WiiM Amp Pro Streaming Stereo Amplifier Review

[Piotr]

I'm not sure why so many people on this forum are so focused on power. I have a 35m² open living space, a 50W amplifier, and just two speakers. I usually listen at around 12% volume, and it's already loud. If you have a family or a partner, when would you even need to go up to 60%? When no one's home, I might push it to 21%, and the whole house shakes. What's really important is achieving a full, rich, and immersive stereo sound with a wide soundstage, but at low volume.

For large, floor-standing speakers I'd indeed be concerned.

There are many positive reviews of the M1 when compared to the Wiim Amp (non-Pro), so it would be really interesting to see how the M1 performs in measurements.

So, far we have:

M1: more power, AirPlay 2 support, higher resale value
Wiim Amp PRO: much better software, room correction, more affordable price

 

[Emiyanez]

I'm not sure why so many people on this forum are so focused on power. I have a 35m² open living space, a 50W amplifier, and just two speakers. I usually listen at around 12% volume, and it's already loud. If you have a family or a partner, when would you even need to go up to 60%? When no one's home, I might push it to 21%, and the whole house shakes. What's really important is achieving a full, rich, and immersive stereo sound with a wide soundstage, but at low volume.

For large, floor-standing speakers I'd indeed be concerned.

There are many positive reviews of the M1 when compared to the Wiim Amp (non-Pro), so it would be really interesting to see how the M1 performs in measurements.

So, far we have:

M1: more power, AirPlay 2 support, higher resale value
Wiim Amp PRO: much better software, room correction, more affordable price

I have a similarly sized living room with two relatively inefficient (85 dB) tower speakers, driven by an "underpowered" Hypex NC122MP based amp, fed by a Wiim Ultra. I hardly ever play music at more than 50% of the preamp volume even if I have the Ultra output cut down to 1 Vrms. We could discuss the headspace requirements but I am also surprised about the general perception of power needs in this forum

 

[Doodski]

I'm not sure why so many people on this forum are so focused on power. I have a 35m² open living space, a 50W amplifier, and just two speakers. I usually listen at around 12% volume, and it's already loud. If you have a family or a partner, when would you even need to go up to 60%? When no one's home, I might push it to 21%, and the whole house shakes. What's really important is achieving a full, rich, and immersive stereo sound with a wide soundstage, but at low volume.

For large, floor-standing speakers I'd indeed be concerned.

There are many positive reviews of the M1 when compared to the Wiim Amp (non-Pro), so it would be really interesting to see how the M1 performs in measurements.

So, far we have:

M1: more power, AirPlay 2 support, higher resale value
Wiim Amp PRO: much better software, room correction, more affordable price

I have a similarly sized living room with two relatively inefficient (85 dB) tower speakers, driven by an "underpowered" Hypex NC122MP based amp, fed by a Wiim Ultra. I hardly ever play music at more than 50% of the preamp volume even if I have the Ultra output cut down to 1 Vrms. We could discuss the headspace requirements but I am also surprised about the general perception of power needs in this forum

I don't get what you mean by percentage of volume setting. The volume control is pretty much 100% not physically or mathematically operating in percent. (Pun intended. ) The reason some people desire more power is for when using PEQ, loudness control etc. Those 2 operations boost the power requirements and do that fast. For dynamic transients then the power requirements can be high and then more power is required. Your system and other systems have different efficiencies, different gain operations, different volume control proportions and are not comparable by volume control orientation/position. I am very aware that a 40W/ch@8R amplifier can be very satisfying but I am also aware that a 140W/ch@8R amplifier or bigger can sound a lot more solid and clean if using the loudness control or PEQ. There are applications where high power is required but if a person is idling along at a low power output, not changing the frequency response characteristics as in adding more bass and loudness contouring and is of a sufficient volume of output then so be it but it does not mean everybody needs a low powered amplifier. Some people myself included do want and require high powered amps for cranking it up, adding large PEQ adjustments, using the loudness control and for difficult speaker impedances. If using a dB calculator some very interesting dB output calculations can be done as we noticed from @staticV3's calculations but that is not always the case for all enthusiasts and systems as I have outlined. The very nature of dB versus power output shows that high power is not the end all and be all for everybody but also proves how important it is to have power reserves for transients due to the very nature of requiring much higher power figures to express those transients.

 

[Doodski]

M1: more power, AirPlay 2 support, higher resale value

A subjective idea. Nobody knows what price a device will command until entering the marketplace and selling the gear. The Marantz is 3x the price as new. The Wiim is a affordable, well featured piece that would be easy to sell with less loss.

 

[Emiyanez]

I don't get what you mean by percentage of volume setting. The volume control is pretty much 100% not physically or mathematically operating in percent. (Pun intended. ) The reason some people desire more power is for when using PEQ, loudness control etc. Those 2 operations boost the power requirements and do that fast. For dynamic transients then the power requirements can be high and then more power is required. Your system and other systems have different efficiencies, different gain operations, different volume control proportions and are not comparable by volume control orientation/position. I am very aware that a 40W/ch@8R amplifier can be very satisfying but I am also aware that a 140W/ch@8R amplifier or bigger can sound a lot more solid and clean if using the loudness control or PEQ. There are applications where high power is required but if a person is idling along at a low power output, not changing the frequency response characteristics as in adding more bass and loudness contouring and is of a sufficient volume of output then so be it but it does not mean everybody needs a low powered amplifier. Some people myself included do want and require high powered amps for cranking it up, adding large PEQ adjustments, using the loudness control and for difficult speaker impedances. If using a dB calculator some very interesting dB output calculations can be done as we noticed from @staticV3's calculations but that is not always the case for all enthusiasts and systems as I have outlined. The very nature of dB versus power output shows that high power is not the end all and be all for everybody but also proves how important it is to have power reserves for transients due to the very nature of requiring much higher power figures to express those transients.

Touché! I totally agree with most of your points but I still think that, overall, we tend to buy much more power than we actually need. I do apply RC and PEQ and have plenty of power with an "underpowered" amp for my use case.

Regarding "transient response", how does it improve with power (totally honest question)? I guess it's related with the fact that low frequencies are really important in our perception of "music dynamics" so one needs to make sure that low frequencies are properly reproduced. I think that speakers are much more important in this department and a good sub may help more than a powerful amp. The WiiM Amp has pretty good subwoofer management options (it keeps improving with new updates) so I would place it over more powerful amps with not so customizable sub management for "transients lovers".

 

[Piotr]

A subjective idea. Nobody knows what price a device will command until entering the marketplace and selling the gear. The Marantz is 3x the price as new. The Wiim is a affordable, well featured piece that would be easy to sell with less loss.

Depends on the market. In Europe, here's the deal:

• Wiim Amp Pro: €474
• Marantz Stereo 70s: €550
• Marantz M1: €883

Nett price. Competition is tough. In the US, the Wiim Amp could indeed have a better price/value ratio.

 

[Doodski]

Depends on the market. In Europe, here's the deal:

• Wiim Amp Pro: €474
• Marantz Stereo 70s: €550
• Marantz M1: €883

Nett price. Competition is tough. In the US, the Wiim Amp could indeed have a better price/value ratio.

Much better prices in Europe. In Canada the Marantz is ~$1500 and the Wiim about $550'ish.

 

[Doodski]

Regarding "transient response", how does it improve with power (totally honest question)?

To double the sound pressure level one needs a very significant increase in power (10x more power.) output and so handling transients that peak high on the power output enables an amp to deliver music with more impact and detailed peaks in the music.
QUOTE:>>>
So, let's assume we have a speaker with a sensitivity of 90 dB @ 1W/1m and a power handling capacity of up to 100W. If that speaker is powered with 1W of power, it will generate 90dB when measured at a distance of 1 meter. If we double that power to 2W, the SPL measurement will increase to 93dB. If we increase the power to 10W, then the SPL measurement will increase to 100dB, which is "twice the perceived loudness" when compared to 1W. So it actually takes 10 times more power to give us a perceived doubling of volume level. Since this imaginary speaker is rated to safely handle up to 100W, we could double that volume level yet again, and in theory, hit up to 110dB SPL by increasing the power all the way up to 100W. One watt=90 dB. One hundred watts, or 100X more power=110 dB. That's a huge increase in power but only a "doubled double" (4X) increase in terms of perceived volume levels.

 

[swenak]

Depends on the market. In Europe, here's the deal:

• Wiim Amp Pro: €474
• Marantz Stereo 70s: €550
• Marantz M1: €883

Nett price. Competition is tough. In the US, the Wiim Amp could indeed have a better price/value ratio.

I found this, not in stock, but ...

 

[Doodski]

Regarding dynamic transients and peak power output versus music types this video demonstrates a need for peak power and then demonstrates not needing high peak power for some chamber music. It's a mixed bag but some people prefer to go the high power route and others are satisfied with 40W/ch etc.

 

[Emiyanez]

Regarding dynamic transients and peak power output versus music types this video demonstrates a need for peak power and then demonstrates not needing high peak power for some chamber music. It's a mixed bag but some people prefer to go the high power route and others are satisfied with 40W/ch etc.

This is somehow what I thought when you shared the relation of power with output volume in your previous post. Having infinite power may not help with transients and dynamic perception. You can listen to music at 110dB (not recommended) but your ears will be blasted and unable to properly capture fine dynamics. However, I understand the appeal of feeling the music on your chest assuming you do not have neighbors nearby.

Just to close the off-topic, I would choose the WiiM Amp Pro over there Marantz because it's cheaper and the software and support is much better (although it's slightly less powerful). Depending on the speaker impedance, I may even go for the vanilla version of the WiiM Amp and save some additional money. I do have one and it's a really nice piece of equipment.

 

[Doodski]

This is somehow what I thought when you shared the relation of power with output volume in your previous post. Having infinite power may not help with transients and dynamic perception. You can listen to music at 110dB (not recommended) but your ears will be blasted and unable to properly capture fine dynamics. However, I understand the appeal of feeling the music on your chest assuming you do not have neighbors nearby.

You are taking the operation of the power to sound pressure level example out of context. Nobody said they are listening to 110 dB flat out and the example was to explain the relationship between power, the sound pressure levels and transient dynamic peaks. If you read that carefully you would realize this and not dance around the topic. The other example was the video where the sound pressure level is obviously not very high as they are able to talk easily over the speakers but they hit peaks from transients up to ~750W/ch. As I said before fly at it if you are satisfied with 40 or 50 Watts per channel but don't expect to see the system hitting dynamic peaks in any manner that a more capable amp is able to do. Sure 50 Watts/ch can provide some sound level that makes speaking difficult in some circumstances but it is not high fidelity and is simply an underpowered system. The Wiim is a great piece of gear although I am not going to tell anybody that they are getting something great. It is small amplifier and has small dynamic peak capabilities no matter how one tries to defend it or whatever.

 

[Old_School_Brad]

This is somehow what I thought when you shared the relation of power with output volume in your previous post. Having infinite power may not help with transients and dynamic perception. You can listen to music at 110dB (not recommended) but your ears will be blasted and unable to properly capture fine dynamics. However, I understand the appeal of feeling the music on your chest assuming you do not have neighbors nearby.

Take a measurement of a dynamic piece of music with an average SPL of around 70 dBA and record the LCpeak value -I think you’ll be surprised by the result.

For example, I was just now listening to the first minute of "Flames" by David Guetta and Sia, which happened to start playing while I was working. I was sitting about 3 meters from the speakers, with my laptop in my usual listening position. Using the NIOSH app on an iPhone 11 Pro, I recorded a peak SPL of 86 dB (C-weighted) and an average SPL of 67 dB (A-weighted).
No ears were blasted and you could easily have a conversation with a slightly raised voice if you wanted to.

 

[Old_School_Brad]

Here’s a quick measurement from the track in Doodski's video. To hit 110 dB LCpeak, I’d need to get up from my chair and adjust the attenuators on my power amp, which I didn’t bother doing. I think the point is clear without needing to reach exactly 110 dB.

 

[Doodski]

Take a measurement of a dynamic piece of music with an average SPL of around 70 dBA and record the LCpeak value -I think you’ll be surprised by the result.

For example, I was just now listening to the first minute of "Flames" by David Guetta and Sia, which happened to start playing while I was working. I was sitting about 3 meters from the speakers, with my laptop in my usual listening position. Using the NIOSH app on an iPhone 11 Pro, I recorded a peak SPL of 86 dB (C-weighted) and an average SPL of 67 dB (A-weighted).
No ears were blasted and you could easily have a conversation with a slightly raised voice if you wanted to.


View attachment 401187

That and the Wiim is a class D amplifier. So the max rated output power is the max capable peak output power too. It has to do with how the power supply works and is a limiting factor in smaller power output class D amps. These graphs indicate a max capable peak level in the RMS max level that they are capable of outputting. So into 8 Ohms speakers the highest peak output will be ~59 Watts/ch @ best and into 4 Ohms speakers ~117 Watts at best max peak output per channel. Both test ranges are limited by the ~+/-30.7 Volts DC power supply in the device.

 

[Old_School_Brad]

That and the Wiim is a class D amplifier. So the max rated output power is the max capable peak output power too. It has to do with how the power supply works and is a limiting factor in smaller power output class D amps. These graphs indicate a max capable peak level in the RMS max level that they are capable of outputting. So into 8 Ohms speakers the highest peak output will be ~59 Watts/ch @ best and into 4 Ohms speakers ~117 Watts at best max peak output per channel.

Yes, that too. I had previously written a comparison between the dynamic power of Class A/B amplifiers and the typically non-existent dynamic power in Class D and chip amplifiers, but I decided to delete it to focus more on the specific measurement instead.

 

[Emiyanez]

You are taking the operation of the power to sound pressure level example out of context...

In the video, the transients hit 750W but the average output is around 350W so it means twice the average power as headroom for those transients. In such system one clearly needs a lot of power... I wish I could afford such pair of speakers.

Take a measurement of a dynamic piece of music with an average SPL of around 70 dBA and record the LCpeak value -I think you’ll be surprised by the result...

Agree, music can be really dynamic but a decent amp should be able to handle that.

I do not want to keep deviating the focus from the main topic of this thread. Sorry if I offended you and enjoy your music!

 

[Doodski]

I have a similarly sized living room with two relatively inefficient (85 dB) tower speakers, driven by an "underpowered" Hypex NC122MP based amp, fed by a Wiim Ultra.

In the video, the transients hit 750W but the average output is around 350W so it means twice the average power as headroom for those transients. In such system one clearly needs a lot of power... I wish I could afford such pair of speakers.

The test speakers in the video are Harbeth Monitor 40.1 speaker with 85dB/W/m efficiency or sensitivity. They have the same sensitivity rating as your speakers. The average output is most likely not 350W/ch otherwise the people in the video would be unable to speak to each other. You should check your facts and figures before posting.

I do not want to keep deviating the focus from the main topic of this thread. Sorry if I offended you and enjoy your music!

We are chattering on about the product in the review.

 

[Old_School_Brad]

In the video, the transients hit 750W but the average output is around 350W so it means twice the average power as headroom for those transients. In such system one clearly needs a lot of power... I wish I could afford such pair of speakers.



Agree, music can be really dynamic but a decent amp should be able to handle that.

I do not want to keep deviating the focus from the main topic of this thread. Sorry if I offended you and enjoy your music!

A good pair of speakers should have a high transient capability since it only needs to handle these peaks for brief moments. The reason I quickly opened my app for my first post is because the track I was measuring isn’t what you'd typically consider a highly dynamic piece of music. It’s a fairly standard EDM/pop track with (in my opinion, great) vocals from Sia, but otherwise nothing extraordinary. That, in itself, says more than "test track" from the video Doodski linked to. At least I tend to think so.
With this in mind, it's worth considering whether you'd be satisfied with a peak power capability of 50W.

 

[shuppatsu]

The test speakers in the video are Harbeth Monitor 40.1 speaker with 85dB/W/m efficiency or sensitivity. They have the same sensitivity rating as your speakers. The average output is most likely not 350W/ch otherwise the people in the video would be unable to speak to each other. You should check your facts and figures before posting.

I don't know what's going on in that video, but I do see people getting up really close to it, like their ear pointed directly at the speaker at 1-2 feet. All I can say is that my 87dB speakers at 3 feet away are instant panic turn down loud with my Wiim Amp at 100%.

One of the comments says that the CH Audio meters are not accurate in bridged mode. Maybe that's what's going on?

EDIT: I don't have a lossless version of the song but the official Youtube Opus track (143kbps) has an RMS of -12.5dB, which is not a particularly dynamic track.