Ikea's ultra-affordable $10 Kallsup Bluetooth speaker can apparently chain up to 100 units, but WIRED decided to push the limits, linking 149 speakers to create a massive "wall of sound."
When Ikea dropped its budget-friendly Kallsup speakers, the promise of chaining 100 units caught our attention. We reached out to Ikea, and they not only agreed to let us test this but suggested we could potentially link up to 150. They sent us the speakers, with one spokesperson noting, "No one has ever tried this, though. We haven’t."
Setting up a literal wall of sound in our London office, we stacked 150 Kallsup speakers. Unfortunately, one speaker arrived damaged, rattling ominously and refusing to play, leaving us with 149 functional units. The chaining process is surprisingly straightforward: pair one speaker to your device, then power on another while playing music and hold the Play button until a chime signals multi-speaker mode. It then seamlessly joins the audio stream.
Linking all 149 speakers took about 30 minutes, a surprisingly quick setup. We tested the sound progressively, adding speakers without any issues up to the full count. For a $10 speaker, the Kallsup delivers decent sound. Each unit features a single 1.8-inch driver and a 3-watt amplifier. While it lacks deep bass and can sound tinny at high volumes, it's more than adequate for casual listening or as a portable option.
The collective sound from 149 speakers, each with its own amplifier, produced a staggering 447 watts of potential output. At moderate volumes, the sound scaled nicely, creating an immersive experience. However, pushing the volume to maximum resulted in an ear-splitting, physically vibrating cacophony, losing all fidelity but proving the speakers' impressive chaining capability. While this setup is a fun experiment, it’s not a practical home audio solution. For high-quality sound, investing in a better speaker remains the best advice.
