WiiM Amp Pro Streaming Stereo Amplifier Review

[kyuu]

M1 destroy's the Wiim AMP. It is not all about measuring distortion because there is also positive distortion to make music sound better.

Can't tell if this is a serious comment or not.

For nearly 3 times the cost I certainly hope it has some advantages over the Wiim Amp to justify the price. Frankly, I doubt it. They couldn't even bother to get Roon certification for that price it seems.

"Positive distortion" isn't a thing though. Distortion is distortion. If you really want that "warm" sound, just use EQ. Which the Wiim has. You don't need to spend extra for it or tolerate the equipment forcing coloration of the content.

Edit: It does have Roon support, for some reason they just buried the Roon thing way deep into their listing.

 

[caioferrari]

Can't tell if this is a serious comment or not.

For nearly 3 times the cost I certainly hope it has some advantages over the Wiim Amp to justify the price. Frankly, I doubt it. They couldn't even bother to get Roon certification for that price it seems.

"Positive distortion" isn't a thing though. Distortion is distortion. If you really want that "warm" sound, just use EQ. Which the Wiim has. You don't need to spend extra for it or tolerate the equipment forcing coloration of the content.

Edit: It does have Roon support, for some reason they just buried the Roon thing way deep into their listing.

I agree. There is no positive distortion.

I'm afraid to buy a Class D amp. Two or three years ago, a bought an Acrylic A50+ based on reviews. For the first time ever, I've noticed a poor sound from an amplifier. It sounded harsh, like a low bit rate MP3 (96 kpbs or less) and a didn't find any reason/measurement to justify what I heard. I sold that junk and bought a used Marantz NR1504 and got a decent sound back.

I'm skeptical about a amp sounding, I've tested a few amps here like an old pro amp of a Brazilian brand, a Yamaha A-S501, Arylic A50+, Marantz NR105 and a Crown XLS2502.

A can say that my old pro amp (the amp is Staner 100S - just for curiosity) has a little less treble and Yamaha is just the opposite. I could tell the difference with some serious A/B testing. But, the Arylic sounded bad just out of the box.

My point is: What if Wiim vs Marantz shows a difference like that?

 

[AdrianG]

Ok I ordered the pro version from amazon, as soon as it arrives I will do subjective a/b comparison and update here, If i don’t hear an improvement right away the pro is going back

wiim amp pro arrived today!!, after some testing with my kefs q150 playing a variety of music… my humble opinion( as a musician, home recording enthusiast and “audiophile” for +10 years) is… the sound quality improved about 15%~20%, slightly tighter bass, highs not as bright, i would say less “harsh” overall a better presentation of sound, i’m keeping the pro.

 

[Descartes]

wiim amp pro arrived today!!, after some testing with my kefs q150 playing a variety of music… my humble opinion( as a musician, home recording enthusiast and “audiophile” for +10 years) is… the sound quality improved about 15%~20%, slightly tighter bass, highs not as bright, i would say less “harsh” overall a better presentation of sound, i’m keeping the pro.

Too bad it doesn’t have Airplay as it is a requirement for me with Apple Music and iPhone!

 

[mike70]

I agree. There is no positive distortion.

I'm afraid to buy a Class D amp. Two or three years ago, a bought an Acrylic A50+ based on reviews. For the first time ever, I've noticed a poor sound from an amplifier. It sounded harsh, like a low bit rate MP3 (96 kpbs or less) and a didn't find any reason/measurement to justify what I heard. I sold that junk and bought a used Marantz NR1504 and got a decent sound back.

I'm skeptical about a amp sounding, I've tested a few amps here like an old pro amp of a Brazilian brand, a Yamaha A-S501, Arylic A50+, Marantz NR105 and a Crown XLS2502.

A can say that my old pro amp (the amp is Staner 100S - just for curiosity) has a little less treble and Yamaha is just the opposite. I could tell the difference with some serious A/B testing. But, the Arylic sounded bad just out of the box.

My point is: What if Wiim vs Marantz shows a difference like that?

I think you need to read many more ASR threads and also see some Amir's YouTube videos, etc ... and after that ... think again about your questions, maybe you can answer it.

In other way, it can be like a dialogue between deaf people.

 

[Doodski]

I agree. There is no positive distortion.

I'm afraid to buy a Class D amp. Two or three years ago, a bought an Acrylic A50+ based on reviews. For the first time ever, I've noticed a poor sound from an amplifier. It sounded harsh, like a low bit rate MP3 (96 kpbs or less) and a didn't find any reason/measurement to justify what I heard. I sold that junk and bought a used Marantz NR1504 and got a decent sound back.

I'm skeptical about a amp sounding, I've tested a few amps here like an old pro amp of a Brazilian brand, a Yamaha A-S501, Arylic A50+, Marantz NR105 and a Crown XLS2502.

A can say that my old pro amp (the amp is Staner 100S - just for curiosity) has a little less treble and Yamaha is just the opposite. I could tell the difference with some serious A/B testing. But, the Arylic sounded bad just out of the box.

My point is: What if Wiim vs Marantz shows a difference like that?

I think you may (Might have.) got a bad amp or had listener's bias. Otherwise a new Wiim will give you nice sound.

 

[AdrianG]

Too bad it doesn’t have Airplay as it is a requirement for me with Apple Music and iPhone!

Yes really unfortunate that is not included, I still can use my tv airplay with the wiim through hdmi.

 

[caioferrari]

Anything especific?

I think you need to read many more ASR threads and also see some Amir's YouTube videos, etc ... and after that ... think again about your questions, maybe you can answer it.

In other way, it can be like a dialogue between deaf people.

 

[caioferrari]

I think you need to read many more ASR threads and also see some Amir's YouTube videos, etc ... and after that ... think again about your questions, maybe you can answer it.

In other way, it can be like a dialogue between deaf people.

I saw Amir video and looked the review of Arylic.

It’s all explained by the data. The weird sound from the amp is all about obscene levels of distortion.
Thanks.

 

[MusicMan77]

Hello fellow people that spend way too much time and money on a hobby that we love so much, just got my unit a couple of days ago. So far, incredibly happy with it. Packaging was solid and the device and it's accessories were well protected. If you own a Wiim device you know how easy setup is and this is no different. After unboxing and connecting I powered it up. No clicks or pops at all. It connected to my wifi immediately as I had the app installed from another wiim device so I guess it already knew my wifi password. A quick system update and pairing of the remote and we were off and running. It recognized HDMI ARC right away and when I turned on HDMI-CEC it worked right off the batt with my Sony TV. So nice to use a single remote!! I ran the room correction and it did make a noticeable difference. I toggled it on/off a few times and settled on leaving it on as the sound was fuller and more balanced. What I really appreciate is the ability to tweak sub settings to get it to blend in seamlessly with my speakers. You can adjust level, cross over, and phase. There's a parametic and graphic EQ and bunch of presets which is handy for those that love to tweak to their hearts content. The entire app is so well laid out and easy to use. The sound quality (entirely subjective here) is very clean. I haven't cranked it up yet, but there's more than enough for my ELAC DBR62s in my bedroom system. Overall, I'd give this piece a solid A and the app an A+. It's just very well executed all around and the price can't be beat. The value is through the roof.

 

[Kagemusha]

Is the amp out for sale in Europe?
I can not find the wiim amp pro here, I guess I need to wait a little more?

 

[Burnside]

Is the amp out for sale in Europe?
I can not find the wiim amp pro here, I guess I need to wait a little more?

Don’t see it yet - it normally follows the USA release a month or so later so I’d guess November sometime

 

[Piotr]

21 - 27 December

 

[Mike_Trueman]

Is the amp out for sale in Europe?
I can not find the wiim amp pro here, I guess I need to wait a little more?

I am sure the SMSL RAW-HA1 sounds better and it is only 250€ in Europe.

https://www.smsl-audio.com/portal/product/detail/id/895.html

 

[mrick39]

I am sure the SMSL RAW-HA1 sounds better and it is only 250€ in Europe.

https://www.smsl-audio.com/portal/product/detail/id/895.html

Sounds better? You've listened to an Amp Pro eh? Also, the SMSL is not a streamer, and doesn't have room correction.

 

[shuppatsu]

EDIT: Most modern products are "great" or "excellent" by the "most people don't hear it" measure, yet assuming that is how products are ranked, then this whole site is dedicated to reviewing and ranking products and recommending certain of them for purchase based heavily on a singular metric which says almost zero about a sonic quality anyone can hear and which is, according to Audio Precision, a poor sensitivity test for most kinds of distortion affecting most power amplifiers, and has near zero sensitivity for the single largest problem facing power amplifiers (input stage nonlinearity). Reference: https://www.diyaudio.com/community/...rtion-measurement-methods-ap-aes-pdf.1291415/.

This was what I was trying to get out of you earlier, so I'm glad you've finally made your position clear.

However, I disagree that ASR or the ASR community just ranks electronics by SINAD and calls it a day. I think the median ASR reader is very much interested in all the measurements below the top line. Amir shows where other electronics compare by SINAD, but he also does so for sensitivity and 50mv SNR and so on. It's true that Amir and many ASR readers think 1KHz SINAD is an excellent proxy for overall performance. But Amir has emphasized and most of us have internalized that like all proxies, it does not tell the whole story. Otherwise all those other measurements would be moot.

 

[Ajax]

Amir states that there are filters on the mains and sub out.

Does anyone know that if you connect a powered subwoofer using the sub out it will reduce the load on the Wiim amplifier, and if so by how much?

60 watts into 8 ohms is not a lot of power, however, if the Wiim is not required to drive frequencies below say 80hz then it could be fine for a main system.

 

[Emiyanez]

Amir states that there are filters on the mains and sub out.

Does anyone know that if you connect a powered subwoofer using the sub out it will reduce the load on the Wiim amplifier, and if so by how much?

60 watts into 8 ohms is not a lot of power, however, if the Wiim is not required to drive frequencies below say 80hz then it could be fine for a main system.

Yes. You can select the crossover frequency so you can easily reduce the load of the amp.

 

[Mike_Trueman]

There are not much reviews yet, about this amp.

 

[Emiyanez]

There are not much reviews yet, about this amp.

In terms of functionality, it will be identical to the "vanilla" version so you know exactly what to expect. Everything is controlled by the app so the user experience will be identical but with superior performance (at least based on the measurements).