WiiM Amp Pro Streaming Stereo Amplifier Review

[Matias]

Again, bad 15kHz THD is just an indicator of a potential problem. Maybe it's fine, maybe not. Your money, your gamble. Buy this for whatever the feature set is, not for the "great" technical performance of the amplifier, which does not exist.

FAQ #7

Class D FAQ

This topic is dedicated to Frequently Asked Questions about class D amplifiers. If you have been directed here the reason is that it is easier to concentrate the frequent answers here instead of repeating them in several topics. Q1: Class D power ratings cannot be true. How can these small and...

www.audiosciencereview.com

 

[shuppatsu]

FAQ #7

Class D FAQ

This topic is dedicated to Frequently Asked Questions about class D amplifiers. If you have been directed here the reason is that it is easier to concentrate the frequent answers here instead of repeating them in several topics. Q1: Class D power ratings cannot be true. How can these small and...

www.audiosciencereview.com

I think @ryanmh1 addressed the argument in FAQ #7. He's not claiming we can hear the harmonic distortion of a 15Khz signal. He's claiming we may be able to hear the IMD created by tones interacting with each other in the high frequency regions where there is relatively more harmonic distortion. Given that IMD is part and parcel of THD, and given that even 1% THD is transparent, I'm not sure where he's coming from. But we can all agree that the measurements are not state of the art.

 

[Petrushka]

I think @ryanmh1 addressed the argument in FAQ #7. He's not claiming we can hear the harmonic distortion of a 15Khz signal. He's claiming we may be able to hear the IMD created by tones interacting with each other in the high frequency regions where there is relatively more harmonic distortion. Given that IMD is part and parcel of THD, and given that even 1% THD is transparent, I'm not sure where he's coming from. But we can all agree that the measurements are not state of the art.

So let’s have some double blind tests.

 

[formdissolve]

I have no reason to buy this, but I know two people who would absolutely buy to replace their current failing systems. Thumbs up!

 

[MusicMan77]

Just put in my order. Should be here in a couple of weeks. It's going to replace an SMSL piece for my bedroom system that has a super narrow IR window and is a pain to control via the remote. I've got a Wiim Pro Plus that I'm really happy with so looking forward to adding another Wiim device.

 

[NoteMakoti]

I'm tired so I might be speaking out of my butt for this, but I feel like people have a tendency to get caught up in the hype/hype-backlash cycle with products like this, instead of just sitting back and appreciating them for what they are. These WiiM amps don't have to be literally perfect to be great products that we would have killed for even a few years ago. Splitting hairs over minute distortion figures or trying to argue about how it stacks up next to other, more expensive products is worth it as a fun pastime, but it definitely isn't worth getting heated over.

 

[MusicMan77]

I'm tired so I might be speaking out of my butt for this, but I feel like people have a tendency to get caught up in the hype/hype-backlash cycle with products like this, instead of just sitting back and appreciating them for what they are. These WiiM amps don't have to be literally perfect to be great products that we would have killed for even a few years ago. Splitting hairs over minute distortion figures or trying to argue about how it stacks up next to other, more expensive products is worth it as a fun pastime, but it definitely isn't worth getting heated over.

Fully agree. Don't let perfect be the enemy of great.

 

[Descartes]

I was going to buy one but no Apple Airplay support no thank you!

 

[VMAT4]

I'm tired so I might be speaking out of my butt for this, but I feel like people have a tendency to get caught up in the hype/hype-backlash cycle with products like this, instead of just sitting back and appreciating them for what they are. These WiiM amps don't have to be literally perfect to be great products that we would have killed for even a few years ago. Splitting hairs over minute distortion figures or trying to argue about how it stacks up next to other, more expensive products is worth it as a fun pastime, but it definitely isn't worth getting heated over.

About 35 years ago I spent about $310 on a Yamaha CR 420 receiver. Now about $300 buys a WiiM amp that can do a whole lot more. It's a good time to love audio.

 

[daniboun]

@amirm Can you please give a quick test via the direct bluetooth input with LDAC codec ?

 

[amirm]

@amirm Can you please give a quick test via the direct bluetooth input with LDAC codec ?

What kind of quick test? The Dashboard?

 

[amirm]

I was going to buy one but no Apple Airplay support no thank you!

What is the history behind this? Company doesn't want to or can't get a license?

 

[Old_School_Brad]

What is the history behind this? Company doesn't want to or can't get a license?

Apple acts in seemingly odd ways with these things sometimes. I bet an apple internal strategy meeting has concluded a clash with something on their road map x(x) years into the future.
Or perhaps Wiim chooses not to pay Apple's licensing fees in order to maintain their products at a certain price point.

 

[Pinkynator]

The discussion is, essentially, once again about two different aspects regarding how the device is rated by forum users...

1) "Why are people voting 'great' when IMD and power and stuff"
2) "Why are people voting 'poor' when it's a solid device that does things and it's cheap"

Both arguments are perfectly valid and accurate! There is no need to get upset because someone has a different viewpoint and a device fits or does not fit their use case.

Personally, I am eventually going to hook up one of these (the non-pro version because it's cheaper) to my TV and find those ancient "cat-toppled-one-I-glued-it-back-shittily-so-now-it-resonates" B&W 302 bookshelves I stashed somewhere, and then I'm going to get better sound from my TV and provide some streaming background music in the living room when the kid doesn't watch Spongebob, and I'm going to use PEQ to notch-kill the bass frequency that makes that broken cabinet resonate. I think that's fine.

 

[Haskil]

In fact, our friend based his position on a bad transcription of the distortion rates in dB that I had given by drawing them approximately from the curves of Amir's test: he had forgotten a 0 behind the point.
I pointed this out to him in my response and provided the link to an online calculator.
Our friend has since edited his original post, but has not changed his view while focusing on 15 Khz which is the most "bad" at 0.2%.

The distortions we are talking about are the following and they are inaudible:

- IMD: 68 dB is 0.039%

Harmonic distortions:
- 54 dB at 15 Khz: 0.2%
- 62 dB at 10 Khz - 0.08%
- 68 dB à 5 kHz : 0,04 %

It's not Sota, but these are, as I said in my first message, performances encountered on even more expensive and highly prized amplifiers. And this device does not pretend to be anything other than what it is made for. The Topping B100 claims incredible performance and it delivers. This Wiim Amp Pro claims to provide around fifty watts of quality and a leading streamer part for a very low price. And so here is why it is acclaimed by voters as are the small economical class D amps from Fosi which their users find excellent in use. Purif, Nilai, NC 500 or McIntosh MC 502 are better of course but... the use is not the same...

There is on the one hand the search for absolute performance (also criticized on the subject of Topping !) and on the other the search for a small unit ideal for secondary use or under the TV. It's like the speakers, there are small libraries which do not go down into the bass and distort at high levels: they are clearly not made for listening to romantic organ or pieces by Messiaen and speakers which go down very low and can produce a high SPL... and which allows you to listen to a recorder and Messiaen's Pentecost mass at full volume and to knock the dust off the curtains.
To each according to their needs and means. And Wiim Amp Pro does its job perfectly here.

And I also said that if we got into a time machine: what could we buy as an "all in one" for a hundred dollars, forty years ago, understanding that 380 dollars today today are probably about a hundred forty years ago... Not much... and nothing of this quality.
We must applaud the most efficient devices of the moment which pass on the Amir test bench, but we must also applaud the entry-level devices when their engineering is much better than that of devices worth 6 to 10 times more expensiver...
Now the discussions about the sex of angels are fascinating and they teach us a lot but sometimes decontextualized

 

[Laagman]

What is the history behind this? Company doesn't want to or can't get a license?

Company I’ve worked for worked with Apple. Its really hard to get a license from them. You basically have to give them all your company information including financial information and other ‘secrets’.

 

[dzerig]

I love the wiim ecosystem. Perfect for people with limited space and/or budgets. $350 for a complete system, for what I used to pay for a cassette deck. Oy vey.

You don't get any reserve power with class D, but rated power is sufficient for moderately sized rooms.

 

[morillon]

what could be interesting and a small project on asr is to point out" libraries", fairly modest speakers etc. which are interesting but also quite adapted to this type of amplification with impedance loads not highlighting their particularities....(which the pffb helps to reduce)...

in reality it is unfortunately the real behavior under complex load in the essential zone of 2k-10k that we will have to help to simulate, the zones of "brilliance" or even complexities of loads at the crossings...
"and that is not won"

 

[DRC]

Company I’ve worked for worked with Apple. Its really hard to get a license from them. You basically have to give them all your company information including financial information and other ‘secrets’.

Strange that virtually every streamer supports Airplay?

 

[Old_School_Brad]

Strange that virtually every streamer supports Airplay?

Why?