Thinking to buy a WiiM Ultra to connect with Bose Soundtouch 20

[Kees]

The reason I have this in mind is because Bose terminates this Soundtouch line, and the Soundtouch 20 (and other Soundtouch devices) will become useless.

But: is this a good option? Is it just putting a RCA cable from the WiiM Ultra to the Soundtouch 20? And if this is possible, would the sound quality equals the sound of the Soundtouch as stand alone speaker? I listen often to TuneIn.

I hope I can avoid buying new speakers, all suggestions are welcome.

Regards
Kees

 

[HansD-NL]

The reason I have this in mind is because Bose terminates this Soundtouch line, and the Soundtouch 20 (and other Soundtouch devices) will become useless.

But: is this a good option? Is it just putting a RCA cable from the WiiM Ultra to the Soundtouch 20? And if this is possible, would the sound quality equals the sound of the Soundtouch as stand alone speaker? I listen often to TuneIn.

I hope I can avoid buying new speakers, all suggestions are welcome.

Regards
Kees

Hello Kees, yes, just connect the WiiM Ultra analog rca's to the 3,5mm input on the Soundtouch and select AUX input on the Bose. There is no sound quality limitation on the WiiM's end.

 

[Burnside]

If your main listening platform is TuneIn, a WiiM Mini would suffice imho

 

[d6jg]

If your main listening platform is TuneIn, a WiiM Mini would suffice imho

Only thing against Mini is lack of Remote Control which may be important to @Kees. The Pro Plus is lowest model that has a Remote IIRC

 

[Burnside]

Only thing against Mini is lack of Remote Control which may be important to @Kees. The Pro Plus is lowest model that has a Remote IIRC

You can pair a WiiM Voice Remote with any WiiM device (apart from the vibelink). I understand there may be a new WiiM Remote 2 Lite coming soon that is a quality plastic version of the metal remote 2 which price wise one would hope is between those two.

 

[Kees]

Thanks for your suggestions.

I forgot to mention the music library on my NAS, so it is not only TuneInI use. Besides, I may use other possibilities of the WiiM.

My concern is a possible poor sound quality when I use a RCA cable to the Bose Soundtouch 20.

And I guess it is not possible to connect 2 Soundtouch devices?

 

[jfbuk]

And I guess it is not possible to connect 2 Soundtouch devices?

If you mean two devices simultaneously with the same audio then I believe it is possible to group Soundtouch speakers together with the Bose app so your existing Soundtouch functionality would allow this. If you mean to two devices individually then you would need a Wiim for each

 

[Kees]

If you mean two devices simultaneously with the same audio then I believe it is possible to group Soundtouch speakers together with the Bose app so your existing Soundtouch functionality would allow this. If you mean to two devices individually then you would need a Wiim for each

The problem is soon there will be no Bose app anymore. The Soundtouch wil be dumb.

 

[jfbuk]

The problem is soon there will be no Bose app anymore. The Soundtouch wil be dumb.

Then adding a Wiim Mini to each of your addtional Soundtouch speakers could do the job. You can group the Wiims as you wish.

 

[Fernandodelae]

The problem is soon there will be no Bose app anymore. The Soundtouch wil be dumb.

Is this something happening soon? Is Bose dropping support for these Sountouch devices? I have several fiends with these devices and would like to show them some options (WiiM Mini seems like the best) if this happens.

 

[Kees]

Thank to

Is this something happening soon? Is Bose dropping support for these Sountouch devices? I have several fiends with these devices and would like to show them some options (WiiM Mini seems like the best) if this happens.

Yes. February 2026 it stops.

 

[Kees]

Thanks to all your suggestions I am thinking now of this setup: a WiiM Ultra connected to 1 Soundtouch, a Mini to the other one. Grouping them and using a Voice Remote.
BUT: I am still not convinced the sound quality will be the same as now. Probably no one has tried this before.

 

[Burnside]

Thanks to all your suggestions I am thinking now of this setup: a WiiM Ultra connected to 1 Soundtouch, a Mini to the other one. Grouping them and using a Voice Remote.
BUT: I am still not convinced the sound quality will be the same as now. Probably no one has tried this before.

Given that the Soundtouch 20 appears to be around ten years old, I’d imagine the DAC and output stage in the WiiM Ultra will at least be as good as that in the Bose - indeed I’d expect it to be measurably better. The WiiM Mini on the other hand might not be as compelling when playing music from your NAS but it could be, you’d just need to try it. If that turns out to be a concern then you might want to consider a WiiM Pro Plus instead which would be a step up from the Mini as well as coming with a remote.

 

[HansD-NL]

Thanks to all your suggestions I am thinking now of this setup: a WiiM Ultra connected to 1 Soundtouch, a Mini to the other one. Grouping them and using a Voice Remote.
BUT: I am still not convinced the sound quality will be the same as now. Probably no one has tried this before

"BUT: I am still not convinced the sound quality will be the same as now. Probably no one has tried this before" --> The best way is to just try how the aux input of the Bose sounds. Connect any line level device that you (maybe) have already and listen to it...
I suspect that the aux input is first digitized by the Bose and running it through it's DSP before sending it to it's amplifier/speakers but that is not very different than the "internal" way of playing music.

 

[HansD-NL]

Thank to

Yes. February 2026 it stops.

Can you link to information about that? Maybe it's the case that they stop active development on the companion app and internal software of the speaker but the "old" app and speaker just keep working like it does now? I mean the streaming part of it.

 

[Burnside]

Can you link to information about that? Maybe it's the case that they stop active development on the companion app and internal software of the speaker but the "old" app and speaker just keep working like it does now? I mean the streaming part of it.

“On 18 February 2026, Bose will discontinue cloud support for all SoundTouch products. Until that date, your system will continue functioning as usual, including access to cloud-based features through the SoundTouch app.

After 18 February, certain features — including access to integrated music services like Spotify and TuneIn, as well as multi-room playback — will no longer be available. However, if your SoundTouch product supports Bluetooth®, AUX, or HDMI, you’ll still be able to enjoy high-quality audio playback from connected devices.”

SoundTouch Cloud Service Ending | What It Means for You | Bose

Bose is ending SoundTouch app and cloud service support in February 2026. Learn how this impacts your product.

www.bose.co.uk

 

[Kees]

Before spending a lot of money (I also do have the Ultra in mind) I bought the Mini. I am new to WiiM so I wanted to try out the device and app.

My first impressions: setup is very easy, the app is great, sound quality listening to the connected Soundtouch 20 is not so great, but choosing a certain EQ improved the sound somewhat.
It is a pity you can not have different EQ settings for different stations and sources. Maybe impossible.

Overall I think I am on the right track. Now safe some money for buying the Ultra.

 

[Burnside]

Before spending a lot of money (I also do have the Ultra in mind) I bought the Mini. I am new to WiiM so I wanted to try out the device and app.

My first impressions: setup is very easy, the app is great, sound quality listening to the connected Soundtouch 20 is not so great, but choosing a certain EQ improved the sound somewhat.
It is a pity you can not have different EQ settings for different stations and sources. Maybe impossible.

Overall I think I am on the right track. Now safe some money for buying the Ultra.

You could perhaps try presetting some of those sources and then use smart presets to associate different eq profiles with them.

 

[d6jg]

Have you tried the TuneIn phone app and Bluetooth to the Bose? It may sound better to you - there is no digital to analogue conversion then analogue back to digital if you use Bluetooth - but for many it isn't considered "good enough". TuneIn doesn't broadcast at particularly good resolution anyway. Stuff played from your NAS is a different matter.

 

[Kees]

Thanks @Burnside, presets with different profiles is the solution!

@d6jg : I did not try Bluetooth because the Bose I now use does not have Bluetooth, the other one has, but I find Bluetoothing not comfortable.