WiiM AMP banner borrowed from the WiiM Home website

I’ve learned over time that being an early adopter more often than not ends in disaster if not disappointment. The younger me was easily impressed when something new and shiny came out with all the features you could want under the sun. Eventually these new toys ended up in the same place as all the others either in the scrap heap or failing to actually meet my needs reliably in a meaningful way.

Let me explain, it’s not that these items were bad it’s that they promised the world and tried to deliver on everyone of them in it’s first iteration instead of gradually evolving the product offering and refining it over time. The success is in evolution meaning every iteration improves on the one before. Normally this is a slower process, feedback is gathered, bugs quashed, things get improved on and so forth.

Tying back into our subject matter the WiiM amp isn’t a new toy in its entirety. It’s come from an evolution of the WiiM mini, Pro and Pro Plus features that have evolved over time. With lots of customer feedback and a company that prides itself in listening and taking action the WiiM software is constantly improving. The feature set has grown to include HDMI and Sub Management things that are normally found in products in a higher price bracket and the icing on the cake for many is the fact that its Roon Ready!

That’s a lot of boxes to tick for a product that retails for just $495 AUD all inclusive.

Unlike many of the big players in town who dance to the tune of their own drum not listening to feedback or being slow in making change to improve, their time in many ways has come. Small disruptors like WiiM and Fosi who rapidly take feedback and implement changes are disrupting the traditional way things have worked and squarely putting pressure on the big players to lift their game. This is a time when the end user (all of us) start to reap the rewards of competition, it’s a super exciting time to be into HiFI.

The WiiM won’t be the be all and end all for many of us who are looking for more AMP performance or listening out for the best DAC to evolve our own audiophile journeys and that’s perfectly fine because there is much more out there that can do the same job at a much higher price point like the Eversolo A8 for example but remember the Eversolo has no built in AMP so factor that in to your budget.

But at the same time the WiiM Amp is a perfect fit for a spare room Audio/ Video setup, maybe a kids room, bedroom or kids entertainment area where the best of the best HiFi components are overkill, there are many possibilities to explore. WiiM have even focused their attention in the CI – Custom Installation space competing against Sonos and other brands directly with a rack mount option hidden from sight allowing you to connect speakers and have the amp hidden somewhere out of the way while still controlling it all from your mobile device.

A friend of mine MC asked me to order a WiiM Amp for his little apartment to pair with a set of Wharfedale something or another speakers. My initial thoughts were that the WiiM may not have enough power to drive the Wharfedale and I started second guessing myself if the WiiM was going to be suitable or not? I’ve actually spent a bit of time reading and watching other reviewers who have both bagged the WiiM and praised it. I advised MC of other potential choices on the market that could and would outperform the WiiM AMP.

This put me on a mission to do some of my own research, spending a few hours today looking back through the reviews to refresh my memory and take a closer look at some of the competitors other reviewers are proposing I started compiling a comparison table to make life a little easier when making a selection. I started listing the WiiM Amp, WiiM Ultra (no amp) that’s not even released yet, ok that’s 2 now I created a 3rd row for the Apple TV 4K which just barley ticks 2 of the boxes we required and then that was really it, there was nothing else that was even close!

Must be within the same price point up to $600 and available in Oz.

Let me expand on the requirements a little in point form:

– Preferred as an all in 1 box

– HDMI ARC for connecting to a TV to control volume from 1 remote

– Ability to stream music from various sources

– DSP – Digital Signal Processing (EQ, PEQ)

– Subwoofer Management with high pass and low pass filters

– Roon Ready (this is a very tough box to tick even for more expensive kit)

– Available and supported in Oz

– Approx $500 budget

So even the Apple TV that made the list only supports Roon via Apple Air Play which isn’t ideal for sound quality but it will work so its 1/2 a point, it also needs a separate amp to power speakers.

Honestly there is nothing out there that can meet or beat the WiiM Amp for the price with the same feature set, not even the ChiFi market at the time of writing this article.

Some WiiM Amp Cons

– It can be underpowered for some use case scenarios

– Could have a better DAC, but seriously what do you want for under $500 price tag

– I’m struggling to find more cons at this point

Some WiiM Amp Pro’s

– Allows you to BYO speakers opening up choice

– Better value than any sound bar IMHO as you get true sound separation with stereo when adding L/R speakers vs a single sound point with a sound bar

– A Brand that listens and has the ability to improve the product by sending patched and improved software over the internet for updates

– Strong hardware and software support

– Connects to many streaming services out of the box which will satisfy 99% of users

– Ability to connect to your local library either over a network NAS or directly plug in your drive for plug and play over USB

– Roon Ready (this will be a big one for many)

– Impressive DSP to help get the best from your setup

– Simple unobtrusive design all in a 1 box package

– Budget friendly making the entry into HiFi available for almost any person looking to get into HiFi.

Key Features:
– 120W @ 4 ohms, 60W @ 8 ohms
– Compact aluminium chassis
– ESS Sabre DAC with THD+N of just 0.002% (-93 dB)
– Stream music from Spotify, Tidal, Amazon Music, iHeart Radio, Qobuz & more!
– USB media can be streamed to other Wiim devices
– HDMI ARC support
– Supports AirPlay 2, Chromecast, Spotify Connect, TIDAL Connect, Alexa Cast, DLNA
– 10-band graphic EQ or 4-band parametric EQ
– Independent EQ profiles for each input source
– Subwoofer pre-out with customisable cross-over
– Bluetooth music source – connect BT headphones directly to the Wiim Amp
– Bluetooth remote with voice control included

I need to reiterate again it’s not for everyone and it’s not going to be audiophile gold. The WiiM Amp is a very well thought through, evolved piece of engineering that will fit a perfect niche for many people who would like a better sound than TV speakers or a soundbar with many options to BYO and grow the setup if so desired or just set, forget and enjoy the sound!

What more can I can tell you, there’s nothing out there at the moment that can compare to the WiiM Amp.

If you have found a product from a reputable brand that meets all of the above criteria please let me know I would love to get the product in for a session and compare.

Drop me a message using the contact form and I’ll get back to you.

Interested in discussing the WiiM Amp to see if its suitable for you? Or simply want to get your hands on one ?

Get in touch via the contact form or call the number below.