yamaha as 801 vs wiim vibe link+wiim pro

[mrmojo]

I was looking at the yamaha as 801 to drive a pair of polk r200 speakers.

Then I realized I can get a wiim vibe link+wiim pro for half the cost of the as801.

Is there much of a reason to get the as 801 over the wiim combo? It seems like the vibelink should have enough power.

this is for moderate volumes in ana partment

thanks.

 

[Chrispy]

I'd think more about the overall feature set, which I think is better in the Wiim.

 

[obsessive9119]

Unless you need the extra power of the vibelink, why not just get the WiiM Amp (Pro)?

 

[mrmojo]

Unless you need the extra power of the vibelink, why not just get the WiiM Amp (Pro)?

apparently it doesn't have enough power for the r200 speakers

 

[staticV3]

apparently it doesn't have enough power for the r200 speakers

Questionable.

At 6.5' listening distance and with the bookshelves placed near a wall, the Amp Pro can drive the R200 to 103dB SPL Peak.

In any case, if the 117W (4Ω) of the Amp Pro do not suffice, then the 134W (4Ω) of the Vibelink won't do the trick either as this represents a mere 5% bump in loudness.

 

[obsessive9119]

If you did want more power, for a similar price to the vibelink you could get a pair of Fosi v3s.

 

[mrmojo]

Questionable.

At 6.5' listening distance and with the bookshelves placed near a wall, the Amp Pro can drive the R200 to 103dB SPL Peak.

In any case, if the 117W (4Ω) of the Amp Pro do not suffice, then the 134W (4Ω) of the Vibelink won't do the trick either as this represents a mere 5% bump in loudness.

I know next to nothing about technical specs for audio equipment, but the wiim amp pro is 60w/channel at 8 ohms and the vibe link documentation says 100 w/channel at 8 ohms. The polks nominal impedance: 8 ohms. The yamaha as-A-S801, which everyone praises is apparently 100 watts per channel too, so I figured the vibelink would be a good choice.

What am I missing?

 

[mrmojo]

If you did want more power, for a similar price to the vibelink you could get a pair of Fosi v3s.

Interesting.

This seems like a way better deal than the vibelink.

It seems like a single v3s is about as powerful as the vibelink?

Would there be any issue with hooking a single one of these (one seems to have enough power) to the wiim pro (not amp) and the polk r200 speakers, or would I need to get something else.

 

[obsessive9119]

Interesting.

This seems like a way better deal than the vibelink.

It seems like a single v3s is about as powerful as the vibelink?

Would there be any issue with hooking a single one of these (one seems to have enough power) to the wiim pro (not amp) and the polk r200 speakers, or would I need to get something else.

They’re mono (single channel) amps so you need 2.

You could also look at the Fosi ZA3 which is a stereo amp. It doesn’t have PFFB so measures worse, but I’m not sure the difference is audible. I’ve been happy with my ZA3 driving KEF LS50s, which are less sensitive than your Polks.

 

[mrmojo]

They’re mono (single channel) amps so you need 2.

You could also look at the Fosi ZA3 which is a stereo amp. It doesn’t have PFFB so measures worse, but I’m not sure the difference is audible. I’ve been happy with my ZA3 driving KEF LS50s, which are less sensitive than your Polks.

I'm slightly confused...on the amazon page the rear of the v3 amp shows connections for both Left and Right outputs, so doesn't this imply stereo?

 

[mrmojo]

They’re mono (single channel) amps so you need 2.

You could also look at the Fosi ZA3 which is a stereo amp. It doesn’t have PFFB so measures worse, but I’m not sure the difference is audible. I’ve been happy with my ZA3 driving KEF LS50s, which are less sensitive than your Polks.

why do people buy all sorts of expensive amplifiers to drive nice speakers like the KEF, when all you need is a pair of v3 amps for a couple of hundred dollars?

 

[obsessive9119]

I'm slightly confused...on the amazon page the rear of the v3 amp shows connections for both Left and Right outputs, so doesn't this imply stereo?

Confusingly there are two versions of the V3 - stereo and mono - but they really only share a name. The mono is a much better amp.

Basically V3 mono > ZA3 > V3 stereo.

why do people buy all sorts of expensive amplifiers to drive nice speakers like the KEF, when all you need is a pair of v3 amps for a couple of hundred dollars?

There are lots of reasons - marketing, aesthetics, features, resale value, fun.

I run everything through a WiiM Pro Plus, so I don’t need an integrated amp with multiple inputs and a DAC etc. I’m also only prepared to spend so much on audio, and putting most of that into the speakers makes sense to me.

 

[mrmojo]

Confusingly there are two versions of the V3 - stereo and mono - but they really only share a name. The mono is a much better amp.

Basically V3 mono > ZA3 > V3 stereo.


There are lots of reasons - marketing, aesthetics, features, resale value, fun.

I run everything through a WiiM Pro Plus, so I don’t need an integrated amp with multiple inputs and a DAC etc. I’m also only prepared to spend so much on audio, and putting most of that into the speakers makes sense to me.

You can use 2 mono amps with the single wiim streamer? How do you connect them?

 

[obsessive9119]

You can use 2 mono amps with the single wiim streamer? How do you connect them?

RCA left out of the WiiM goes to one amp, RCA right out of the WiiM goes to the other.

 

[staticV3]

I know next to nothing about technical specs for audio equipment, but the wiim amp pro is 60w/channel at 8 ohms and the vibe link documentation says 100 w/channel at 8 ohms. The polks nominal impedance: 8 ohms. The yamaha as-A-S801, which everyone praises is apparently 100 watts per channel too, so I figured the vibelink would be a good choice.

What am I missing?

Polk impedance:

4Ω.

WiiM Amp Pro:

117W.

WiiM Vibelink:

134W.

A-S801:

199W.

Relative to the Yamaha at 100% loudness, the Vibelink can play 89% as loud and the Amp Pro 85%.

 

[Old_School_Brad]

The Yamaha's dynamic power and capability to drive challenging speakers greatly exceed those of the Vibelink.
Notice that the Vibelink is only tested with 1 channel. The values below would probably not reflect its power output with two channels driven.