Single Speaker Stereo

Single Speaker Stereo (SSS) is a single stereo speaker: it produces stereo from one physical enclosure. The build shown here places three identical full-range drivers around a solid-oak body, giving DSP control over how the shared and different parts of the left and right channels leave the cabinet.

The room is part of the system. Sound carrying lateral information is deliberately directed toward the side walls, while central information reaches the listener more directly. The returning reflections help create left/right spatial cues from a single loudspeaker position.

This is a different presentation from a conventional two-speaker pair, not a smaller version of one. At its best the speaker itself disappears: voices and instruments detach from the enclosure, and with some recordings the three-dimensional effect is remarkable. The strength and shape of that effect depend on the room, the listening position and the recording itself.

How It Works

The DSP separates the incoming stereo signal into Mid information shared by both channels and Side information describing their differences. It then feeds different combinations, gains and polarities to the three drivers. Shared content remains coherent around the enclosure, while side information is weighted toward the lateral radiation paths.

The walls return that lateral energy to the listening area. Because all sound leaves one point in space, there is no phantom centre formed between two cabinets and no conflicting arrival times from separate boxes. In exchange, wall distance and absorption become part of the system, so room symmetry and speaker placement matter more here than they do for a conventional network speaker.

Direct path (red) carries the mid information; the lateral beams (gold) reach the listener only after reflecting off the side walls.

An Integrated System

The SSS build shown on this page was developed as a complete active system rather than a passive speaker. Its signal processing, conversion, amplification, drivers and enclosure were designed together. It is now a system concept and custom-development path, not a standard off-the-shelf product.

Compared With a Conventional Stereo Pair

One cabinet replaces two, so the system takes less floor space and there is no left/right pair to align with each other. That is where the useful comparison ends. Single Speaker Stereo cannot replace a conventional stereo pair, and a conventional pair cannot replace it. The presentation is genuinely different — not worse, different — and each approach does something the other cannot.

A conventional stereo pair can still be pressed into service around a television, and many are. Single Speaker Stereo cannot: a screen sitting where the stereo image is supposed to form defeats the whole principle. It is meant for listening in a home where the television is simply not let into that room. SSS is a music lover's system, not living-room entertainment.

Where the Concept Comes From

Producing stereo from a single enclosure is an old idea; this implementation is not. The nearest commercial relative is the Stereolith design, and there is published DIY work on the principle by Elias. What is specific to Baffless is the driver wiring, the mixed-mode current drive and the frequency-dependent mid/side processing — those are described on the technical detail page.

Living With It

The complete build is plug and play: one power cord, nothing else. It powered itself on and off automatically for streaming, and its three main operating modes were selected from the speaker's own web interface. Full operating instructions for that model are archived in the old user manual below.

Because the effect depends on the room, an audition somewhere else proves very little. The workshop is in Vilnius, Lithuania, but listening should ideally happen in your own room — get in touch before anything else.

Archived instructions for the earlier self-contained SSS model. This is not a current off-the-shelf product manual.

The original prototype that started it

Questions about a single stereo speaker

Can a single speaker play stereo?

Yes, but not by putting a left and a right driver side by side in one box. A few centimetres apart, they reach your ears almost the same way, and the stereo image collapses into the box. SSS splits the signal instead: the mid part, shared by both channels, goes straight towards you; the side part, the difference between left and right, is beamed towards the side walls. Those reflections arrive from the left and from the right, and that gives the stereo image.

How is it different from a “stereo” Bluetooth or one-box speaker?

Most one-box speakers either mix to mono or play left and right from drivers placed close together. SSS uses three identical full-range drivers, DSP beam steering and frequency-dependent mid/side processing, and it uses the room on purpose. The side information is also lifted where needed, because it travels a longer path and loses some energy in the wall it reflects from.

Is it better than a pair of speakers?

It is different, not a smaller version of a pair. There is no phantom centre between two cabinets and no conflicting arrival times from separate boxes, and at its best the speaker itself disappears. A conventional pair does things SSS cannot, and the other way round.

Where should I place it?

Symmetrically between the side walls, with nothing blocking the paths to those walls. Wall distance and absorption are part of the system, so placement matters more than with an ordinary speaker.

Can I use it with a TV?

No. A screen where the stereo image is supposed to form defeats the principle. SSS is meant for a music room.

What do I need to run it?

Nothing else. The complete build is an active system: DSP, conversion, mixed-mode current-drive amplification, drivers and enclosure in one body. It needs just one power cord, streams over Wi-Fi or Ethernet, and sleeps and wakes automatically.

Can I buy one?

Not off the shelf. SSS is a system concept and a custom-development path. Because the effect depends on the room, listening should ideally happen in your own room, so contact me to discuss it first. The workshop is in Vilnius, Lithuania.

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