JBL Conceal C62 Invisible Speaker Review

[Robbo99999]

This seems like maybe a step down from simply using the TV speakers? Or a soundbar.

Weird class of equipment. Thanks for reviewing.

Now that would be worth measuring! @amirm I bet it would be challenging to measure TV speakers & also a soundbar though!

 

[Sal1950]

They don't sound amazing though but they may be acceptable as surrounds.

It's this attitude about surround speakers that drives me nuts, no wonder we have the ongoing myth that multich systems
are inferior to 2 ch systems. Would someone even think of saying they "may be acceptable for the Left channel of a 2ch rig"?
In todays world of surround music each and every bed channel is of equal importance and demanding of the same level of performance. Heck not only today, but back to the days of Quad where much of the recorded music used all four channels equally.,
expected sound quality could only be achieved if all speakers are the same.
You will never have a great surround system by mixing and matching different speakers than you would with a stereo system.

 

[Robbo99999]

How are people supposed to vote this speaker? It's on false premises as the speaker is not measured as designed; painted inside a wall. I suggest removing the ability to vote on such cases as it makes zero sense to assess something not measured in its intended use case.

If the measurements don't reflect the installation then yes, but how do we know yay or nay.

 

[Robbo99999]

View attachment 350160

I'm excited for you, you're living the dream! The way I see it, enjoy!

 

[Axo1989]

Since such coverage would have infinite variation, there is no way to test for it. The only logical thing to test then is the bare speaker. ...

Testing the bare speaker is practical and informative.

While there are many variables involved in plastering the installed unit, they are within a somewhat narrow range, so it would be possible to test a representative installation to provide more information about likely installed performance, and whether there is much variation from a clean unit. You've already gone part way by using a baffle to simulate a wall if I understand correctly. But ...

... Now, if you want to transfer $660 to the owner for the cost of the speaker, ...

... we are basically talking about destructive testing. At least, the plastered speaker can't be restored to new condition. I can't see any way around that. Whether there is sufficient added value in those additional measurements is an open question.

 

[Axo1989]

First, thanks Amir for the test. I think (and my many would agree with me) that speaker evaluations are the most interesting thing you do.

_____
Thomas.

In addition, with the Ikea SYMFONISK Picture Frame Speaker, you can choose from a lot of motifs. Here are some, a google image search I did:
View attachment 350481

However, I miss Hilma af Klint. Strange considering how popular she has become in recent years and that she was Swedish. That combo would be a slam dunk for IKEA.

View attachment 350482

Hilma af Klint - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

These are great I think. As are their speaker types that function as lamps, etc. For people who'd rather not see loudspeakers, of course.

My interior architecture/design tastes are weird however, I actually dislike pictures on walls. None of those in my house. If you need pictures to make your space liveable, the architecture has failed.

Or you just like pictures. I do have some very small paintings that live in bookshelves, being gifts or icons/tokens. And I'm sure to try the pictures on walls thing at some stage, because you can try anything once, and I'm not a zealot. My uncle's apartment has almost every wall covered in an absolute multitude of picture, like an old style gallery, and it's pretty cool. But I have/prefer many windows. Of course, not everyone lives in places where windows give good views (they may even be restricted by local building regulations) or suit the climate.

Forgive that tangent, but aesthetics are intrinsic to this product so some discussion of same (and alternative solutions) is unavoidable.

 

[amirm]

So why bother with the living room at all?
I think what your really saying is that you already have a great theater to listen in.
So if the wife wants any ole crap sounding surround in the living room, she can have her invisiblables.
And you'll go in the other room.

Can't multi-task in the theater like we can in the living room. For this reason, we watch many movies in the living room. My wife is always stitching something and I am well, watching you all in the forum.

 

[amirm]

Amir, since you are a JBL dealer, I wonder if my JBL Flip 5 speaker will blow the doors off of this? The graph is appalling. But at least we know how this type of speaker performs.

JBL has multiple product lines and distribution channels. We can get the "Synthesis" line and some of the Pro products, but not consumer. It would be way too much work anyway to go through our channels to buy a $80 speaker. I am also pretty sure that speaker will crap out way before this one does.

 

[thewas]

Can't multi-task in the theater like we can in the living room. For this reason, we watch many movies in the living room. My wife is always stitching something and I am well, watching you all in the forum.

 

[amirm]

when are we going to see photos of your theater?

There is not much to see there really. As a general rule< I prefer to keep my house private unless I have to absolutely do otherwise.

 

[amirm]

Now that would be worth measuring! @amirm I bet it would be challenging to measure TV speakers & also a soundbar though!

I did buy a soundbar a while back to measure but have not had time. They may indeed prove challenging to test with their multiple drivers and such but I will try.

 

[Sal1950]

when are we going to see photos of your theater?

There is not much to see there really. As a general rule< I prefer to keep my house private unless I have to absolutely do otherwise.

He doesn't want you to see his $200k in cables and risers.

 

[kelesh]

For sure. Certainly in higher end houses. Look at this system we installed:
View attachment 350158
All speakers are hidden. The surround speakers are in the ceiling and we built a custom sub that is below the fireplace landing. Customer would not accept anything else.

People have lost their minds completely these days. This is so cold and boring, it looks like it came from a furniture catalog. They made dedicated space for ugly vases and have nearly empty shelves but no space for beautiful audio gear? I want to see stacks and stacks of electronics, multiple runs or wiring and many, many loudspeakers - all over the place.

 

[GXAlan]

You obviously want close to the same tonality between all your speakers in a surround setup. Else the immersion can be destroyed quickly.

I think there is tone and there is dispersion. I find my Bose 901’s to work tremendously well in my home theater even though the tonality isn’t consistent. The benefits of the wider dispersion is very beneficial. Taken in a different direction, Yamaha Cinema DSP preserves tonality but changes the soundfield to enhance immersion as well.

Can't multi-task in the theater like we can in the living room. For this reason, we watch many movies in the living room. My wife is always stitching something and I am well, watching you all in the forum.

+1

Nice soundbars like the Sonos Arc are relatively benign in appearance but are a clear step up over built in TV speakers. That said, I would bet these invisible speakers would beat a sound bar in “sound field” due to the ability to put the left and right speakers further apart.

Along those same lines, Yamaha had a really nice virtual surround feature. Besides working with 2 ch, they have a proprietary mode where you put your surround speakers in front and it they still try to simulate surround sound through generalized HRTF and phase tricks. Not perfect but way better than 2 ch alone for movies.

Crutchfield isn’t the most reliable of reviewers but they have a very generous return policy, so if they over hyped this up they do take the hit of lots of customer returns.

Virtual Cinema Front

When rear speakers are out of the picture, can simulated surround sound save the day?

www.crutchfield.com

They also have a pure virtual mode that works with 2 channels and isn’t the old CircleSurround SRS, or QSound effect and is still based upon the discrete channel information.

 

[Mr. Widget]

People have lost their minds completely these days. This is so cold and boring, it looks like it came from a furniture catalog. They made dedicated space for ugly vases and have nearly empty shelves but no space for beautiful audio gear? I want to see stacks and stacks of electronics, multiple runs or wiring and many, many loudspeakers - all over the place.

You are joking right?

While there are no invisible speaker in this project, there are over 50 Meyer Sound speakers that we hid in the architecture of these cabanas including numerous 18" subs and even a massive Meyer Sound 1100-LFC for the DJ booth. The place is definitely not cold and boring!

 

[jhaider]

This is one of my reservations about ASR, that the Harman curve has literally been pronounced the "proper" voicing for a speaker or headphone and all such are evaluated by their adherence to this criteria.

For speakers, there's no such thing as a Harman "voicing" curve. The Harman guidance is flattish and smooth on axis, smooth off axis. Whatever room curve results from that, results.

Amir says "That's a huge feature." I'm surprised. I never heard of such a thing or even wondered about it myself. Speakers mounted flush with or without a decorative grille obviously make sense. But concealing them behind the wall's surface, I had no idea there was a demand for that. Good old ASR, I learn something new every day.

He's not wrong. I was surprised when, in the course of laying out our family room, my wife insisted on no in-wall speakers. (We had in wall side speakers in the previous house.) I've subsequently heard it a few times as well.

 

[dasdoing]

People have lost their minds completely these days. This is so cold and boring, it looks like it came from a furniture catalog. They made dedicated space for ugly vases and have nearly empty shelves but no space for beautiful audio gear? I want to see stacks and stacks of electronics, multiple runs or wiring and many, many loudspeakers - all over the place.

look where the table is. the fireplace is the main focus of this place. this might explain why tech needs to be hidden. why have a TV at these places? I don't know

 

[dasdoing]

speaking of which, there are speaker hiding in a ceiling and folding down on the push of the button. there must be comparable solution for speakers.

 

[dasdoing]

here you go

world's first ever full WAF TV (though they might still complain about the weird slots in the floor lol)

 

[Sal1950]

my wife insisted on no in-wall speakers. (We had in wall side speakers in the previous house.)

So she didn't like the in-walls but wanted invisible or conventional speakers instead?