WiiM Amp Streaming Amplifier Review

[Yersinia Bestmate]

I've been usin Wiim Amp with TV and for occasional music listening sessions for about a month now and for not-so-serious-listening it is ok, and for TV usage it is great.

However, it runs HOT. I mean a hotter than the around 18 year old NAD C315BEE it replaced which folks usually define as "running hot". I really think it would've needed to have some vents on the case.. It is warm even in standby. Is this normal?

 

[bogart]

I've been usin Wiim Amp with TV and for occasional music listening sessions for about a month now and for not-so-serious-listening it is ok, and for TV usage it is great.

However, it runs HOT. I mean a hotter than the around 18 year old NAD C315BEE it replaced which folks usually define as "running hot". I really think it would've needed to have some vents on the case.. It is warm even in standby. Is this normal?

I have mine next to me for desktop use, and the top of the case is definitely warm to the touch - but certainly comfortable to leave my hand on it without any discomfort. In fact, kind of pleasant since it's a cold day. The bottom of the case is entirely cool. Interesting to note there are some very small vents on the bottom edges, though none on the top.

The eventual home for this unit will be inside a kitchen cabinet, though, so hopefully will not try to cook itself in there.

 

[Bernard23]

I've been usin Wiim Amp with TV and for occasional music listening sessions for about a month now and for not-so-serious-listening it is ok, and for TV usage it is great.

However, it runs HOT. I mean a hotter than the around 18 year old NAD C315BEE it replaced which folks usually define as "running hot". I really think it would've needed to have some vents on the case.. It is warm even in standby. Is this normal?

Have you asked on the Wiim forums? You're likely to get a, reply from the Wiim dev team too if you do

 

[Yersinia Bestmate]

Have you asked on the Wiim forums? You're likely to get a, reply from the Wiim dev team too if you do

Not yet. Thought to get more reliable answers from users around here and also cause I already had an account @ ASR.

 

[Bernard23]

Tbf the Wiim forums are OK. There are a lot more objective / technical folk there than most. ASR is referenced fairly frequently

 

[Old_School_Brad]

Not yet. Thought to get more reliable answers from users around here and also cause I already had an account @ ASR.

The Wiim Forum and the developers are highly responsive, so I'd also recommend checking it out and giving it a try there.

How hot is hot, by the way? It's a very individual thing. Although I'll agree that I probably wouldn't expect it to be hotter than your class A/B NAD 315BEE.

 

[harkpabst]

Not yet. Thought to get more reliable answers from users around here and also cause I already had an account @ ASR.

People in the WiiM forum will be asking the same question as the superior audio science crowd right here: What is hot? Give us numbers for ambient temperature and the top of the case temperature.

If ambient temperature is below 22⁰ C and you cannot leave your hand on the Amp because it hurts, this description would do as well.

 

[Yersinia Bestmate]

People in the WiiM forum will be asking the same question as the superior audio science crowd right here: What is hot? Give us numbers for ambient temperature and the top of the case temperature.

If ambient temperature is below 22⁰ C and you cannot leave your hand on the Amp because it hurts, this description would do as well.

Superior? As I wrote, I already had an account to this forum and and therefore thought to ask here if peolpe owning the device have similar experiences.

Well, anyway, I have nothing to measure the temperature with but I'd estimate the temp of the top plate is somewhere around 45-50 degrees celsius after using the amp at 1/3 of the max output power for about 40 minutes. So it is not a stove - it does not cause burns nor can one fry eggs on top of it, if your definition of "hot" requires that . However, it is a lot hotter than any other class-D device I've owned so far and definitely runs a lot hotter than my old Nad which I did no expect. Ambient temperature is around 23 degrees celsius. Perhaps I should've used the term "very warm" instead of "hot".

Thanks for the tip anyway and good night.

 

[JeremyFife]

People in the WiiM forum will be asking the same question as the superior audio science crowd right here: What is hot? Give us numbers for ambient temperature and the top of the case temperature.

If ambient temperature is below 22⁰ C and you cannot leave your hand on the Amp because it hurts, this description would do as well.

"Superior"? I'll assume that's a joke! Humour famously translates badly online

 

[morillon]

if needed...drill and holes....
not so humour badly translate ;-)

 

[Yersinia Bestmate]

if needed...drill and holes....
not so humour badly translate ;-)

Maybe after the warranty has expired.

 

[pvdputte]

The API provides two temperature readings, CPU and case I assume.

$ curl -s --insecure "https://<IP of your WiiM>/httpapi.asp?command=getStatusEx" | jq | grep temp
"temperature_power_control": "1000",
"temperature_cpu": "39",
"temperature_tmp102": "32",

That's degrees Celcius I think

It's been idle all day, during operation CPU goes to 53 degrees C easily.

If you type https://<IP of your WiiM>/httpapi.asp?command=getStatusEx in your web browser's address bar and bypass the self-signed SSL warning you should see how hot yours is running.

 

[Yersinia Bestmate]

The API provides two temperature readings, CPU and case I assume.

$ curl -s --insecure "https://<IP of your WiiM>/httpapi.asp?command=getStatusEx" | jq | grep temp
"temperature_power_control": "1000",
"temperature_cpu": "39",
"temperature_tmp102": "32",

That's degrees Celcius I think

It's been idle all day, during operation CPU goes to 53 degrees C easily.

If you type https://<IP of your WiiM>/httpapi.asp?command=getStatusEx in your web browser's address bar and bypass the self-signed SSL warning you should see how hot yours is running.

Thanks! This may be a stupid question but how can I find the IP of my Wiim?

 

[Mort]

Thanks! This may be a stupid question but how can I find the IP of my Wiim?

'Network Status'

 

[Yersinia Bestmate]

Tried to check the temp but for some reason Firefox comes up with a notification "The connection has timed out."

All the devices are connected via same wifi network and for example Tidal Connect is working just fine from my PC, aswell as streaming music with Wiim using my phone.

 

[pvdputte]

Tried to check the temp but for some reason Firefox comes up with a notification "The connection has timed out."

All the devices are connected via same wifi network and for example Tidal Connect is working just fine from my PC, aswell as streaming music with Wiim using my phone.

What is the IP address the WiiM app is showing you?

Can you ping it from the command prompt of your operating system (like cmd.exe on Windows)?
E.g.
ping 192.168.1.168

 

[Good Vibes]

Hi

I am considering this amp for a second system. Can someone advise me on what spec of speakers I should look for to avoid any load dependence issues?

Thank you.

 

[staticV3]

Can someone advise me on what spec of speakers I should look for to avoid any load dependence issues?

Such a spec does not exist.

Every speaker will provoke a different frequency response change, albeit subtle and mostly in the treble region.

On most speakers this will be inaudible, on some it'll be an improvement over stock, on others it'll be worse.

Regardless of the speaker, you can use the WiiM's Parametric EQ to counteract the effects of load dependency.

If you want to avoid this phenomenon altogether, consider the WiiM Amp Pro which is not load dependent.

Ultimately, you should just look for the best speaker within your budget (see here).

 

[antcollinet]

Hi

I am considering this amp for a second system. Can someone advise me on what spec of speakers I should look for to avoid any load dependence issues?

Thank you.

Get the wiim amp pro instead, and then you won't have to worry about it.

Alternatively don't worry about it and use the parametric EQ to correct it.

To answer your actual question, you need to find speakers with an impedance characteristic that doesn't vary much over the frequency range. But they are few and far between - and getting the actual curve for all the speakers you might be interested in is not that easy.

EDIT : Ninjad by @staticV3 - still, at least you've had two similar answers now, so you can be confident of the advice.

 

[Good Vibes]

Thank you both for your replies. I should have mentioned, I found a used WiiM Amp for a ridiculously irresistible price which is the only reason why I would chose it over the Amp Pro.