Tuning Q Acoustics M20 HD (3020i) with Wiim Amp

[nitin_g3]

Some back story on why I'm running active speakers with wiim amp. My M20 HD died few days back, and I got them converted to passive speakers which should be same as 3020i as per multiple online sources.

M20 HD used to sound good with their inbuilt amp, but now when I power them using wiim amp, the low end produces "thudding" like sound unlike smooth thumping like they used to produce. This was not the case when I used them as active speakers. This thudding used to be smoothed out by it's internal DSP (some active eq maybe, I'm noob here), but it's very noticeable when running using wiim amp.

Wiim amp produces all other details like vocals, instruments with good clarity and is very transparent, but only misses out at the low end.

Also, the "thudding" issue is not there for all the songs, some specific songs like "All the Start from Black Panther" it's very noticeable.

I've tried room correction, it did help with lower frequencies but it made other details worse. I also tried different EQ provided by wiim amp, but that also didn't help.

My questions is, is there a way I can smooth out the lower frequencies while keeping rest of the sound signature same?

 

[square_wave]

Is the thud sound a distortion? When you listen to the same song on a headphone, do you hear it ? If it is a distortion, then something is wrong with the conversion to passive. Or the wiim amp is wimping out due to some crazy impedance swings or lack of power when you push it beyond a point. The amplifier section design in the WiiM Amp is based on a Class-D Texas Instruments TPA3255 amplifier chipset. There is not much space inside the amp to design a very good power supply so if you push it beyond a point, it may distort.

No EQ is needed to get a speaker to produce great bass without distortion.

 

[nitin_g3]

Is the thud sound a distortion?

No, not distortion, I feel like it should be smoothed out, not hard thud. I hear the same song on my other speaker (Edifier 1855), it's doesn't sound that much out of the place. But more noticeable on M20 HD.

I don't have any audiophile grade headphone, but also heard it on Samsung TWS (buds 2 pro), it doesn't sound odd on these as well.

So, I'm thinking maybe that's how it's supposed to sound, the way it sounds on M20 HD, since these are much better speakers as compared to my other speakers/headphones?

Please listen if you can and let me know your thoughts.

 

[keroo1099]

Some back story on why I'm running active speakers with wiim amp. My M20 HD died few days back, and I got them converted to passive speakers which should be same as 3020i as per multiple online sources.

M20 HD used to sound good with their inbuilt amp, but now when I power them using wiim amp, the low end produces "thudding" like sound unlike smooth thumping like they used to produce. This was not the case when I used them as active speakers. This thudding used to be smoothed out by it's internal DSP (some active eq maybe, I'm noob here), but it's very noticeable when running using wiim amp.

Wiim amp produces all other details like vocals, instruments with good clarity and is very transparent, but only misses out at the low end.

Also, the "thudding" issue is not there for all the songs, some specific songs like "All the Start from Black Panther" it's very noticeable.

I've tried room correction, it did help with lower frequencies but it made other details worse. I also tried different EQ provided by wiim amp, but that also didn't help.

My questions is, is there a way I can smooth out the lower frequencies while keeping rest of the sound signature same?

A couple of questions:

Have you converted the active to a passive by providing an alternate crossover?

If so, how have you arrived at the crossover values?

I hope you haven't bypassed the active section and hoped it would work like the 3020i

 

[square_wave]

A couple of questions:

Have you converted the active to a passive by providing an alternate crossover?

If so, how have you arrived at the crossover values?

I hope you haven't bypassed the active section and hoped it would work like the 3020i

From the manual, looks like it is just a powered speaker with a stereo amp inside one speaker whose output is just connected to a passive crossover inside..One speaker holds all the amplification. The other speaker is passive and is connected to the active one via a speaker wire. So, technically this is not an active speaker system with an active crossover etc. So it should be quite straightforward.
So, one of the speaker is just a passive from factory itself. How does that speaker sound ?

 

[keroo1099]

From the manual, looks like it is just a powered speaker with a stereo amp inside one speaker whose output is just connected to a passive crossover inside..One speaker holds all the amplification. The other speaker is passive and is connected to the active one via a speaker wire. So, technically this is not an active speaker system with an active crossover etc. So it should be quite straightforward.
So, one of the speaker is just a passive from factory itself. How does that speaker sound ?

Good point, since it seems to be just a power amp in one speaker that is feeding two passive speakers a DC spike could have damaged either one or both crossovers causing the unusual sound.

 

[nitin_g3]

So, one of the speaker is just a passive from factory itself. How does that speaker sound ?

They both sound same to my ears. And this issue seems to show only when there is some specific beat/instrument playing in the song. And for most of the songs, they sound fine. I would even say they sound better now as compared to the original powered M20 HD, with better transparency and instrument separation which could be due to wiim amp(?) .

 

[square_wave]

They both sound same to my ears. And this issue seems to show only when there is some specific beat/instrument playing in the song. And for most of the songs, they sound fine. I would even say they sound better now as compared to the original powered M20 HD, with better transparency and instrument separation which could be due to wiim amp(?) .

So, there is chance that the crossover components are damaged to some extent. One will never know unless you get this checked by someone. Why not talk to the dealer from whom you picked it from ?
In case you picked this up from the used market, get it checked by a service technician.
I know a few people who use the 3020i and along with the wiim amp. No complaints. So, I am sure something is wrong somewhere.