Thinking about moving to passive speakers with WiiM Ultra — need help picking a direction

[huyvoxyz]

Hey everyone, Wiim Ultra user here. I'm currently running it with KEF LSX II as my main setup and love how it sounds - the convenience of an all-in-one active speaker is great, but I've been trying to get into the passive speaker world and I'm not sure where to start.

My main gripe with the LSX II is that it has no bass . I don't want a subwoofer, so I want a passive speaker that can match the LSX II's overall clarity and soundstage but just... goes lower and hits harder naturally. Now I'm staring at a few paths and genuinely not sure which makes the most sense:

1. Wiim Ultra -> VibeLink -> passive speakers — keep my Ultra, add VibeLink as the amp.
2. Wiim Amp Ultra -> passive speakers — simpler chain, but cannot upgrade the amp later.
3. Wiim Ultra -> KEF Coda W — skip the whole passive rabbit hole, just get something that's still active but has more bass than the LSX II. This feels like the "safe" option but also the least exciting one: cannot upgrade amp, and the Coda W has less function than LSX II anyway.

Budget is flexible, room is 25-30 m2. Would love to hear from anyone who's made a similar transition or has opinions on these paths. What passive speaker would you even pair with a Wiim ecosystem at the LSX II quality level?

 

[BEE]

With bookshelf speakers active or passive the solution is a subwoofer but you don’t want that.

 

[Skull]

Q acoustic 3030 series have good bass and are not to expensive but are on the large side

 

[Aquaman]

With bookshelf speakers active or passive the solution is a subwoofer but you don’t want that.

This is only partly correct. There are compact speakers that can generate quite a substantial bass fundament. No real low bass below 40 Hz of course. But for most people this not realy relevant.
A substantial improvement over the KEF LSX should be possible though.

I find it hard to give any loudspeaker recommendations as I don't spend my time in listening studios comparing different models. I can only report on what I've got. My Dali Epicon 2 (large bookshelf format) are outstanding with a very solid bass, but unfortunately discontinued. They are also in a different price range.

Also, I would recommend a step-up regarding the amplifier. Solid bass requires even more solid power and that's where the TPA implementations of a Vibelink and others reach their limits. Remember, power ratings of class-D amps not only apply to nominal power, but also to max. power. They don't have any headroom like good class A/B amps.
Therefore the OP should look into Hypex and Purifi amps by Audiophonics, Apollon, Buckeye and others.

 

[Wiimer]

KEF Q Concerto Meta + Vibelink

 

[Wiimer]

But honestly, I believe the best approach is to add a subwoofer to your current system and adjust the bass using RoomFit.

 

[Doublej]

Perhaps a Buchardt Audio S400 or Fischer and Fischer SN/SL70.

 

[Valentino]

…or a set of Sigberg Audio Saranna. Those match the ultra for clarity and go loud enough for Mahler too.

Saranna Full Range Floorstander (pair)

Saranna Full Range Active Floorstander offers bold bass, a wide soundstage, & sharp detail. These active high-end speakers suit large rooms & precise listening.

www.sigbergaudio.com

 

[cc_rider]

Bookshelf Speakers

 

[EddNog]

With room boundary reinforcement, my speakers get F3 39Hz, F6 36Hz, F10 31Hz, and the upper bass punch is immense thanks to the 8" drivers. For many listeners, this is sufficient bass. In fact, this is bass some people don't get even with tiny little 6" or 8" subwoofers.

MoFi SourcePoint 8. They're coaxial like your current KEFs, so you will not sacrifice one iota of imaging precision or stability. You just get a tremendous boost in bass and full-scale headroom.

I run an SVS SB-3000 subwoofer, but I low-pass it in at 30Hz. This gives me the slam I want down low as well as foundational bass for occasional synthetic or organ bass. At that low of a cut-in, it has completely zero localization, so it has absolutely no impact to imaging whatsoever, none.

-Ed

 

[steadyshot]

wiim ultra coax out to Roksan attessa non streaming integrated to Super Linton with their stands. Done.

 

[CptKaos]

the Starke Sound Beta 7 and Beta 5 speakers are getting great reviews