Upgrade to Wiim amp ultra or to get a subwoofer

[gl1tch]

I recently purchased a WiiM amp from a friend and I've plugged Wharfedale Diamond 12.2 for my living room setup. I've had this whole setup just for few weeks now and I love it so far though I feel for my room, the bass is a little bit underwhelming. Maybe I need to tweak the settings, not sure. I will be getting a subwoofer very soon - probably ELAC SUB1010 (10") but before that I need some clarification.

My question - Would the listening experience be improved if I had gone for Wiim amp ultra? or do you think getting a subwoofer will enhance it overall. I'm just not sure if I should go for wiim amp ultra first or a subwoofer first

Thanks in advance
Cheers

 

[Mr Ee]

If more bass is required then i think I'd choose subwoofer first.
These are smallish bookshelf speakers which don't plumb the depths of bass after all.
Not trying to say they aren't decent speakers, but likely they simply can't produce the bass you're after.
Of course, another option is different speakers. Followed by the amp ultra.

 

[gl1tch]

If more bass is required then i think I'd choose subwoofer first.
These are smallish bookshelf speakers which don't plumb the depths of bass after all.
Not trying to say they aren't decent speakers, but likely they simply can't produce the bass you're after.
Of course, another option is different speakers. Followed by the amp ultra.

Thanks @Mr Ee swapping out the speakers is not an option for me at the moment, they are indeed very good speakers but I think I should go for a subwoofer first before deciding to jump to wiim amp ultra. If only I had a subwoofer to test it out before making this decision sigh

 

[Wiimer]

I recently purchased a WiiM amp from a friend and I've plugged Wharfedale Diamond 12.2 for my living room setup. I've had this whole setup just for few weeks now and I love it so far though I feel for my room, the bass is a little bit underwhelming. Maybe I need to tweak the settings, not sure. I will be getting a subwoofer very soon - probably ELAC SUB1010 (10") but before that I need some clarification.

My question - Would the listening experience be improved if I had gone for Wiim amp ultra? or do you think getting a subwoofer will enhance it overall. I'm just not sure if I should go for wiim amp ultra first or a subwoofer first

Thanks in advance
Cheers

I also shall consider purchasing a subwoofer first.

Have you already seen this video comparing the ELAC SUB1010 with several other subs?

Regarding subwoofer selection, this post by @dominikz may also be of interest.

D

Post in thread 'What Sub’s are you using / recommend'

Oct 15, 2025

Any sub recommendations for a sub to pair with my Elac DB63s and WiiM Amp Ultra in a 15m^2 room, readily available in Belgium/EU?
Should I just go for the WiiM Sub Pro for ease of use with the Amp Ultra?

IMHO this is the resource to look at when choosing a sub: Subwoofer Comparison spreadsheet

You can filter and sort based on a large number of attributes, including price, size and CTA-2010 performance (where available).

In EU I'd personally have a look at the following (relatively) affordable subs:

• SVS SB 1000 Classic (I own this one and am happy with it. It is...

• dominikz

• 

 

[dominikz]

My question - Would the listening experience be improved if I had gone for Wiim amp ultra? or do you think getting a subwoofer will enhance it overall. I'm just not sure if I should go for wiim amp ultra first or a subwoofer first

For sure adding a subwoofer would be a much more drastic difference than upgrading the amp.

A properly placed and integrated subwoofer allows you to:

• Avoid or at least decrease SBIR-induced nulls in the bass response (i.e. "bass suckout")
• Actually hear the bottom octave in content where it exists
• Decrease excursion demands from your main speakers, allowing them to play cleaner and louder

Conversely, upgrading from Amp to Amp Ultra would give you about +2-3dB louder playback (which is not a lot), and about 0,5-1dB less high frequencies (also not a lot). You'd also lose Airplay, but gain a touchscreen and the ability to drive loudspeakers with low nominal impedance.

EDIT: For reference, here you can find simple go-to starting points for speaker and subwoofer placement to avoid SBIR nulls and maximize headroom (prior to using RoomFit). Here you can find a more detailed explanation of the reasoning behind these recommendations.

 

[gl1tch]

I also shall consider purchasing a subwoofer first.

Have you already seen this video comparing the ELAC SUB1010 with several other subs?

Regarding subwoofer selection, this post by @dominikz may also be of interest.

D

Post in thread 'What Sub’s are you using / recommend'

Oct 15, 2025

Any sub recommendations for a sub to pair with my Elac DB63s and WiiM Amp Ultra in a 15m^2 room, readily available in Belgium/EU?
Should I just go for the WiiM Sub Pro for ease of use with the Amp Ultra?

IMHO this is the resource to look at when choosing a sub: Subwoofer Comparison spreadsheet

You can filter and sort based on a large number of attributes, including price, size and CTA-2010 performance (where available).

In EU I'd personally have a look at the following (relatively) affordable subs:

• SVS SB 1000 Classic (I own this one and am happy with it. It is...

• dominikz

• 

Thank you and yes that's the exact video I saw before coming to this forum to ask for as suggestions. I love Eric's technical videos and I initially wanted to go with Elac 3.0 debut 6.3 but then got this Wharfedale speakers at a really good deal and didnt want to miss on it.

But yeah, for subwoofers, I'm kind of fixated on that elac model, I'm not sure why Polk PSW10 is on that list because apparently it sucks from what I've heard

 

[gl1tch]

And that subwoofer comparison sheet is too big for my head to comprehend lol. Besides, I'm sure only 20% of the items from that list I can get it in my country

 

[gl1tch]

For sure adding a subwoofer would be a much more drastic difference than upgrading the amp.

A properly placed and integrated subwoofer allows you to:

• Avoid or at least decrease SBIR-induced nulls in the bass response (i.e. "bass suckout")
• Actually hear the bottom octave in content where it exists
• Decrease excursion demands from your main speakers, allowing them to play cleaner and louder

Conversely, upgrading from Amp to Amp Ultra would give you about +2-3dB louder playback (which is not a lot), and about 0,5-1dB less high frequencies (also not a lot). You'd also lose Airplay, but gain a touchscreen and the ability to drive loudspeakers with low nominal impedance.

EDIT: For reference, here you can find simple go-to starting points for speaker and subwoofer placement to avoid SBIR nulls and maximize headroom (prior to using RoomFit). Here you can find a more detailed explanation of the reasoning behind these recommendations.

Thank you for that post, ton of information

 

[Eddie Spaghetti]

I’ll throw in my vote for a sub first. But I’d follow the advice of others to look for something with a little more grunt than the Elac. 60w RMS is going to have a hard time carrying over those Wharfdales. I had an older 100w JBL sub that did a decent job with the Amp Pro and Paradigm towers. But the best addition to the setup was the SVS SB1000 Pro - it made music listening a whole different experience.

There’s definitely a lot to look at and consider with subs. You don’t need to go nuts with a high end unit, but you will probably be disappointed if you go too cheap, too.

 

[dominikz]

Thank you for that post, ton of information

No problem, glad you found it useful!

Thank you and yes that's the exact video I saw before coming to this forum to ask for as suggestions. I love Eric's technical videos and I initially wanted to go with Elac 3.0 debut 6.3 but then got this Wharfedale speakers at a really good deal and didnt want to miss on it.

But yeah, for subwoofers, I'm kind of fixated on that elac model, I'm not sure why Polk PSW10 is on that list because apparently it sucks from what I've heard

Note that from the CEA-2010 measurements we can see that ELAC SUB1010 isn't really the best performer (i.e. it doesn't have much output at low frequencies).
Here's a comparison of a few similarly priced models from the spreadsheet (with those having the most output at the top):