IKEA’s Kallsup speakers can be wirelessly linked into an enormous wall of sound: 149 of the 150 units supplied for this experiment worked, and all were connected successfully. The result was extraordinarily loud but not especially detailed, showing both the impressive practicality and the limits of synchronizing so many inexpensive speakers.
“I almost wish I hadn’t done that,” the experimenter writes. Playing Richard Strauss’s Also sprach Zarathustra at full volume produced brain-numbingly loud sound. Conversations became impossible, and the physical impact of the music was noticeable. The setup linked 149 Bluetooth speakers, although it fell short of the world record for 1,500 speakers, set in March 2026 by Majority Audio.
At more realistic volume levels, the collective sound was considerably more subdued. It lacked depth and detail, and some of the reduced clarity may have resulted from slight timing differences between individual speaker drivers.
At $1,490, the Kallsup Wall represents a significant investment and is difficult to recommend as a conventional audio system. Still, it is impressive that so many small, inexpensive speakers could be synchronized wirelessly and used to play music together.
The setup was also tested alongside the $500 LG Xboom Stage 501, which WIRED named the best overall party speaker. At maximum volume, both systems reached equally deafening—and frankly unpleasant—levels. However, the LG’s two 5.25-inch woofers, two 2.5-inch full-range drivers, and digital signal processing produced a much more musical result, with naturally richer and deeper bass.
Turning off the power
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The most remarkable aspect of the experiment was how few failures occurred. Of the 150 speakers shipped, only one failed to work, apparently because it was damaged in transit. The remaining 149 sound cubes were chained together quickly and without much difficulty. At moderate volume, the speakers also sounded surprisingly competent as a group.
There were signs, however, that Kallsup’s chaining system was approaching its limits. Once the number of connected speakers exceeded 100, the frequency of first-attempt connection failures increased. By the end of the build, though, no speaker failed more than once.
A recess on the top of each speaker would also have provided more confidence that the stack would not collapse as the volume increased—although it did not collapse during the test. Such simple design features are useful when handling 149 units, and even when stacking several speakers, but managing a wall of this size is extremely difficult.
The final setup was impressively loud, but it is not a sensible home audio solution. IKEA provided the opportunity to try it, and the straightforward conclusion is that anyone seeking high-quality audio should spend the money on better speakers. The Kallsup is easy to use, easy to chain, pleasant-sounding and cleanly designed. At $10 per speaker, it is difficult to ask for more.
Source: www.wired.com