Sonance
Sonance built the world’s first in-wall loudspeaker in 1983, and more or less invented the idea that a speaker shouldn’t be something you look at. Everything since has been a version of that: speakers that sit flush in a ceiling, disappear behind drywall entirely, or live in a garden bed among the planting.
Three brands, one company
The architectural range — in-wall, in-ceiling, small-aperture, invisible, soundbars, outdoor and marine.
The high-performance line, for rooms where someone wants to sit down and listen — and what we specify for landscape audio that has to fill a large outdoor space.
Docks and mounts that turn an iPad into a permanent control surface rather than something left on a counter.
We install a lot of it, and the reason is simple: it’s the range that lets us say yes when a designer tells us nothing can be visible. Small-aperture in-ceiling comes down to roughly the size of a coin. Invisible speakers go behind the plaster and get painted over. Landscape speakers hide in the planting. There’s almost no room where the answer has to be a box on a shelf.
Explore the Range
Ways to put sound in a room without putting a speaker in it.
In-Wall & In-Ceiling Speakers
Sonance in-wall and in-ceiling speakers deliver exceptional sound while blending seamlessly into any space. Designed for both aesthetics and performance, they provide crystal-clear audio with minimal visual impact. Plus, with customizable speaker grilles available in a variety of finishes – including wood, white, and custom paint-matching, you can ensure a perfect fit for any décor.
Invisible Series
Sonance call it “designed to disappear,” and in this case they mean it literally. Invisible speakers mount behind the drywall and are then plastered and painted over — or wallpapered, if that’s what the room calls for. There is no grille, no trim, and nothing to see.
The Motion Flex Invisible Series is the current generation, and the improvements are mostly in two places: how the panel moves to produce sound, and how much easier it is to install straight and level behind a finished surface.
Soundbars
A soundbar is the sensible answer when a room needs better sound than a television can produce but doesn’t warrant speakers in the ceiling. What separates Sonance is that the bar is made to the width of your screen rather than coming in a few standard sizes — so it lines up exactly, which is what stops it reading as an accessory bolted underneath.
James Soundbar
Everything is built to order in a facility that does the whole job under one roof — machine shop, carpentry, fabrication, powder-coating, testing and finishing. Almost nothing is off a shelf. In practice that means a soundbar can be made to your dimensions, in your finish, with your choice of grille material. If a screen sits in a particular piece of millwork, the bar is made to fit it. And because nearly every James product can be built to marine grade, the same range works on a yacht as in a living room — which is why it’s what we specify for boats as well as houses.
Landscape Audio
A garden is a difficult room. No walls to reflect off, no ceiling to hold anything in — so a pair of speakers at one end either can’t be heard at the other or is far too loud where you’re standing. Landscape audio solves it differently: a number of small speakers spread through the planting, each running quietly, so the sound is even everywhere instead of loud in one place.
The system we install most often is the Sonance Garden Series — eight satellites on stakes, spaced eight to ten feet apart, and a ten-inch subwoofer buried with only a few inches showing. For a courtyard or a fire pit, the Patio Series does the same job at around a thousand square feet. For large estates, the Landscape Series uses bigger drivers on a 70-volt system that scales without limit. And where speakers will be visible, James builds in aluminum with sixteen standard finishes. We’ll tell you which one your garden needs.
Experience Outdoor Audio in our Yaletown Showroom
James is the choice when the speakers will be visible. They’re made from aluminium, built to order in Nevada, and come in sixteen standard finishes — so they can match the building instead of standing out against it.
Three types: slim speakers for under eaves, satellites on stakes for garden beds, and subwoofers that bury in the ground. All built to last outdoors.
We have them running in the Yaletown showroom. Worth hearing before you decide.
Marine Speakers
Both Sonance and James make marine-grade speakers, and the difference from a domestic version isn’t cosmetic. Aluminum rather than plastic, finishes made for saltwater and constant damp rather than adapted to it, and hardware that doesn’t seize after a season at sea. That difference doesn’t show in the first year. It shows in the second, when a speaker specified for a living room has started to corrode and one built for the water hasn’t.
We look after yachts and superyachts out of Vancouver — refits, upgrades and ongoing service.
See Our Marine WorkSonance covers the standard marine range — in-wall, in-ceiling and cockpit speakers that fit existing openings. James builds to order, so a speaker can be made to the dimensions and finish a particular vessel needs, which matters on a boat where the joinery is tight and nothing is a standard size. Warranties run up to five years.
Planning a Sonance project?
