Any have an info on the Definitive Technology W Amp?

[truwarrior22]

Purchased a refurbed one for $150 from their site. Seems like a good little amp for the $, but not really sure what’s in this thing besides 75 watts 8 ohm and 150watts 4 ohm. Anyone have any thoughts or experience with it?

 

[truwarrior22]

Just got mine today, so here’s a little review incase anyone is interested. Can’t fine much info on this device. The Utility app barely works, but I was able to change my EQ to tower speaker. Line in seems to work with no issues. Streaming from the Definitive apps on my 5ghz wifi network works well too. I did have connection issues with 2.4 ghz, but could just be my router. Can stream from Pandora, but looks like you need premium for Spotify... No Bluetooth or YouTube streaming, but could always connect a Bluetooth receiver to get this.

Sound quality wise, I think it’s very good and seems more neutral compared to my Marantz SR8015. Some say the bass is weak, but seems good. Maybe because I changed the EQ to tower. Probably use the W Amp for every day music and SR8015 for movies. Not sure if it will play as loud as the SR8015, but I’m sure it can hit 90db+

 

[dandiego]

Just got mine today, so here’s a little review incase anyone is interested. Can’t fine much info on this device. The Utility app barely works, but I was able to change my EQ to tower speaker. Line in seems to work with no issues. Streaming from the Definitive apps on my 5ghz wifi network works well too. I did have connection issues with 2.4 ghz, but could just be my router. Can stream from Pandora, but looks like you need premium for Spotify... No Bluetooth or YouTube streaming, but could always connect a Bluetooth receiver to get this.

Sound quality wise, I think it’s very good and seems more neutral compared to my Marantz SR8015. Some say the bass is weak, but seems good. Maybe because I changed the EQ to tower. Probably use the W Amp for every day music and SR8015 for movies. Not sure if it will play as loud as the SR8015, but I’m sure it can hit 90db+

Thanks for the mini review. Do you happen to have a DTS Play-Fi speaker? I'm wondering if the W Amp supports sending audio from one of its physical inputs to a Play-Fi compatible speaker/device? It's not listed on this FAQ page -- but it seems like a lot of Play-Fi functionality isn't well documented/updated since many of these products are now technically discontinued.

 

[truwarrior22]

Thanks for the mini review. Do you happen to have a DTS Play-Fi speaker? I'm wondering if the W Amp supports sending audio from one of its physical inputs to a Play-Fi compatible speaker/device? It's not listed on this FAQ page -- but it seems like a lot of Play-Fi functionality isn't well documented/updated since many of these products are now technically discontinued.

I do not. I have the w amp connected to my speakers. I also have the preouts from my Marantz SR8015 connected to the analog inputs on the w amp. 90% of the time I’m just listening to streaming audio thru the w amp. I used the utility to set the EQ to tower speakers (not really sure what this eq curve does) and it sounds really nice. Actually sounds like I have a subwoofer connected, but it’s just the drivers in the Toy Towers. Deep and detailed upper bass, not one note noise.

 

[truwarrior22]

Just bought a couple more, $69 on eBay. Bad news is that the utility app is no longer available from the App Store. Might be interesting to send one of these little amps in for review.

 

[Dunring]

Just bought a couple more, $69 on eBay. Bad news is that the utility app is no longer available from the App Store. Might be interesting to send one of these little amps in for review.

You can find the app on APKmirror and manually install. They're pretty reputable, and a huge help if you update and it breaks something, and need to revert back to a previous version.

 

[truwarrior22]

You can find the app on APKmirror and manually install. They're pretty reputable, and a huge help if you update and it breaks something, and need to revert back to a previous version.

Thanks, I’ll have to check it out!

 

[Scrivs]

Had one of these (4 years ago, acquired on the cheap). Didn’t care for any of it- the sound, DT app, Play-Fi, and overall buggy execution of the whole thing. It felt like a product that DT partially developed, then threw in the towel and said fuggit, plenty other cash-cows on the shelf at Bestbuy. I too found hardly info about this thing (especially technical) when I owned it. DT’s site was (un)surprisingly skint in this regard.

*If the W-Amp puts out a 50Wpc, I’ll eat my hat. I almost felt bad for the dude buying it, however, I was transparent with them irt how I felt about the product technically and subjectively.

OP: I really am glad that you’re enjoying it, after all, in the end, that’s ultimately what matters. Horses for courses, or something like that. Just wanted to add another perspective (Owned the thing for two years before a buyer materialized).

 

[truwarrior22]

Had one of these (4 years ago, acquired on the cheap). Didn’t care for any of it- the sound, DT app, Play-Fi, and overall buggy execution of the whole thing. It felt like a product that DT partially developed, then threw in the towel and said fuggit, plenty other cash-cows on the shelf at Bestbuy. I too found hardly info about this thing (especially technical) when I owned it. DT’s site was (un)surprisingly skint in this regard.

*If the W-Amp puts out a 50Wpc, I’ll eat my hat. I almost felt bad for the dude buying it, however, I was transparent with them irt how I felt about the product technically and subjectively.

OP: I really am glad that you’re enjoying it, after all, in the end, that’s ultimately what matters. Horses for courses, or something like that. Just wanted to add another perspective (Owned the thing for two years before a buyer materialized).

The sound is a bit thin and energetic, but pretty clear, not the smoothest. Bass is pretty good. It’s been reliable, I now have 4 of them, till I can find a great deal on a multichannel amp. Basically 8 channels connect to my Arcam AV40 for under $50 a channel. I don’t listen reference loud so it’s been working out. I mainly just use optical in from my TV and line in from AVRo, no apps here.

Did you notice any difference between the EQ settings? Seems like factory setting and tower is pretty similar. I didn’t get a chance to measure the differences. Now I need to try to get the utility amp back…

I do wish it came with physical remote. When I use optical in, it’s a pain to adjust volume. Anyways it’s kinda of my reference now to compare how much better a more robust amp could be.