What happens when you pit a massive army of budget-friendly speakers against the undisputed heavyweights of the audio world?
Ikea has quietly released the Kallsup, a vibrant, incredibly basic Bluetooth speaker that costs a mere $10. On its own, it is exactly what you'd expect for the price: a fun, colorful, and completely unpretentious little device perfectly suited for a kid's bedroom or a cluttered desk. However, beneath its humble exterior lies a surprisingly ambitious party trick: you can wirelessly daisy-chain up to 100 of these cheap little boxes together.
Naturally, we had to take this to the logical extreme. To see if sheer numbers could overcome premium engineering, we acquired $200 worth of Kallsup speakers—20 units in total—scattered them across a living room, and pitted the colorful swarm against high-end audio setups from industry giants like Sonos and Bose.
The Swarm vs. The Titans
Setting up 20 individual Bluetooth speakers is quite the aesthetic experience. The Kallsup lacks smart features, voice assistants, or premium acoustic tuning. Yet, when linked in unison, they generate a literal wall of sound that aggressively punches above its weight class.
Does a $200 fleet of Ikea speakers deliver the crystalline highs and thunderous, distortion-free bass of a premium Sonos or Bose system? Unsurprisingly, no. The luxury brands still easily dominate when it comes to sonic clarity, spatial audio fidelity, and effortless integration.
However, the sheer volume and surprisingly decent mid-range presence of twenty synchronized $10 speakers create a genuinely immersive, enveloping audio experience. The Ikea Kallsup isn't trying to replace your audiophile-grade home theater. But if you're looking for an incredibly cheap, modular way to flood a room with music—or just want to experience the sheer joy of building an interconnected audio army—this $10 gadget is an absolute steal.