WiiM Amp Streaming Amplifier Review

[Bernard23]

OK, sounds like a need the Ultra in my life to replace the pro Plus. Might even replace the Duo phono preamp if the phono stage is any good, but then the one in the yamaha is supposedly poor, but the sonic differences between it and the well measured Duo are minute.
I wonder though is there any other device that offers the same functionality and performance as the Ultra, without spending hugely inflated amounts of ££ on?

 

[staticV3]

I wonder though is there any other device that offers the same functionality and performance as the Ultra, without spending hugely inflated amounts of ££ on?

Not even close..

 

[Bernard23]

Not even close..

Didn't think so, but always worth checking. Still not sure (from multiple threads on ASR and Wiim) whether Ultra carries out DSP on the sub out or whether you need to manually set phase, latency etc. The Wiim instructions for RC are to avoid the sub frequency region, i.e. leave it out of the sweep, which doesn't make sense to me with the devices that don't have a sub out.

 

[antcollinet]

but I have a phono amp to connect and a tuner!

Why do you need a tuner when you have a streamer that can stream radio from all over the world?

 

[Bernard23]

Why do you need a tuner when you have a streamer that can stream radio from all over the world?

For the same reason I have a 1970s Japanese turntable.
Music isn't just about the sound, it's furniture that's been with you for decades and the memories that go with it. Music itself is often a nostalgic trip, we associate songs with periods in our lives, in this case it's a Denon TU 260L. There's no way I'm putting that away in a box, I can listen to R4 in the morning by pressing two buttons and don't need a phone to find it.

 

[antcollinet]

For the same reason I have a 1970s Japanese turntable.
Music isn't just about the sound, it's furniture that's been with you for decades and the memories that go with it. Music itself is often a nostalgic trip, we associate songs with periods in our lives, in this case it's a Denon TU 260L. There's no way I'm putting that away in a box, I can listen to R4 in the morning by pressing two buttons and don't need a phone to find it.

Fair enough. Pretty much my turntable reasoning.

 

[PGAMiami]

Has anyone tried it with 4 speakers?

I’m using two of WiiM Amps for my outdoor speakers. One has one pair of Klipsch AW525s and the other has two pairs of AW525s. Both sound great, and about the same. These all play at the same volume. They nominal 8 ohm, 95 db sensitivity. Plays plenty loud and distortion free. No problem overheating.

 

[Descartes]

I’m using two of WiiM Amps for my outdoor speakers. One has one pair of Klipsch AW525s and the other has two pairs of AW525s. Both sound great, and about the same. These all play at the same volume. They nominal 8 ohm, 95 db sensitivity. Plays plenty loud and distortion free. No problem overheating.

Muchas Gracias compadre!

 

[CrypticSignal]

I have a question regarding the subwoofer output graph. The crossover is set at 80Hz but the it's roughly -5dB down at 80Hz, is this expected behaviour? Because I thought that with a low-pass filter, only the frequences above the crossover point should be attenuated. Shouldn't it be flat to 80Hz and only start rolling off above 80Hz?

By the way, the label on the graph is wrong. It says "WiiM Pro" instead of "WiiM amp"

 

[somebodyelse]

I have a question regarding the subwoofer output graph. The crossover is set at 80Hz but the it's roughly -5dB down at 80Hz, is this expected behaviour? Because I thought that with a low-pass filter, only the frequences above the crossover point should be attenuated. Shouldn't it be flat to 80Hz and only start rolling off above 80Hz?

That is expected behaviour. The filter cutoff frequency is usually defined as the frequency where the output has dropped by 3dB.

 

[staticV3]

The crossover is set at 80Hz but the it's roughly -5dB down at 80Hz, is this expected behaviour?

Yes.

A correctly implemented crossover filter will be 6dB down at the selected crossover frequency.

That's because two coherent sound sources sum to +6dB in amplitude.


The WiiM Amp's crossover is of this sort:

Source

 

[CrypticSignal]

Looks like the LPF filter is a fourth-order filter (24dB per octave)? Does anyone know if the HPF filter is also a fourth-order?

 

[CrypticSignal]

A correctly implemented crossover filter will be 6dB down at the selected crossover frequency.
Source

That's not always true. Only if it's a second-order filter.

 

[harkpabst]

That's not always true. Only if it's a second-order filter.

Did you mean to say even order filter?

 

[CrypticSignal]

Did you mean to say even order filter?

What I meant is that the attentuation at the crossover frequency is -6db only if it's a 2nd order filter, but after looking into this, that might be incorrect. Now I think it's -6dB for all Linkwitz-Riley filters, regardless of the order. I just went off what ChatGPT said in that post. According to ChatGPT, these are the attenuations at the crossover frequency:
Linkwitz-Riley filter:
1st order: -3dB at the crossover frequency
2nd order: -6dB at the crossover frequency
3rd order: -9dB at the crossover frequency
4th order: -12dB at the crossover frequency
Butterworth filter:
Always -3db at the crossover frequency, regardless of the order.

But as I've mentioned, I'm not sure if ChatGPT is correct when it comes to Linkwitz-Riley filters. After reading the Wikipedia page, it seems like LR filters are even-order only, and I think that the attenuation at the crossover frequency is always -6dB, regardless of the order. Can anyone confirm/deny?

 

[harkpabst]

What I meant is that the attentuation at the crossover frequency is -6db only if it's a 2nd order filter, but after looking into this, that might be incorrect. Now I think it's -6dB for all Linkwitz-Riley filters, regardless of the order. I just went off what ChatGPT said in that post. According to ChatGPT, these are the attenuations at the crossover frequency:
Linkwitz-Riley filter:
1st order: -3dB at the crossover frequency
2nd order: -6dB at the crossover frequency
3rd order: -9dB at the crossover frequency
4th order: -12dB at the crossover frequency
Butterworth filter:
Always -3db at the crossover frequency, regardless of the order.

But as I've mentioned, I'm not sure if ChatGPT is correct when it comes to Linkwitz-Riley filters. After reading the Wikipedia page, it seems like LR filters are even-order only, and I think that the attenuation at the crossover frequency is always -6dB, regardless of the order. Can anyone confirm/deny?

No, ChatGPT isn't right here.

There's e.g. no such thing as a 1st order or 3rd order LR filter, indeed.

4th order LR and 8th order LR are both down 6 dB at the crossover frequency.

2nd order Butterworth high pass and low pass filters do not sum up to a flat zero ripple response.

 

[CrypticSignal]

No, ChatGPT isn't right here.

There's e.g. no such thing as a 1st order LR filter. 4th order LR and 8th order LR are both down 6 dB at the crossover frequency.

Yes, ChatGPT was incorrect. I think these are the facts:

• LR filters are always even-order, e.g. you can't have a 1st order or 3rd order LR filter.
• The attentuation at the crossover frequency for all LR filters is -6dB.
• The attenuation at the crossover frequency for all Butterworth filters is -3dB.

 

[somebodyelse]

Yes, ChatGPT was incorrect.

No surprise there - general purpose LLMs aren't much good if you want something that's factually accurate. The training data makes no distinction between what's correct and incorrect, or a joke. There is no understanding of the subject. If asked for references they will provide something that looks convincing, but may be made up, or contradict rather than support the LLM's position.

 

[PGAMiami]

Purchased two WiiM Amps on eBay for $212.50 each and three pairs of Klipsch AW525 for $239/pair to replace our outdoor speaker system, and we could not be more pleased.

We live in Miami, not far from the coast, so our outdoor speakers don’t last long. That said, we installed AW525s in 2013, and they worked flawlessly for a decade, even after being subjected to a Cat 3 hurricane in 2017. So when Amazon marked AW525s down from $549 to $239, we decided to stick with this older model.

The WiiM Amps replaced an Amazon Echo Link and a Nad CI 9060 6 channel amp. The Nad served us well for 13 plus years, but we were looking for something smaller than this 60 lb monster and figured the reliability of the Nad may be soon challenged since it’s been ON for essentially 13 years.

How do the Amps and AW425s sound? For outdoor pool speakers, just fine. Plays plenty loud. And it works perfectly with Alexa and the Amazon Echos.

The AW525 are nominal 8 ohm, 95 db efficient; we have two pairs on one Amp, and the third pair on a separate Amp. The same outdoor area has several Amazon Echo speakers. All are in the same speaker group. I can close all my cabinet doors, no problems with heat, no amps that stick out from our shelves, and everything just works.

All I have to do is ask Alexa to play Jimmy Buffett and every speaker and Echo in our pool area starts playing perfectly in sync, and essentially at the same volume (somewhat lucky how the efficiency of the AW525 allowed for this). And I can go fix myself a margarita, jump in the pool and tell Alexa to switch to The Eagles …

Update: I did encounter some instability with grouping the Amps with other Echo devices. However, I believe this may have been because the Amps had the same Alexa names as my Alexa groups (Amp and group both named Barbecue or Pool). Assigning unique names seems to have solved this.

 

[Power Pop 23]

As noted by "Marfes' earlier today, Linkplay is now selling a 'refurbished' WiiM Amp for $199 at their outlet store on Ebay:

Master "deals" (massdrop, ebay, Amazon, etc.) Thread on Audio Product Sales

Klipsch Fives are 400 brand new on Amazon. I heard these a while back and they were actually decent stereo speakers. Currently at 0% to low amount claimed. https://www.amazon.com/Klipsch-Fives-Powered-Speaker-System/dp/B08KYPGC1D/ Marantz has 25% off refurbished units on their website as...

audiosciencereview.com