Theory Audio SB25 Speaker System Review

[Ken Tajalli]

Where's the panther?

In the attic, waiting for the aircon man.

 

[prerich]

Sure but imagine how many "audiophiles" buy cables for that money. Yes its expensive. But it delivers. While expensive cables deliver the same than cheap cables. Would i buy it? No iam not rich enough.

I understand the cables analogy but let's really get serious, did you see those distortion levels? You've got to admit that they're pretty bad. Distortion is one of my major pet peeves, sometimes even more than frequency response. It delivers in Frequency response but if you turn it up.......well....

 

[Cogito]

Lot's of ringing (Drivers and/or enclosure issues?) IMHO. Overpriced garbage.

 

[5150]

I understand the cables analogy but let's really get serious, did you see those distortion levels? You've got to admit that they're pretty bad. Distortion is one of my major pet peeves, sometimes even more than frequency response. It delivers in Frequency response but if you turn it up.......well....

Bad compared to full size speakers, SOTA by the standard of thin speakers... ASR users inability to account for the clearly intended use case of a speaker never ceases to amaze

 

[tomtoo]

I understand the cables analogy but let's really get serious, did you see those distortion levels? You've got to admit that they're pretty bad. Distortion is one of my major pet peeves, sometimes even more than frequency response. It delivers in Frequency response but if you turn it up.......well....

Two 5inch no they dont do wonders. But if you add a sub things get better.

 

[oscar_dziki]

over 10K for a set that can't play over 90 db? Nah, thanks.

 

[Cbdb2]

Something everyone missed. Theses are in wall speakers, not on wall (although lots will use them on wall). Look at the description. There the thickness of a stud. And they come with paintable grills to match the walls.

 

[DanielT]

Thanks for the test Amir!

From the measurements it looks like a 2 way design to me, while a 2.5 way design would improve the vertical directivity without large SPL sacrifices.

That was my suspicion too. If this is the case, I think the manufacturer should try to get a 2.5 design with this otherwise good speaker.

Double bass drivers in a 2.5 design with a speaker that is supposed to be placed some distance from a wall may be a sensible solution to compensate for the lack of baffle support but I don't understand why there are two bass drivers in a speaker which is meant to be placed on a wall? The wall itself provides bass support, so? Okay dual drivers give lower distortion than a single driver, but still. Lower distortion 2 vs 1, given that it's the same drivers.

 

[EDMoser]

Something everyone missed. Theses are in wall speakers, not on wall (although lots will use them on wall). Look at the description. There the thickness of a stud. And they come with paintable grills to match the walls.

View attachment 384003View attachment 384003

these are the specs for the iw25, not the sb25 reviewed here.

 

[amper42]

Something everyone missed. Theses are in wall speakers, not on wall (although lots will use them on wall). Look at the description. There the thickness of a stud. And they come with paintable grills to match the walls.

View attachment 384003View attachment 384003

That's the wrong product.
See https://www.theoryprofessional.com/products/p/sb25-multiuse-loudspeaker

Included Accessories:

Theory Z-Clip Mounting Brackets (male and female) for Flat Surface Mounting

 

[Ken Tajalli]

If you attach the SB25 to a wall it could easily create significant resonances. 24" on center drywall can vibrate pretty easily with deep bass lines even when a speaker is free standing. Place the speaker directly on the drywall and things get interesting quickly with strong bass lines. Extra screws and sound deadening materials will likely be needed to reduce vibrations.

Well, if I was in the market for a $20K sound system for my home cinema, would probably have a laser projector and rows of reclining seats in a dedicated cinema room, my house would not have any drywall!
It would be a stone build on the beach, or a concrete penthouse apartment in a high rise somewhere in an affluent city.
So, no worries!
Do they come in matt pastel colours for $10K extra?

 

[Ktacos]

Them big round overs doin some work.

 

[EJ3]

Where have you been? 24 inch framing with drywall has been the norm in large areas for oh maybe 40 or so years. 16 inch was the old norm and better houses still use it, but it isn't the norm now. I do agree I'd never put something that heavy on just the drywall.

My homes (1st built buy my father in 1964, he was a Plumbing heating & airconditioning mechanical contractor). This home is 16" centers, and since it was built had 2 central air systems, one for downstairs and another for upstairs, both of the mounted above what a Hurricane was likely to get to (the home is on deep water). It also has an intercom system throughout the house & at the front door (hard to get tubes for it these days).
This home has been through multiple hurricanes (including have 27 & 1/2 inches of water in it once & 3" of water in it another time), with no ill effect (except cleaning the fiddler crabs, shrimp and mud out).
One of my other homes is 12 miles away, built in 1968, has so much tree cover that you can't find it from above using Google earth (street view, it can be found), for some reason all the breakers are 20AMP (I wonder what they were doing in 1968). But it only had 100 AMP service, which I changed to 160 AMP. Also, all the ceiling lights were wired to some sort of transformer device in the attic and then run to a single breaker (so, if one ceiling light went out, they all did). Very strange. I kept all the circuits 20 AMPS and was able to give each outlet and ceiling light it's own circuit.
My other 2 homes (built in the 1990's) are on islands in the Western Pacific and they are made from reinforced concrete (no worries about drywall there) and have with stood 223 MPH gusts and are about 100 yards off of the beaches.
I quite being a mechanical contractor in the early 1980's. And I retired January of this year.
I don't know when 24" on center started but I would never have a home that was built that way.
And, as I have said, I have never seen it or heard of it.
Of course, there is no reason for me to know about it, since any future home that I have will be of reinforced concrete.
It costs a bit more (6-10%) to build that way but is more efficient and less worrisome.
Although, you actually have to build a bit bigger to accommodate storage solutions.
And design in some soft surfaces for audio purposes.

 

[EJ3]

I literally don't know one single restaurant, retail store, bar, hotel or whatever spending such a lot of money for "high fidelity background or foreground sound". In most cases they are equipped with a bunch of the omnipresent JBL Control 1 or some of their clones...

I guess that you (like myself) don't frequent places that have $$$$... next to their name in reviews.

 

[nathan]

What's the competition for this speaker -- hitting this output level with this form factor with this level of audio quality? I realize many people may not want or need what this speaker does, but for its design goals, it seems to be in the realm of other speakers of this ilk?

Is it something like the Perlisten R5i-LR with the on wall kit perhaps? The Perlisten is rated for less output and costs $6k a pair? Or do you really have to compare it with the Perlisten S5i-LR at $13k a pair to match the output (though with better CEA2034 measurements)? Or maybe the RBH 831-SW/R in a similar price range (though I cannot find CEA2034 measurements of them)?

(I'd probably get the Revel BE in wall speakers with the overpriced box and call it a day but I can see the appeal of this segment for higher end screening rooms where giving up more than a few inches behind the screen or along the walls is a non starter -- much cheaper to pay a high price for a narrow form factor than to add square footage to a room, etc, for other speaker types.)

 

[Audio Science Pal]

Something everyone missed. Theses are in wall speakers, not on wall (although lots will use them on wall). Look at the description. There the thickness of a stud. And they come with paintable grills to match the walls.

View attachment 384003

View attachment 384003

these are the specs for the iw25, not the sb25 reviewed here.

That's the wrong product.
See https://www.theoryprofessional.com/products/p/sb25-multiuse-loudspeaker

Included Accessories:

Theory Z-Clip Mounting Brackets (male and female) for Flat Surface Mounting

All 3 of you are correct, at that moment in time. What? How can that be? Well, it appears that @Cbdb2 got his info from the spec sheet in a very early post of this thread.

 

[mps]

Measurements are done in a different place than my listening room. The latter is a floor up. I hurt my back so couldn't lift things to take there. And lost the AC making the loft uncomfortable to boot.

I did take pictures of them in the measurement area. That shot of the back panel of the amp was done by me. I had shots of the speaker but with cell phone and hand held, they didn't look great so I used the stock images.

Hope your back feels better!

 

[Waxx]

I've actually seen and heared these, in a waining room of a higer status lawyer. They were playing classical music in the background with it. But the main focus was probally on the marble clad room, with expensive design furniture and so... If you have such a high end luxury office like that guy, than is the price very small actually. I think these will used a lot for that purpose as they are discrete (i'm the nerd who research those, most don't), tehnically good for their purpose (low level background music) and easy to install. There is a market for those, but that won't be your average ASR member i think. The multichannel amp won't be used for a HT setup in most cases, but the spread the music all over the office (in different rooms) from one central point. I'm just surprised they did not make this in a higher end 100v system

 

[Ken Tajalli]

I've actually seen and heared these, in a waining room of a higer status lawyer. They were playing classical music in the background with it. But the main focus was probally on the marble clad room, with expensive design furniture and so... If you have such a high end luxury office like that guy, than is the price very small actually. I think these will used a lot for that purpose as they are discrete (i'm the nerd who research those, most don't), tehnically good for their purpose (low level background music) and easy to install. There is a market for those, but that won't be your average ASR member i think. The multichannel amp won't be used for a HT setup in most cases, but the spread the music all over the office (in different rooms) from one central point. I'm just surprised they did not make this in a higher end 100v system

Deary me!
Nothing serious, I hope.
If in your shoes, the sound quality of the background music would be the last thing on my mind, you must have nerves of steel!
Unless, you were the high class lawyer.
In that case, I hope you choke on'em.

 

[pseudoid]

Two 5inch no they dont do wonders. But if you add a sub things get better.

So, someone gets quality in-wall speakers to get rid of the clutter in the room and then...? add a sub?