Lego-style bricks are fun and great for building castles, spaceships, and race cars, but once assembled, they become just decorative objects and usually never get touched again. Italian designer Paolo Caviglia had the idea of assembling a real audio system with them. That’s how his project, Audio Bricks, was born.
At first glance, Audio Bricks simply look like audio components built with Lego-style bricks. But it’s not just about the design: the main innovation is hidden inside the colorful structures, and it actually works. The brick shells themselves don’t have any function. What makes them smart are the adapters. They contain actual electronic modules and are integrated into the physical brick structures, holding everything together.
The system consists of different types of adapters, including structural frames, power supply modules, printed circuit board (PCB) holders, and double RCA input/output modules. Adapters that connect to dedicated printed circuit boards perform specific tasks: one can function as an amplifier, while another can work as a Wi-Fi streamer, a digital-to-analog converter (DCA), or any other audio component. Connected together, they create a modular hi-fi system.
Besides the playful design, one of the biggest selling points of Audio Bricks is flexibility. Electronic devices inevitably become outdated, so instead of buying an entire new audio system, Audio Bricks allows to replace and upgrade individual modules when needed. All the components can be disassembled and rearranged as many times as you want. According to the company, the adapters are easy to snap in and out without tools or glue, so the whole system can be rebuilt in different configurations. You can even use bricks you already own to build new designs.
The Audio Bricks product is available in two formats, depending on how hands-on you want to be. In the first option, all the parts are packed in a “builder kit,” the PCBs are already mounted to the adapters, so everything just needs to be snapped together. For those who appreciate the design but aren’t really into electronics or building Lego at all, a fully assembled version is available, too. It will arrive as a plug-and-play device that is ready to use out of the box.
The second option is aimed at DIY enthusiasts and includes STL files for adapters that you can use to 3D-print at home.
The main idea behind the product is creating and experimenting, so everyone can make their own unique devices. The company’s website still provides a few ideas of possible designs, including a Wi-Fi streamer that connects a smartphone to a traditional amplifier, a headphone amplifier, a loudspeaker, and a music center. Each design requires a different combination of adapters and modules depending on its complexity and purpose.
The company does not currently list a fixed price. Since the product is designed around experimenting and customizing, the final cost will likely depend on each customer’s request, the number of components, types of adapters needed, and the dimensions of the final product. All the orders and requests can be submitted through a form on the company’s website.
Source: Audio Bricks
