Cabasse Minorca MC IW

The Minorca MC IW belongs to the family of speakers designed to be recessed into a wall partition. Cabasse presents it as its first in-wall, three-way design to benefit from SCS technology, for Spatial Coherence Source, developed by the brand. The objective is clear: to achieve, from a loudspeaker housed within a wall, a sonic behaviour comparable to that of a traditional speaker placed in the room.

The architecture is built around two distinct elements. The first is the BC10 coaxial midrange-tweeter, which brings together the reproduction of the midrange and treble on a single axis: both registers originate from the same point on the partition, which accounts for the stability and clarity of the sound image claimed for this model. The second is a 17 cm woofer fitted with a Duocell diaphragm, responsible for the lower register beneath the range covered by the coaxial driver.

In terms of finish, the grille is thin, ultra flat and fixed magnetically. This detail is far from trivial on a wall speaker: the absence of visible screws and the slim profile allow the speaker to blend into the wall surface, while also making the grille immediate to remove for cleaning or for checking the driver.

• BC10 coaxial midrange-tweeter
• 17 cm woofer with Duocell diaphragm
• SCS technology (Spatial Coherence Source)
• Thin, ultra flat grille with magnetic fixing
• Option: Back BOX in-wall enclosure

This model is aimed at installations where the aesthetics of the room take priority: a minimalist living room, a living space without visible speakers, a multiroom system, or channels of a home cinema set-up built into the fabric of the building. The Back BOX in-wall enclosure is offered as an option, one enclosure per speaker; it is a useful addition where the rear volume available within the partition is not well controlled, or where the aim is to limit sound spreading into the adjoining room.

When buying second-hand, the checks for an in-wall speaker differ from those for a conventional speaker. First check the condition of the woofer's Duocell diaphragm and its suspension, which are often exposed to dust when the speaker has been used without its grille or in a room undergoing renovation. Next, examine the dome of the BC10 coaxial driver, which is particularly vulnerable to accidental dents when being removed. Check the mounting frame and its clamping tabs or claws, which suffer through repeated removal, as well as the condition of the terminal block and wiring, which are sometimes cut flush when taken out of the wall. Finally, make sure the grille is present, not warped, and that its magnets still hold properly: a replacement grille is rarely easy to find for this type of model.