WIFI speakers compatible with WIIM Ultra

[BucksNinja]

Hello folks.

For reasons too complicated to go into (but mostly it was the wife putting her foot down) I have a pulldown cinema screen which operates at right angles to my wired HIFI speakers. So ideally there will exist WI-FI speakers compatible with the WIIM Ultra which I can use as front L&Rs when we watch films, deploying them only when the screen is in use.

I fear a pair of dainty WIIM Sound Lites won't be potent enough to fill my fairly large living room, even if I also invested in a sub. Or do I do them a disservice - is anybody using 'Lites in a TV / cinema setup as front speakers?

What other speakers might I consider? I know that after an App update last year at least some Audio Pro speakers stopped working. Is there a definitive list of speakers which can be seen in the WIIM Home App and can be configured as a stereo pair? I want the best of both worlds really - speakers bulky enough to cope with a blockbuster but light enough to live in the kitchen and bedroom, and then shift into the lounge on film nights.

Thanks.

 

[Wiimer]

Hello folks.

For reasons too complicated to go into (but mostly it was the wife putting her foot down) I have a pulldown cinema screen which operates at right angles to my wired HIFI speakers. So ideally there will exist WI-FI speakers compatible with the WIIM Ultra which I can use as front L&Rs when we watch films, deploying them only when the screen is in use.

I fear a pair of dainty WIIM Sound Lites won't be potent enough to fill my fairly large living room, even if I also invested in a sub. Or do I do them a disservice - is anybody using 'Lites in a TV / cinema setup as front speakers?

Hi,
I’m not sure if I can give you a precise answer to your question, but I’d like to ask you a few questions so I can understand the situation better.

Is the projector screen positioned something like this?


In that case, if possible, consider placing the WiiM Sound Lite as close as possible to your listening position (about 2 meters away), as shown in this photo.
If the speakers are close to your ears, I think you can enjoy movies at high volume without having to turn up the volume.

Are the Ultra and the projector connected via HDMI or optical cable?

Are you planning to link the Ultra and WiiM speaker as a group so that the sound can also be heard through the Ultra? (I think you should mute the Ultra.)

What other speakers might I consider? I know that after an App update last year at least some Audio Pro speakers stopped working. Is there a definitive list of speakers which can be seen in the WIIM Home App and can be configured as a stereo pair? I want the best of both worlds really - speakers bulky enough to cope with a blockbuster but light enough to live in the kitchen and bedroom, and then shift into the lounge on film nights.

Thanks.

Currently, only the following four models officially support the WiiM app.

WiiM Sound
WiiM Sound Lite
AudioPro A10 mk2 WiiM Edition
AudioPro C10 mk2 WiiM Edition

As things stand, it seems that non-WiiM Edition AudioPro speakers are also compatible, but I personally don't recommend them.

 

[Mr Ee]

I fear a pair of dainty WIIM Sound Lites won't be potent enough to fill my fairly large living room

I fear the same, especially given

speakers bulky enough to cope with a blockbuster

For me, a pair of Sounds were adequate in a small room (say 13m2) watching tv, but certainly lacked punch for a movie, although a sub would surely help. They are the size they are!
Other issues I experienced:
Blurring of the stereo image due to their dual tweeter design.
Lip sync due to grouping
Audio sync / dropout, especially when on wifi.

So, in my experience, I couldn't recommend such a setup to anyone.
However, it seems others here are using their wiims in HT setups satisfactorily.
Whether that's with Sounds as the main speakers I don't know.

 

[Wiimer]

@BucksNinja

Is a subwoofer already connected to your Ultra?

If so, you might want to create a PEQ (LP) filter like this for the Ultra’s HDMI input.


This will allow you to use only the subwoofer while minimizing sound output from the main speakers. When watching movies, sound will come from the WiiM speakers and the subwoofer.

While there is a increase in audio latency during group playback, the latest firmware for Ultra appears to have reduced latency to 35–40 ms, so latency during group playback may also be slightly reduced.

 

[Mr Ee]

the latest firmware for Ultra appears to have reduced latency to 35–40 ms, so latency during group playback may also be slightly reduced.

I wondered about that, but seeing as group delay is its own setting with fixed choices I'm not convinced.
I see it as only helping with a 2.x setup.
Guess we'll see!
(And maybe this should be continued in the ultra firmware thread, although it is somewhat relevant here.)

 

[Wiimer]

I fear the same, especially given


For me, a pair of Sounds were adequate in a small room (say 13m2) watching tv, but certainly lacked punch for a movie, although a sub would surely help. They are the size they are!
Other issues I experienced:
Blurring of the stereo image due to their dual tweeter design.
Lip sync due to grouping
Audio sync / dropout, especially when on wifi.

So, in my experience, I couldn't recommend such a setup to anyone.
However, it seems others here are using their wiims in HT setups satisfactorily.
Whether that's with Sounds as the main speakers I don't know.

I have to agree, but in that case, I think the ideal solution would be to disconnect the Ultra from the projector and connect the projector to some kind of audio speaker system. If you’re willing to compromise a bit on sound quality, grouping it with the WSL doesn’t seem like such a bad option.

I have a projector and a pair of WS speakers in my bedroom. They’re 2 meters away from my listening position. If I group-play Netflix on the Amp Ultra in the next room and set it so that only the subwoofer connected to the Amp Ultra produces sound, I can enjoy quite a powerful audio experience.

However, since the WS volume needs to be turned up to at least 80%, the sound quality is clearly inferior compared to passive speakers. I expect other small Wi-Fi speakers would yield similar results.


Connecting a Fire TV Stick to the projector resolves the latency issue, so the key factor may come down to what level of sound quality the OP is seeking.

Well, if possible, the easiest solution would be to move the Ultra’s wired speakers over to the projector screen side.

 

[BucksNinja]

All, thanks for replies/input/advice, much appreciated.

@Wiimer yes that's basically my layout albeit a setup costing about 1/100 what that probably did ha, plus my screen pulls down to fill the space between open plan living and dining rooms. At the mo my media player is connected via HDMI to the projector and via Optical to the WIIM Ultra, which goes into a Vibeamp and then the wired speakers AKA audio is at right angles to the screen. Agreed, shifting the wired speakers to be either side of the projector screen would be best albeit permanent and relatively massive speakers left and right of the gap between our living and dining rooms has been given an unequivocable thumbs down! Hence the idea to place temporary wireless speakers when the screen pulls down. But what you all say about dropouts and/or latency issues worries me, as I am very sensitive to lip sync problems. I may have to rethink things!

I do still have the half-sized speakers we used to employ as rear surrounds at our previous address. There we had a dedicated garage cinema; here we're making do in the lounge. Perhaps I just need a second amp and cable runs, and lug the speakers down from the spare room on demand

Thanks very much again.

 

[Wiimer]

I do still have the half-sized speakers we used to employ as rear surrounds at our previous address. There we had a dedicated garage cinema; here we're making do in the lounge. Perhaps I just need a second amp and cable runs, and lug the speakers down from the spare room on demand

The latest firmware for the Ultra includes a feature that allows simultaneous digital and analog output. So, if you add another Vibelink unit and connect it to the Ultra, you can connect a spare speaker to it. Of course, it doesn't have to be a Vibelink.

If you want to further reduce costs, you can also use a speaker selector.

 

[BucksNinja]

You know what, I never even considered a selector - typical me overcomplicating matters!

Can anybody in the UK recommend a switcher unit which accepts airloc banana plugs?

 

[Doublej]

I think this will work

Amazon.co.uk

 

[Mr Ee]

You know what, I never even considered a selector - typical me overcomplicating matters!

Can anybody in the UK recommend a switcher unit which accepts airloc banana plugs?

You never said you had another set of speakers lying around!
Plus you said you wanted a pair for the kitchen / bedroom (one half each as I understood it!).

You'll need another, short set of banana terminated speaker cables too.
i.e. short pair from vibelink to selector, then current cables from selector to both speakers.
Remember to turn the vibelink off before fiddling with the cables!

Hope it works out, and gets the all important sign off / approval...

 

[BucksNinja]

@Mr Ee the original plan (WIFI speakers for the kitchen/bedroom/garden/wherever, brought into the lounge and paired on demand) would still be preferable, killing as it does multiple birds with one stone. But I kiboshed that plan due to the potential for dropouts and/or lipsync issues you highlighted (thank you).

So Plan B is unmothballing our old rear surrounds and getting the carpet up to run wire to where they will sit most Friday and Saturday nights. (Re- sign-off, I'm going to wait until she and the kids are away for half term week... )

Thanks v.much for advice, very much appreciated.

 

[Mr Ee]

Plan B sounds solid for now.
You could always revist it in a few months.

Just to reiterate, and for anyone else reading, the 'issues' I mentioned were my experience using two Sounds on wifi halfway between two access points, but still probably less than 7 metres to one with just an internal wall in the way, and 5 metres to the other with a brick wall and an internal wall in the way.
Wired ethernet could likely have improved the speaker sync / dropout issues, and maybe in your room on wifi they would be much nearer the router and have fewer problems. To be clear(er), I only had these issues using TV and a low group delay. For music, with a higher delay, they worked absolutely fine.
But for me, without something like a fire stick thingy to delay the video, lip sync was the unresolvable issue.