Streaming AMP purchase advice

[Timcognito]

If we are talking about options for geeks, then Dirac is your thing.

Trolling, Dirac's ability to tame room modes and speaker deficiencies has been documented in a quite few threads with data to back it up. Undocumented talk and insults are easy.

 

[Timcognito]

@hejon Welcome to ASR.

You are on the right track with KEF, NAD, WiiM and as someone trying to get up to speed, you should look at treads that concern DSP, PEQ or Room Correction, with Dirac, Audessey, and Room Perfect considered the leaders in DSP. DSP is kind of next frontier in audio sound, detail and realism. . WiiM is a very good and customer responsive company with many new and well measuring devices but is new to the game with limited DSP features, but constantly updating. NAD has ability to add Dirac and their BluOS is a well developed streaming platform but can be on the expensive side adding devices and features. With many KEF speakers you probably want to be north of 75 w/ch. Take your time and read not only reviews but user comments as many ASR customers discover and resolve issues that may or may not concern you but give you insight before spending and having second thoughts.

 

[antcollinet]

This is actually something i have been thinking about as a good alternative But that would require the AMP to be quite compact and have a good DAC or the streamer to have a really good DAC.

The ultra (probably) has an excellent DAC. Pair it with a power amp (or for example a pair of V3 monos) which could just be put out of sight.

 

[nygafre]

Hello,

I am looking for some guidance in replacing my current old school setup containing vinyl, cd, stereo amp, floorstanding speakers and a separate dac. I want to be able to power a pair of decent speakers, for example: KEF R3 Meta or similar while playing music from both vinyl and streaming. The idea is to start by buying a combined streamer AMP to remove CD, AMP and DAC. Later i will also replace speakers but that is not in such a hurry. My current speakers are a pair of Audiovector S3 Signature, so i would love for the amp to be able to power at least that.

It is important that the Streaming AMP is small and looks decent enough, another option could be that it is non streaming but has a good built in dac(Although there seems to be few of these that are small and well designed). This could work with for example a WiiM Mini. Having looked at the new Denon and Marantz streaming amps i got hopeful since they seem to deliver very good power and looks decent enough but can they be controlled with a remote? I am a bit worried that they will be dead weight if one day the app is no longer updated and major phone OS'es no longer supports it. I want to at least be able to change volume and input even without app.

Does anyone have any good tips or ideas of how to navigate this space?

I made a small table of the options so far:

View attachment 392416

Happy R3 Meta + Powernode (N330) user here. Goes plenty/too loud in my 20m2 room and 2.5m listening distance.

I also ran a NAD C316 V2 and an Argon SA1 briefly, which were more than plenty for my moderate listening levels. But it is nice with some extra power from the N330. If I were shopping today I would probably look at something like the Wiim Amp/NAD C700 v2 (or similar) with the included PEQ filters/Dirac Live, but I got the Powernode dirt cheap so I can’t get myself to change it.

I’m expecting Bluesound to release DL for either the current Powernode or a v2.

 

[pogo]

They will arrive very soon. Bluesound have to keep WiiM & Co. at a distance. With the new Node and the Node Icon, it has already succeeded for the pure streamers.

 

[hejon]

@hejon Welcome to ASR.

You are on the right track with KEF, NAD, WiiM and as someone trying to get up to speed, you should look at treads that concern DSP, PEQ or Room Correction, with Dirac, Audessey, and Room Perfect considered the leaders in DSP. DSP is kind of next frontier in audio sound, detail and realism. . WiiM is a very good and customer responsive company with many new and well measuring devices but is new to the game with limited DSP features, but constantly updating. NAD has ability to add Dirac and their BluOS is a well developed streaming platform but can be on the expensive side adding devices and features. With many KEF speakers you probably want to be north of 75 w/ch. Take your time and read not only reviews but user comments as many ASR customers discover and resolve issues that may or may not concern you but give you insight before spending and having second thoughts.

Thanks, i will definitely have a read of threads on those topics. I do feel that Bluesound and WiiM are my best options, wether that is by a Powernode, NAD amp or something else. I am a bit tired of parts of the HIFI industry and that it still tries to gold plate anything for a 100$ dollar price hike, or whatever is the latest fad gets made up to up prices.

It makes sense to me that at the end of the day it will be the acoustics that have the biggest effect on the sound, and that is made up by the speakers and their environment. So at least having room correction available in the ecosystem that i will buy into seems like a smart bet, and is probably worth a lot more than most of the things I have historically spent a lot of money on.

 

[Timcognito]

So at least having room correction available in the ecosystem that i will buy into seems like a smart bet, and is probably worth a lot more than most of the things I have historically spent a lot of money on.

Sounds good, room correction and good speaker measurements to deliver it are the latest and most important things to focus on. Features, UI and connectivity are next as electronics have many great choices, that tech is mature. Amir helps us all with choosing the latter. I have Roon and the BluOS and like both. I never use a classic remote, just a dedicated 10" Android tablet for audio <$100 on sale. Zero experience with WiiM but others seem to really like it.

 

[hejon]

At the end of the day I am considering these speakers

Revel M16
Revel M105
Revel M106
KEF R3 Meta
Kef LS50 Meta
Wharfedale super denton

Or something simliar in the 1000$ to around 2500$ pricerange. Would the NAD C379 or C700 V2 be a good choice for these?

If so, i just need to consider which of these AMPS i want to try out. Because they seem to be a good fit for by most other measures

 

[Timcognito]

Or something simliar in the 1000$ to around 2500$ pricerange. Would the NAD C379 or C700 V2 be a good choice for these?

Maybe the NAD 368 BluOS cheaper, w/BluOS and Roon ready and not C700 paying for Screen which means you have to be in front of it to use it and lesser specs except DAC, than 379 or 368 no phono. Crutchfield lets you compare and hide similar. If it were me the NAD 3050 BluOS D with phono stage you wanted and more power. Amir liked most NAD amps he tested.

Dirac Live - NAD Electronics

Dirac specializes in digital sound optimization solutions. Whether you’re watching a movie at home, relaxing with headphones or using your mobile device as a makeshift boombox, audio quality can make or break the experience.

nadelectronics.com

 

[hejon]

I came across a good price on this kit:

DIYClassD UcD180 stereo kit

The DIYclassD UcD180 stereo kit is probably the best and most easy way to get a high-end HiFi system in your living room for a very affordable price.

www.diyclassd.com

So you know if these are any good? Would be in combination with something like a WiiM Ultra

 

[antcollinet]

I came across a good price on this kit:

DIYClassD UcD180 stereo kit

The DIYclassD UcD180 stereo kit is probably the best and most easy way to get a high-end HiFi system in your living room for a very affordable price.

www.diyclassd.com

So you know if these are any good? Would be in combination with something like a WiiM Ultra

The UCD180 is an older class of module from Hypex. Doesn't perform as well as the more modern designs, but quite likely inaudibly so

@pma measured one here. It achieved a 5W sinad of around 80dB

Hypex UcD180HG HxR amplifier module analysis and review

Hypex UcD180HG HxR module analysis and review After buying and testing AIYIMA A07 amplifier (based on TPA3255 class D chip) in January 2021 I was quite disappointed with the frequency response modulated by speaker complex impedance and its audible consequences. This is, unfortunately...

www.audiosciencereview.com

 

[hejon]

The UCD180 is an older class of module from Hypex. Doesn't perform as well as the more modern designs, but quite likely inaudibly so

@pma measured one here. It achieved a 5W sinad of around 80dB

Hypex UcD180HG HxR amplifier module analysis and review

Hypex UcD180HG HxR module analysis and review After buying and testing AIYIMA A07 amplifier (based on TPA3255 class D chip) in January 2021 I was quite disappointed with the frequency response modulated by speaker complex impedance and its audible consequences. This is, unfortunately...

www.audiosciencereview.com

Cool, they seem good enough but after some reading and looking around I found the Soundimpress HY252-2CH at a European dealer at a cost not that much higher than the UCD, so i went for that. The form factor of it is actually a lot better for me than the UCD and being an nCore unit it should at least measure better.

I also ordered the Wiim Ultra, seems to have all i need. So it ended up:

Wiim Ultra + Soundimpress HY252-2CH, which will replace the old system:

Bladelius Tyr 2 Traditional
Musical Fidelity V90 DAC
Cambridge Audio Azur 650 CD player
Raspberry PI 3

Better streaming, smaller and hopefully just as performant sound wise.

The vinyl will be kept along for the ride, and i will slowly start to keep an eye open for good bookshelf speakers.

Thanks for all the help, i look forward to trying out this combination of for me fairly unknown brands.

 

[hejon]

The WiiM Ultra arrived yesterday and first impressions are very good, the user experience is particularly wonderful. The EQ possibilities are great while the room correction seems a bit flawed given it uses the phone mic. I am thinking about purchasing this extra mic to see if the result is different: https://www.soundimports.eu/en/dayton-audio-imm-6.html?id=73880249&gad_source=1

That would also enable me to make some measurements to see if it can detect differences between built in DAC and V90, Bladelius and hypex amp etc. Amateurishly but for fun.

The sound seems (this is highly subjective and might just be 100% in my head) softer and warmer than it was with the Musical Fidelity DAC and the Bladelius. Now i use WiiM Ultra as a Preamp and actually still passes that through the preamp in the Bladelius since the power amp is not here yet. Don't know if passing it through 2 preamps can affect a lot. Otherwise, if not in my head. I would expect the difference to be in the DAC.

So far i am very happy with the purchase, I will come back with more impressions as well.