Skip to main content

Control4 didn’t think outside the box for its invisible speaker, it invented one

Control4 Triad Designer Series
Caleb Denison/Digital Trends
Last February, home automation giant Control4 acquired Triad speakers, and a new custom home audio powerhouse was born. Until recently, however, it wasn’t clear what kind of fruit the partnership would bear. We now know that in addition to a slew of clever new pieces of multiroom audio gear, the team has created one of the most impressive in-wall/in-ceiling speaker and subwoofer solutions we’ve heard to date. What’s more, this new Triad Designer Series is all but invisible.

Designed with new construction in mind yet also suitable for some existing homes, the Triad Designer Series speaker packs two 3 x 6-inch woofers and a 2.5-inch “Ultra Broad Dispersion” tweeter into a cleverly ported box that disappears behind the wall, with only a tiny 4-inch speaker grill offering any visible evidence that a speaker is anywhere to be found.

Recommended Videos

Part of the genius in this speaker design is the manner in which the the bass from the two 3 x 6-inch drivers is ported out and around the 2.5-inch tweeter which, as the name implies, spreads treble across a broad area within a room, making it even more difficult to pinpoint the source of the sound. The combined result is rich, room-filling sound with the kind of precision rarely found in in-ceiling and in-wall speakers.

Please enable Javascript to view this content

All that engineering comes at a princely price, however. The DS4-FR go for $1,400 each, so a pair will set you back $2,800, and that’s not counting installation costs. Still, the sound quality and mystically invisible nature of the speaker makes quite an impression and should delight high-end clients.

Control4 Triad Designer Series
Caleb Denison/Digital Trends

While the bass output of the DS4-FR speaker is more than adequate on its own, bass lovers will be pleased to know Control4 and Triad also make the $1,400 DS4-SUB, which features three 3 x 6-inch drivers within the same size box. With the subwoofer added to a two-channel demonstration system, we noticed a significant improvement in the heft and overall presence of the bass.

Perhaps the most impressive aspect of the new Triad Designer Speaker series is its ability to eliminate hot spots and dead zones in a room, ensuring that music is essentially the same loudness no matter where you are standing or sitting.

Control4 is showing off the Triad Designer Speaker series at CEDIA 2017 in San Diego from September 7 through September 10 and the speakers are available through dealers across the U.S. now.

Caleb Denison
Digital Trends Editor at Large Caleb Denison is a sought-after writer, speaker, and television correspondent with unmatched…
This TCL HD projector has a killer deal today
TCL Projector A1.

Owning a portable projector is one of the best ways to enjoy movies, shows, and video games on the go. And if you’ve been thinking about investing in one of these lens-equipped bad boys, allow us to direct your attention to the incredible TCL A1, an HD powerhouse that happens to be on sale:

For a limited time, when you purchase the TCL A1 Google TV Projector through Amazon or Walmart, you’ll only pay $380. The full MSRP on this model is $500. It’s one of the best projector deals we’ve seen in a while, so take advantage of the offer while you still can!

Read more
Surround sound smackdown: Sonos Arc Ultra System vs. Sony Bravia Theater Quad
Sonos Arc Ultra and Sub vs Bravia Theater Quad

Are you looking for a top-tier Dolby Atmos surround sound system that gets as close as possible to a full-on receiver and speakers? I have two favorites. Let’s pit them against each other. 

First, on the Sonos side, there is the Arc Ultra with its enhanced bass performance, the new Sonos Sub 4, and two Dolby Atmos-capable Era 300 speakers. On the Sony side it’s the Bravia Theater Quad system matched up to Sony’s best subwoofer, the SW5. 

Read more
This Samsung 83-inch OLED TV has a $1,000 discount today
Samsung S85D 4K OLED TV.

Samsung produces a ton of TVs, so it’s no surprise to us that some of the best TV deals are on Samsung products (because there are so many!). Fortunately, Samsung is one of the best TV brands in the business, especially when it comes to 4K OLED TVs. As luck would have it, we came across a major discount on a monstrous Samsung: 

For a limited time, when you purchase the Samsung 83-inch S85D Series OLED through Best Buy or Walmart, you’ll only pay $2,500. The full MSRP on this model is $3,500. 

Read more