We almost wish we hadn’t. The noise was brain-numbingly loud as we blasted, somewhat appropriately, Richard Strauss’ Also Sprach Zarathustra. We couldn’t hear each other speak, and we could feel our internal organs vibrating. Any sense of fidelity disappeared, but—all power to the Kallsups—it worked. We’d successfully linked 149 Bluetooth speakers, though sadly we’re well short of the world record of 1,500 speakers set by Majority Audio in March 2026.
At more modest, realistic volumes, everything sounded considerably more composed, even if the music lacked levels of depth and detail. The overall lack of clarity could also be due to minor timing differences between the individual drivers.
At $1,490, a wall of Kallsups is quite an investment, and not one we’re recommending, but it is extremely impressive that we managed to sync and play music wirelessly through so many small, cheap speakers.
We also tested the wall alongside WIRED’s choice for best overall party speaker, the $500 LG Xboom Stage 501. Cranked up, both reached similarly ear-splitting, frankly uncomfortable volumes. But with two 5.25-inch woofers, two 2.5-inch full-range drivers, and clever digital signal processing, the LG delivered understandably fuller, deeper bass and a considerably more musical experience, as expected.
Powering Down
Photograph: Jeremy White
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Photograph: Jeremy White
What’s remarkable about this experiment is that so little went wrong. Only one of the 150 speakers shipped didn’t work, clearly broken in transit. We managed to get all 149 sound cubes chained easily and quickly. And when we weren’t blasting the wall of sound at max volume, instead keeping levels moderate, the speakers sounded surprisingly competent as a collective.
However, there were hints of the Kallsup chaining capacity reaching its limit, as Ikea suspected. As we got beyond 100 units linked together, the incidence of failing to chain on the first try increased. Still, no speaker refused more than twice as we got toward the end of the build.
We also would have preferred indentations on the tops of the speakers, which would have given us a bit more confidence that the whole stack wasn’t going to collapse in a heap as volume ramped up (which it didn’t). Such a simple design feature would help whether you’re dealing with just a couple placed on top of each other, let alone 149—but this is splitting hairs.
Lastly, although this setup was impressively loud, no one in their right mind would do this in their own home. Ikea has been a good sport letting us try this out, but the ultimate, unsurprising lesson is: If you want high-quality audio, spend your money on a better speaker. As for the Kallsup? Simple to use, easy to chain, with approachable sound and clean design. You really can’t ask much more for $10.
