LIVE @ ISE 2026 - How Plaster-In And Wood-Panel Speakers Transform A Room

What if the best-sounding speakers are the ones you never see? We head to the Amina stand with Matt to explore the Sapphire range of invisible speakers and the stealthy ALF 100 sub, which can disappear into plaster or sit quietly behind wood panelling. It’s a masterclass in design-first audio: slim panels that vanish into the surface, wide dispersion that fills the room evenly, and a finish so clean you’ll wonder where the sound is coming from.

We dig into practical details that matter for real projects. Matt explains the sweet spot for finishes—two millimetres is the maximum recommended skim for both plaster and veneered MDF—to preserve clarity and keep transients crisp. He breaks down the size options, from the compact Sapphire 250 built for tight ceilings to the larger 375 for fuller sound, and clarifies when a sub is helpful versus optional. Think kitchens or light commercial spaces where background music and a pure aesthetic win, versus lounges and media rooms where an in-wall sub unlocks rich low end without a single box in sight.

Craftsmanship is the real differentiator here. We talk through the installation steps—alignment, taping, skimming, and the must-do step of testing before you cover anything—because invisible audio lives or dies by the quality of the install. For UK listeners, Matt shares two ways to experience the lineup: Amina’s upcoming experience centre in Huntingdon, Cambridge, with multiple acoustic contexts from foyer to lounge, and Redline’s showroom and white-glove service for those who want expert design, fit, and tuning. If you’ve ever wanted architectural sound that blends seamlessly with wood panelling, drywall, or bespoke interiors, this is your blueprint.

Join us to rethink where speakers belong, how materials shape tone, and why the best room aesthetic might be the one with no visible audio hardware at all. If you enjoyed this deep dive into invisible speakers and smart installation, follow the show, share with a design-obsessed friend, and leave a quick review to help others discover it.

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Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:05

We're here with uh Matt IC2026 and uh we're on the Amina stand. Matt, can you uh show us exactly what you've got on the stand today? Yeah, thanks.

Sapphire Range Hidden In The Wall

SPEAKER_00 0:14

Well you can't show us because they're hidden. I I can't show you anything except a big wall that sounds amazing. Fantastic. So in the wall here, we have some of our sapphire range, which you have in your hand there. Um we've actually got the 375s in the wall. This is um the slightly smaller version. We've also got one of our ALF 100 subs, which you can see ported at the bottom here, just to give you that kind of low-end feeling as well. So we haven't got it on at the moment because obviously we'd be struggling to talk to each other.

SPEAKER_01 0:36

Um, but if you want to come by during the show and hear it, you're more than welcome to so these, well not these, but the the model up from these speakers, they're actually up here hidden behind the wall.

Beyond Plaster: Driving Wood Panels

SPEAKER_00 0:46

So typically, as I'm sure you guys will know, but these are plastering speakers. So these are going to be installed in your plaster board. You're then gonna fill the edge, skim with tape, and then skim over the whole thing. So typically we're seeing them installed in dry wall and then plastered over. But as you can see here, this is actually wood. So what we've got here is an MDF wall with a um veneer on the front of it, and we've just routed out the back down to two mil, and then we've bonded these speakers to the back of this panel. So, yes, we make plaster in solutions, but they don't have to just go in plaster. So, as you can see here, we've got a wooden construction. So, uh, some interiors in some kind of commercial fit-outs where you might have wood panelling. We can absolutely drive those as well with our speakers.

SPEAKER_01 1:23

They actually work really well behind wood panelling, don't they? As well, you'd be you'd be pleasantly surprised. So you don't have to obviously have them in the ceilings and say to plaster over them, um, but you can have them behind a wood laminar, and they actually work really well. Um, plastering over them, they're about two mil thickness. Two mil is the max we recommend that you recommend.

Thickness Limits And Sound Quality

SPEAKER_00 1:40

You're going to start to notice the degradation of the quality. So, yeah, two mil. But most plasterers, even kind of very average plasterers, can work nicely at two mil.

SPEAKER_01 1:47

Fantastic. So these are the new sapphire speakers. Can you just go for the range of what actually you've got, the size? Not easily, no, because I'm uh on my third week with a you're on but I baptism of fire for you.

SPEAKER_00 1:57

But uh the 250s. This is the uh 250, yeah. So this is designed to be a slightly smaller form factor. So in certain certain construction where you might not have as much space in the ceiling, this would be a good option. Um, we have a 375 as well, which is gonna give you a slightly fuller sound, but it's obviously a bigger unit. Um, and then we have, like I say, a range of subs um on stud and in-wall subs as well.

Sizes, Subs, And Use Cases

SPEAKER_01 2:16

So with the 250s, ideally you would have a sub just to give you that.

SPEAKER_00 2:19

It always is going to give you a bit of sound, absolutely. You don't need to. So in some applications, you might not need a sub. We're not saying that every time you need a sub, but so it's in the kitchen, for instance, you not wouldn't necessarily need to have a sub. Or in some commercial applications where you're not there for the kind of full audio experiences, just kind of background music, you wouldn't need a sub. But personally, I would go for a sub myself if it was up there.

SPEAKER_01 2:42

Back in the UK, where's best to contact and to listen to these?

Where To Hear Them In The UK

Redline’s White-Glove Installation

SPEAKER_00 2:46

More importantly, what's uh a couple of options in the UK? Um, we will very soon have our own experience centre open and we'll have our complete range there in a number of different applications so you can hear it in a kind of large foyer space in a smaller um like a lounge setting. So we've got a few different um options that'll be open in the next few months. And where's that gonna be based? Uh we're in Huntington. Oh, okay. Uh uh in Cambridge. Uh and then we also have Redline, who are one of our distributors in the UK. They again have a showroom, and those guys offer like a white glove service as well. So they are experts in actually installing this because so much of how this sounds and works is about the quality of the installation. Yes. Uh, we work very closely with the guys at Redline who are distributors who have access to our full range of products, but they also install it as well. So because they know the range so well, they can do a fantastic installation job as well. So if you kind of need any help with the install side, the guys at Redline are the people as well.

Test Before You Plaster

SPEAKER_01 3:34

Fundamentally, that's very important. So it's the process of getting it right, getting the all lined up, so and obviously testing the speakers before you get them plastered over.

SPEAKER_00 3:42

Definitely testing before you plaster over, yeah. That's uh that's a big challenge if you plaster over them and they're not wired properly. Absolutely test them.

Closing And Next Listen

SPEAKER_01 3:48

So you need that contact red line, they're based in the UK, based in the UK, and um, they can obviously help you out and just almost hold your hand because I think sometimes with with these people to get a little bit scared about what to do, but I think once you follow the process and get that spot on, the end result is fantastic, and the sound quality is also fantastic. So we think so. Um but yeah, we can't can't wait to uh have another listen to the uh the new speakers you got. But uh Matt, thanks again for your time and uh enjoy the rest of the show. Thank you very much. Thanks very much.