audioblocs - A modular speaker system

[phlipski]

Have you ever wondered, "How can I upgrade my existing speakers without having to buy new ones?"

Hi everyone, I'm a long time audio enthusiast and electrical engineer and I've developed a modular loudspeaker system. It's currently undergoing a prelaunch campaign to gauge product market fit.

You can start with a basic 2-way bookshelf and then add an extra midwoofer to create a 2.5-way or MTM configuration. You could add a down-firing subwoofer base and create a full-range tower speaker.

I'd love for people to head over to the audioblocs prelaunch page and check it out!

Key features:

• self powered - class-D amps for each driver.
• wireless surround - WiSA wireless supports up to 8 channels for surround sound.
• repairable - if you're familiar with the Framework laptop that's my guiding light. With one (maybe 2) tools you can completely disassemble the units and repair them if needed.
• extruded aluminum cabinets for strength and recyclability.

Feel free to ask questions in this thread and I'll answer them.

Thanks!
Jonathan Phillippe
audioblocs™ Founder

 

[OldHvyMec]

Interesting, looks expensive. The principle is based on the old SAT idea, "Stack and Test". Hopefully, you've done all the testing.

Regards

 

[Vladimir Filevski]

It is not mentioned in your page: how user changes crossover settings with addition of new blocks - second midwoofer, or subwoofer?

 

[Grotti]

Too little information for my taste. What about frequency response for bookshelfs, MTM and the full stack? Is it possible to go with bookshelf speakers and woofer base to avoid the radiation pattern of the MTM? Size of drivers, used amplifiers with specs (external or plate amps) etc..

And most important: any measurements or at least simulations of the speakers? And of course the price target would be of interest.

 

[EERecordist]

Welcome to ASR! There is a mixing/mastering studio in the UK, https://www.presentdayproduction.com/ who developed something similar. Their design process was a fun read (for me.)

Where are you located? The German company https://www.klippel.de/ makes the industry standard speaker tester. Specialized test labs and universities have them. I hope that has been a part of your development process, and with internal DSPs the speakers could be designed to adapt to the specific LEGO configuration, and/or to the room as do the Genelec, Neumann, and others.

You can see if you are in the ballpark, if you have not already tested your speaker, with Room EQ Wizard and an about 100 Euro calibrated microphone.

 

[Grotti]

By the way: there is a German producer of audio equipment with a very similar name. I hope, you checked this beforehand:

Lautsprecher von Audioblock - Made in Germany | Audioblock

Die Lautsprecher-Modelle von Audioblock: S-10, S-50, S-100, S-250 und SL-250 ✓ natürliches Klangbild ✓ Versandkostenfrei ✓ 2 Jahre Garantie ➤ Jetzt bestellen!

www.audioblock.de

 

[phlipski]

It is not mentioned in your page: how user changes crossover settings with addition of new blocks - second midwoofer, or subwoofer?

It's automated. The system detects when a new module has been added and adjusts the crossovers as needed. I'll add that to the page. Thanks for pointing that out.

 

[phlipski]

By the way: there is a German producer of audio equipment with a very similar name. I hope, you checked this beforehand:

Lautsprecher von Audioblock - Made in Germany | Audioblock

Die Lautsprecher-Modelle von Audioblock: S-10, S-50, S-100, S-250 und SL-250 ✓ natürliches Klangbild ✓ Versandkostenfrei ✓ 2 Jahre Garantie ➤ Jetzt bestellen!

www.audioblock.de

Ha! Well I didn't check Germany for trademarks!

 

[phlipski]

Too little information for my taste. What about frequency response for bookshelfs, MTM and the full stack? Is it possible to go with bookshelf speakers and woofer base to avoid the radiation pattern of the MTM? Size of drivers, used amplifiers with specs (external or plate amps) etc..

And most important: any measurements or at least simulations of the speakers? And of course the price target would be of interest.

I didn't want to bury people in tech specs because I'm not sure most people (outside of dedicated audiophiles) really care. I'm more focused right now on trying to understand if people actually like the idea and if there's a market for it. To answer your two questions:
1. Yes you can just pair a bookshelf with a sub base.
2. Right now I'm targeting $600 for a pair of bookshelf speakers, $150 per midwoofer module and $200 per sub base. These are all "pre-tarif" numbers so to be honest final numbers will most likely change.

 

[duckdee]

at that price i would buy for home cinema - have been looking for half decent wisa system for a while that is not crazy money - the quality would need to be high though its still not cheap - having a hub for all your connections that can be left in a cabinet or behind a tv is ideal. klipsch have something similar with the soundbar being the hub but not sure its available in europe. would love to see an affordable hub for active speakers.

 

[Salt]

Some here at ASR prefer measurements like Frequency Response, Dispersion Pattern, Distorsions, Spinorama ... To begin with

 

[phlipski]

at that price i would buy for home cinema - have been looking for half decent wisa system for a while that is not crazy money - the quality would need to be high though its still not cheap - having a hub for all your connections that can be left in a cabinet or behind a tv is ideal. klipsch have something similar with the soundbar being the hub but not sure its available in europe. would love to see an affordable hub for active speakers.

My suspicion is that in the near future there will be TV sets with an integrated WiSA transmitter.