Installation

For the review, I received two SC-IW's, consisting of five boxes, four for the drivers and speaker boxes, plus one for the SC-1250 class D amplifier. Although the SC-1250 has a built-in parametric equalizer, most installers will recommend purchasing Velodyne's outstanding SMS-1 equalizer as well, and an SMS-1 was included as part of my installation.

Because the job was a retro-fit rather than new construction, installation was performed primarily by Veloyne technican Rick Yoder, with help from Geoffrey Marks, Director of Sales, Western Region. What would have been a two or three-hour install for new construction turned into a two-day job, made necessary by meticulous cutting of the drywall, re-routing electrical wires, pulling speaker cable through the walls, mounting the enclosures, then mudding, taping, and re-painting the existing drywall. Suffice it to say, consumers wanting to install the SC-IW's into an existing room will have a higher bill from the contractor.

The grille was then painted to match the wall. Here's what the final installation looks like (the upper rectangle is a sound panel, not part of the subwoofer installation).

Pictures really don't do justice of how well these units blend in with the wall. Once installed, the only sign of the in-walls existence were small painted grilles on the front wall. They are essentially invisible to the naked eye. We're talking through-the-roof SAF ratings.

The space-saving benefit was immediately apparent in that I could hang acoustic panels right over the drywall to absorb reflections from my main speakers. Needless to say, my wife is very happy to have the big subs out of the room. She asked me if I would miss showing off the large subwoofers to friends (she knows how a guy likes to show off his big subwoofer), but I told her I'm secure enough in my masculinity and would enjoy the look on friends' faces, noticing the lack of visible subwoofers, asking where all the rumble was coming from.

Go to Part III.

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