WiiM Vibelink Amp Review

[clamleflambeur]

B200 has worked great. I’ve had no reason to try anything else.

The subwoofer is quite important for my setup. I have limited options on how I place my speakers, and so they have uneven bass response due to room nulls and gains. Having the sub not only allows me to extend bass deeper, but by having greater flexibility with subwoofer placement (the SVS Micro-3000 is quite small and easy to hide), I am able to achieve much smoother/even bass response.

I mostly am using an external DAC because I use the Anti-Mode X2D room correction unit which requires an external DAC, plus the D90 III Discrete matches nicely with the amps (aesthetically, and provides the XLR outputs the B200s need). Otherwise the DAC in the WiiM Ultra has proven fully transparent in testing.

hmm thank you I'm glad I asked - my speakers have to be too close to the wall too so perhaps I'll add one... was going to wait until I wasn't in a terraced house

 

[Pritaudio]

Very close to the hypex nc252 modules. In terms of power and sinad.
The hypex are proven not to malfunction.
Not sure if the Wiim amps have such a history.
The Wiim streamers sometimes malfunction ( which is pretty much unwanted sounds occurring).

 

[Bun-Bun]

Pure analog stereo amp with no sub out. Was so close to being what I wanted.

 

[SoySalsaPicante]

Pure analog stereo amp with no sub out. Was so close to being what I wanted.

Do sub outs offend you?

Show me where the sub outs touched you.

 

[Pritaudio]

Maybe there is an advantage of this amp being frequency loaded. (Or maybe in the future with firmware).
And so using the Wiim ultra steamer can do a better job at room compensation along with a sub.
Although uploading a measurement REW filter file may be just as good.

 

[Bun-Bun]

Do sub outs offend you?

Show me where the sub outs touched you.

What's the purpose in your post?

The amp in question would be exactly what I'm looking for if it had a sub out.

 

[SoySalsaPicante]

What's the purpose in your post?

The amp in question would be exactly what I'm looking for if it had a sub out.

Aaaaaah I misinterpreted your post! I thought you were complaining about other amps that do have a sub output. My sincere apologies there.

 

[harkpabst]

What's the purpose in your post?

The amp in question would be exactly what I'm looking for if it had a sub out.

I told them to omitt the sub out because a power amp is not where a sub out belongs.

 

[capslock]

Had a chat at the Wiim booth. The Ultra amp is going to be launched in Q3. It will combine the Vibelink amp and ES9039Q2M DAC with the Display and Streaming part of the Ultra.

Very good news, I think. The Vibelink not only has considerably more power into 4 R (power into 8 R is the same as Wiim Amp /Amp Pro - voltage limitation?), but it also has proper, likely composite PFFB like the Topping PA5 or the 3e A5/A7 with much lower distortion at 5 kHz and up than the Amp Pro (in fact, at HF, the Amp is better than the Amp Pro).

I am also happy that the DAC will be a 9039. While I haven't listened to the Ultra, I am not totally happy with a few other implementations of the 9038.

I only wish their stuff wouldn't be superseeded all that quickly...

 

[Audionaut]

The Ultra amp is going to be launched in Q3. It will combine the Vibelink amp

As far as I know, the Vibelink only has one TPA3255 chip, the Amp Ultra has two.

 

[capslock]

Well, according to the 2025 printed catalogue I picked up at the fair, there is no mention of Dual 3255 in either the product pages (10-11) or the summary tabel on page 30. The table lists TPA3255 for all four amps. Surely, they would mention an extra chip?

The guy I talked with at the stand said they were combining the Vibelink and Ultra boards. He specifically said the Amp Pro was throttled for thermal reasons and the Vibelink had a better cooling solution and the Ultra amp was going to carry that over.

Looking at "Max Power" in the table, the two older amps are listed at 120 W / 4 R and 60 W / 8 R. The Vibeling is litted at 200 W / 4 R (Optical/Coaxial) and 60 W / 8 R (RCA). Maybe this refers to a standard voltage on RCA in such as 0.77 V RMS? What about vice versa, i.e. 4 R with RCA in or 8 R with digital in?

The Amp Ultra lists 200 W / 4 R and contrary to what I wrote above, 100 W / 8 R. Both ratings are without specifing the input.

 

[amluto]

I just set up a Vibelink connected to an optical source. (I picked the Vibelink because it has optical input, and it has a decent combination of enough power at 8 ohms for my application, good audio quality, a reasonable price, and is UL listed and doesn't involve a potentially sketchy power brick.) So far, so good, except for one major caveat. The automatic standby feature is almost showstoppingly bad. The Vibelink goes to sleep after a while with no sound playing, and this cannot be configured. But it does not wake up when the source returns, and even the front panel controls don't do anything when it's asleep. Whoever's using it needs to reach behind it to push a button to wake it up. Whoops.

I emailed WiiM to see if they can fix this with new firmware. It would be silly to need to add a Bobwire DAT1 or similar gadget to the setup just to wake up the amplifier when someone wants to play music.

 

[Pritaudio]

It’s about risking that one-box-does-it-all may fail at a point.
And if it’s out of warranty, you are left with little value.

I actually prefer the streamer to be separate, little moving parts and heat.
And the amp of course being the weakest point.

If loading frequency can be matched?

Maybe the wires short and discreet.

 

[Mort]

And the amp of course being the weakest point.

What's the last amp that gave out on you?

 

[harkpabst]

I just set up a Vibelink connected to an optical source. (I picked the Vibelink because it has optical input, and it has a decent combination of enough power at 8 ohms for my application, good audio quality, a reasonable price, and is UL listed and doesn't involve a potentially sketchy power brick.) So far, so good, except for one major caveat. The automatic standby feature is almost showstoppingly bad. The Vibelink goes to sleep after a while with no sound playing, and this cannot be configured. But it does not wake up when the source returns, and even the front panel controls don't do anything when it's asleep. Whoever's using it needs to reach behind it to push a button to wake it up. Whoops.

I emailed WiiM to see if they can fix this with new firmware. It would be silly to need to add a Bobwire DAT1 or similar gadget to the setup just to wake up the amplifier when someone wants to play music.

The WiiM Vibelink Amp enters standby after 30 minutes of inactivity. It does wake up automatically from this state when a signal is applied.

However, after 30 more minutes it enters a kind of deep sleep mode and there are only two ways to wake it up again:
1. Reach behind the unit and press the button.
2. Use the trigger input.

No external device needed, as long as your source has a trigger out. Personally I'm not a fan of trigger cables but the discussion about e.g. the 3e Audio A5 and A7 has clearly shown that those preferring a trigger over any form of auto sensing are at least making themselves heard like they form the majority (to put it very carefully).

 

[Burnside]

I only wish their stuff wouldn't be superseeded all that quickly...

I don’t view it as models being superseded: WiiM now have a stepped streamer range (the mini/pro, pro plus, ultra) to suit your needs/budget, a similarly stepped amp range (the WiiM amp, amp pro and now the amp ultra) as well as the vibelink which allows you to transition from the former to the latter. And now with their recently announced wireless speakers and sub, WiiM are rounding off their product range.

 

[er|κzvio1in]

The WiiM Vibelink Amp enters standby after 30 minutes of inactivity. It does wake up automatically from this state when a signal is applied.

However, after 30 more minutes it enters a kind of deep sleep mode and there are only two ways to wake it up again:
1. Reach behind the unit and press the button.
2. Use the trigger input.

No external device needed, as long as your source has a trigger out. Personally I'm not a fan of trigger cables but the discussion about e.g. the 3e Audio A5 and A7 has clearly shown that those preferring a trigger over any form of auto sensing are at least making themselves heard like they form the majority (to put it very carefully).

Thanks for the clarification, for me it is a major disadvantage influencing my decision to buy the Vibelink.

 

[amluto]

The WiiM Vibelink Amp enters standby after 30 minutes of inactivity. It does wake up automatically from this state when a signal is applied.

However, after 30 more minutes it enters a kind of deep sleep mode and there are only two ways to wake it up again:
1. Reach behind the unit and press the button.
2. Use the trigger input.

No external device needed, as long as your source has a trigger out. Personally I'm not a fan of trigger cables but the discussion about e.g. the 3e Audio A5 and A7 has clearly shown that those preferring a trigger over any form of auto sensing are at least making themselves heard like they form the majority (to put it very carefully).

Then it should be configurable? Especially in this nice modern era where an amplifier can stay powered up such that it can start playing sound quickly but consume very little power. Extron's "Ultra" series advertises that it can wake up in 100ms or less (far less for some models).

Also, S/PDIF in particular cleanly distinguishes silence from no signal. For optical S/PDIF in particular, you can see this by unplugging the cable from the sink and looking at it -- it lights up red if there's a signal!

 

[harkpabst]

Then it should be configurable?

Should it? I don't know. As of now, it isn't.

Also, S/PDIF in particular cleanly distinguishes silence from no signal. For optical S/PDIF in particular, you can see this by unplugging the cable from the sink and looking at it -- it lights up red if there's a signal!

The Vibelink Amp does not distinguish, obviously. Currently it's this fixed 30/60 minutes schedule and the trigger input.

 

[amluto]

Should it? I don't know. As of now, it isn't.


The Vibelink Amp does not distinguish, obviously. Currently it's this fixed 30/60 minutes schedule and the trigger input.

The Vibelink speaks Bluetooth and has a firmware update mechanism. Given that, surely it wouldn't be much to ask for it to have some basic configurability.