Review wuzhi zk-1002 (mostly subjektiv)

[Skezza]

Very cool! No its not perfect. But also its not junk. A littel bit of a big mouth, but hey . As a oldie, iam amazed what comes out of this thiny bit of a "I want to be a big amp“.

hahah, well, in context, it would have been maybe junk for me because I require Line-In as this will be my PC and also simple music station amplifier. Bluetooth is great, but I really needed Line-In. Having been playing with this again tonight I'd go as far as saying this amplifier is better than usable but very good and the fact that Wuzhi deliver it in a nice little kit package with screws and cable to make your own power supply (although I am only using aftermarket 24v laptop supply - easier) is very nice.

What I like about this board compared to the others is that it isn't hobby craft. It's more or less ready for use out of the box and if you want Bluetooth only then it's perfect. This mod above makes it perfect for Line-In too. I don't like ones with screw in ports for power connections etc. This to me just screams bodge unless you plan to finish in a proper box and refine it. I've not noticed any issues with heat yet. The Kenwood speakers are 6ohm though.

Maybe you can modify yours and test against ZK-1002T and see if the 2T' is a worthy upgrade?

 

[tomtoo]

hahah, well, in context, it would have been maybe junk for me because I require Line-In as this will be my PC and also simple music station amplifier. Bluetooth is great, but I really needed Line-In. Having been playing with this again tonight I'd go as far as saying this amplifier is better than usable but very good and the fact that Wuzhi deliver it in a nice little kit package with screws and cable to make your own power supply (although I am only using aftermarket 24v laptop supply - easier) is very nice.

What I like about this board compared to the others is that it isn't hobby craft. It's more or less ready for use out of the box and if you want Bluetooth only then it's perfect. This mod above makes it perfect for Line-In too. I don't like ones with screw in ports for power connections etc. This to me just screams bodge unless you plan to finish in a proper box and refine it. I've not noticed any issues with heat yet. The Kenwood speakers are 6ohm though.

Maybe you can modify yours and test against ZK-1002T and see if the 2T' is a worthy upgrade?

At the moment iam a littel lazy(first have to fix the usb(loading) of my phone. But i not see why there should be a big difference, if the aux-in is linear. I even would like the 1002 more ,couse its so amazing small. The 1002t is nearly as double big. I only got the 1002t couse i needet the aux-in, same problem as you. If they fix it(they should) i think the 1002 would be amazing for the price. And it looks(sounds) the fix works, thats cool!

Edit says: Heat not seems to be a problem, but i cant try long time full power. At normal desktop listening it stays absolutly cool. Yes it goes only in standby. No problem for me, i have a power switch on the 3 port socket. And it not pops.

 

[tomtoo]

@Skezza

Curiosity did overhelm my natural born lazyness.
So no, cutter knife is not a good idear, at least not for me, so i stoped.

 

[Skezza]

Oh.... Hope you didn't damage it?

If you have a soldering iron, it's really not that hard to do for this mod because these are definitely not the smallest SMD Capacitors you'll come across and it's only removal, so you are in a good place. Soldering them back to the board is probably impossible without an air gun, good thing we hopefully never need too

Flux is your friend here as well because it helps the solder melt cleanly. I didn't use that much on C42 as this one is spaced apart from the others. I used a fair bit on C41 though (hence colour above) and it helped for a nice clean removal.

 

[tomtoo]

Oh.... Hope you didn't damage it?

If you have a soldering iron, it's really not that hard to do for this mod because these are definitely not the smallest SMD Capacitors you'll come across and it's only removal, so you are in a good place. Soldering them back to the board is probably impossible without an air gun, good thing we hopefully never need too

Flux is your friend here as well because it helps the solder melt cleanly. I didn't use that much on C42 as this one is spaced apart from the others. I used a fair bit on C41 though (hence colour above) and it helped for a nice clean removal.

No didnt hurt anythink, i know to stop before have the risk of hurting. Just liked to tell that this was not the best idear of mine. Some kind of responsibility for others. Thought it could work more easy, but now i think its better with soldering iron.

 

[ClassicGuy]

@Skezza Bravo for finding that Amazon thread and doing the mod. I have only the Wuzhi ZK-1002T board but not the other, otherwise I would be tempted to give your mod a try as well.

 

[tomtoo]

@Skezza Bravo for finding that Amazon thread and doing the mod. I have only the Wuzhi ZK-1002T board but not the other, otherwise I would be tempted to give your mod a try as well.

Hi, what do you think about the 1002t?

 

[ClassicGuy]

Hi, what do you think about the 1002t?

I like it. Both Bluetooth and aux-in work well for me. As you said before, I think they fixed the aux-in in this version.

 

[ClassicGuy]

hahah, well, in context, it would have been maybe junk for me because I require Line-In as this will be my PC and also simple music station amplifier. Bluetooth is great, but I really needed Line-In. Having been playing with this again tonight I'd go as far as saying this amplifier is better than usable but very good and the fact that Wuzhi deliver it in a nice little kit package with screws and cable to make your own power supply (although I am only using aftermarket 24v laptop supply - easier) is very nice.

Since you are using computer as source, I wonder whether USB in would work out well. The board you linked earlier has USB in, so does this Wuzhi board that look very similar. https://www.aliexpress.com/item/100...earchweb0_0,searchweb201602_,searchweb201603_
Not sure if they would suffer the same issue as your current ZK-1002 though.

umm, there is also a Wuzhi ZK-502D https://www.aliexpress.com/item/4000897317832.html?spm=a2g0o.cart.0.0.21f63c00HVNJNa&mp=1, I wish I can decipher these Wuzhi model letters (it's not higher means better).

 

[tomtoo]

Since you are using computer as source, I wonder whether USB in would work out well. The board you linked earlier has USB in, so does this Wuzhi board that look very similar. https://www.aliexpress.com/item/100...earchweb0_0,searchweb201602_,searchweb201603_
Not sure if they would suffer the same issue as your current ZK-1002 though.

umm, there is also a Wuzhi ZK-502D https://www.aliexpress.com/item/4000897317832.html?spm=a2g0o.cart.0.0.21f63c00HVNJNa&mp=1, I wish I can decipher these Wuzhi model letters (it's not higher means better).

Yes thats the one iam also intersted. USB in, and line-out would be great for a littel desktop amp. After that 'debacle' with the 1002 iam a littel unsure, how it is engieneered. It has only one tpa3116, but for normal desktop use i think its enough.Just bought the bridged tpa's couse i was not sure if its enough.

Edit says: There are the bridget ones with two tpa3116 where they say 2*100w(yep the numbers are very optimistic ) and the not bridget with one tpa3116. Looks like the none bridget start with 5xx and the bridget with 10xx, but hell i wont give my arm for it.

 

[ClassicGuy]

I started with the bridged ones as well, but there are quite a few more interesting choices for the single TPA3116 chip

Yes, the single ones start with 5xx while bridged ones start with 10xx. However, the suffix such as 502, 502T, 502L, 502D do not follow a recognizable pattern. 502L is inferior to both 502 and 502T because it's not TPA3116. Wonder if 502H/502D is closer to 502 or 502T.

 

[tomtoo]

I started with the bridged ones as well, but there are quite a few more interesting choices for the single TPA3116 chip

Yes, the single ones start with 5xx while bridged ones start with 10xx. However, the suffix such as 502, 502T, 502L, 502D do not follow a recognizable pattern. 502L is inferior to both 502 and 502T because it's not TPA3116. Wonder if 502H/502D is closer to 502 or 502T.

That zk 502H would be interesting for me. If it work?. I think BT out over aux out would be great. And usb-in would also be great. But who knows if it works, like it should? One tpa3116 is for me enough, but if the rest realy works?
Edit says: With the zk1002 they did harm there reputation. You dont know what you get. If aux in would work normal, people would be happy. But so, if engineers come up with this sh**, what should you believe?

If Wuzhi would say "Ok we had a error on the plan there are, one or two zeros missed on the plan, we missed. All would be ok.

 

[ClassicGuy]

If Wuzhi would say "Ok we had a error on the plan there are, one or two zeros missed on the plan, we missed. All would be ok.

Exactly, if Wuzhi just stop making ZK-1002, and say that's defective model, that would help their reputation and alleviate our concerns.

But there are quite a few other good brands out there though, so we are not stuck with them. In fact, I have a board that costs me US$4 that seems to do aux-in perfectly fine (it does not have Bluetooth).

 

[ClassicGuy]

That zk 502H would be interesting for me. If it work?. I think BT out over aux out would be great. And usb-in would also be great. But who knows if it works, like it should?

Yes, typical USB DAC costs $100+, so hard to imagine they can have any decent USB DAC squeezed into a $15 amp. But I presume to support Bluetooth it needs a DAC already, so you never know. Would be nice to see the schematics of that board to verify how the USB is wired (not that I can read).

I also notice some boards sound good using Bluetooth, but mediocre using USB drive, so we cannot assume they'll have the same quality just because both go through the DAC.

 

[tomtoo]

Yes, typical USB DAC costs $100+, so hard to imagine they can have any decent USB DAC squeezed into a $15 amp. But I presume to support Bluetooth it needs a DAC already, so you never know. Would be nice to see the schematics of that board to verify how the USB is wired (not that I can read).

I also notice some boards sound good using Bluetooth, but mediocre using USB drive, so we cannot assume they'll have the same quality just because both go through the DAC.

I not expect high-end. Just that it works proper like the 1002T.

 

[ClassicGuy]

I not expect high-end. Just that it works proper

My motto as well

 

[Skezza]

Since you are using computer as source, I wonder whether USB in would work out well. The board you linked earlier has USB in, so does this Wuzhi board that look very similar. https://www.aliexpress.com/item/100...earchweb0_0,searchweb201602_,searchweb201603_
Not sure if they would suffer the same issue as your current ZK-1002 though.

umm, there is also a Wuzhi ZK-502D https://www.aliexpress.com/item/4000897317832.html?spm=a2g0o.cart.0.0.21f63c00HVNJNa&mp=1, I wish I can decipher these Wuzhi model letters (it's not higher means better).

That does look a genuinely interesting product and I will admit I am tempted just to experiment. These products don't cost a huge amount and are versatile enough that they can be used in other applications.

As it is, I am satisfied with Aux-in because aside from using this as an output to my PC soundcard, I am going to be using it connected to my Line6 Helix for guitar playing and recording which means the USB wouldn't be much use unless I could switch between the interfaces seamlessly.... It does make me curious though. I wrongly believed that most of these USB ports on these pieces of hardware would be for flash drives only. This could be a game changer...?

 

[ClassicGuy]

That does look a genuinely interesting product and I will admit I am tempted just to experiment. These products don't cost a huge amount and are versatile enough that they can be used in other applications.

As it is, I am satisfied with Aux-in because aside from using this as an output to my PC soundcard, I am going to be using it connected to my Line6 Helix for guitar playing and recording which means the USB wouldn't be much use unless I could switch between the interfaces seamlessly.... It does make me curious though. I wrongly believed that most of these USB ports on these pieces of hardware would be for flash drives only. This could be a game changer...?

Don't do it on our account, for sure

Yeah, I assumed all these USB ports were for flash drives as well, since that's all I've seen before. Weird that I am suddenly seeing all these devices that accept computer USB. Tbh, it's not like I have the ears to tell the difference anyway.

 

[Skezza]

Don't do it on our account, for sure

Yeah, I assumed all these USB ports were for flash drives as well, since that's all I've seen before. Weird that I am suddenly seeing all these devices that accept computer USB. Tbh, it's not like I have the ears to tell the difference anyway.

Well, I want to finish my working setup first but if I think it makes sense I'll get one. I'll know sometime this week.

Interestingly you can get a cheap DAC like this one for 0.77p
https://a.aliexpress.com/_BSI3cP

No idea of the quality but the reviews are pretty good?

 

[Skezza]

￡11.41 20%OFF | 2*50W Bluetooth 5.0 Mini Amplifier TPA3116 Digital Power Audio TPA3116D2 Stereo Wireless Amplificador Home Theater Mini AMP
https://a.aliexpress.com/_BPZK8n

100W version is coming out soon
https://banggood.app.link/P2cm2yh8idb