a cut opening, the drywall is finished over it, and a finisher and a painter join the schedule. Not every wall allows it, and a technician checks each wall at the site walk before we recommend a location. Wall speakers sit at least seven feet from the floor on the Sonance guide, so furniture and picture hooks stay clear.

What the finisher needs to be told

Each maker publishes its own method, and the finisher follows the one for the line in the wall. Sonance asks for 3 mm or less of finish over the speaker, a lightweight easy-sand compound, a slow-curing mix instead of hot mud, and a Level 5 surface when the wall is painted. Stealth Acoustics asks for compound feathered to no more than a sixteenth of an inch over the face, and says standard finishing needs no skim coat. We keep one line per project unless there is a reason not to, so the crew has one method to follow. The drywall brief is written out in what to tell the drywall finisher about invisible speakers.

Sonance Invisible, Stealth Acoustics, and where Wisdom fits

We choose between the two lines from the drawings: the wall or ceiling construction, the finish the designer has specified, the amplification already in the rack, and whether the plan includes outdoor speakers. Our pages on Sonance Invisible and Stealth Acoustics describe each line, and Sonance Invisible or Stealth Acoustics sets the two side by side.

Wisdom Audio is a planar-magnetic reference line for theaters and listening rooms, and our Wisdom Audio page covers it. A house with a Wisdom theater can use invisible speakers in the other rooms of the same design. Both belong to the same whole-house audio design.

When we tell you not to

A dedicated theater, a one-seat listening room and a wall of heavy texture are usually better served by conventional speakers, and we say so at the site walk. Bass is the other limit; see whether invisible speakers have enough bass and when not to choose them. A site walk is no cost, a fixed written price follows, and the five-year workmanship warranty runs from the final invoice. Our showroom is at 15108 Glenwood Ave, Overland Park, KS 66223, by appointment.

Further reading

Where to go next if this article gave you the framework but you want the brand- or install-specific depth.

• Invisible speakers vs in-ceiling speakersWhen the premium is worth it and when a good in-ceiling speaker does the job.→
• Can invisible speakers go in plaster walls?What decides it in an older Kansas City house.→
• What to tell the drywall finisherThe finishing rules, in the order the trades need them.→
• Sonance Invisible Series installerThe line, the install sequence and the finishes that work over it.→

Start with a conversation.

Tell us the room, the home, and what you want it to do. We’ll walk the plans with you — no cost, no pitch.

Call (913) 804-7575 Text us Plan a site walk