Not the sexiest product for my debutante debut review, but I just love the new Onsia Concealed Flat Panel Speakers we just installed. Unlike standard speakers, where you cut a hole in the drywall for them to poke through, these actually are >in< the wall and, if installed right, are completely invisible – no grates or grilles to disrupt the aesthetic of the room.

How it Works

The Onsia panels consist of a transducer mounted to a soundboard. The board produces the sound when it is “excited” by the transducer. Onsia compares this to how many stringed instruments produce sound with the vibration of the instrument’s body excited by the strings. The soundboard is a honey-comb structure of aerated Styrofoam polystyrene that is decently rigid while providing lots of air pockets to keep it light, and I assume, to better transmit sound. Onsia makes three variants of the speakers – one for walls, one for ceilings and an interesting wall variant that masquerades as a picture frame.

Installation

Despite the geek lust the boyfriend/husband/whatever and I had when we saw them demoed the store, I was nervous about how they would look and sound when installed. We thought they’d be perfect for the knee walls in the new attic home gym we were wrapping up, but didn’t want to end up with ugly scars on the walls. Unfortunately, the cute drywall boys had wrapped up their work the week prior and we’d have to install them ourselves. We had to cut dry wall with the provided template and mount them to the studs – relatively easy to do with a handheld drywall saw and a screw gun. They sounded pretty good once installed, but the plastering and sanding to cover them up was a challenge. It took us two tries to get them plastered so they were nearly invisible. I am still cleaning the dust out of the various nooks and crannies of the room and they could use another sanding.

All though we went with the in-wall panels because of how low they’d need to be mounted in the knee walls, I’d definitely consider the picture-frame style in other rooms. These have a frame that covers them once installed, obviating the need for the concealment work. While I love pretending to be butch, not having to do the plastering, sanding and painting would alleviate some of the installation stress.

The End Result

Despite the fits and starts getting them to be truly invisible, they look good and produce pretty damn nice sound. They easily fill the 15’x20’ room with crisp, clear music. Just be careful not to crank the bass up to 11 – at max you can hear the studs and dry wall shake a bit. The Onsia panels are great compliment to the Sonos Digital Music System we have in the house. All the components are hidden and I just keep the Sonos wireless remote in the room to control my workout music.

We won’t be replacing the 7.1 systems in either of the two media rooms with these, but for a kitchen, bedroom, basement or gym these are perfect. I recommend the Onsia Concealed Flat Panel Speaker for new construction and anyone putting in new drywall. In upgrade situations your experience will vary according to your skill with the plastering trowel.

–Colin

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