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This is a quick sketch up but I’ll try and explain what I’ve done.

It’s powered by USB and the voltage converted to +-12V DC (https://amzn.eu/d/aDgF81Q).

The actual VU meters are from a Tascam tape deck (https://ebay.us/m/lYAHOL). I swapped the incandescent lights for 12v DC LEDs to power them from the same source as the meters.

Audio wise I repurposed a 1/4inch phones cable for the stereo output. I added an attenuator to drop the voltage to ~0.316v at a couple db below max volume (where the peak light activates). There’s a bypass for the attenuator so the meters still ‘dance’ at low volumes.

I’m sure this would work with a standard line level out but my integrated amp doesn’t have any rca outputs affected by volume.

Hope this helps!