slartibartfast
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There is. Didn't you read all 18 posts before yours?
Amp for Wiim Ultra (set up help)
- Thread starter Dan360
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- wiim ultra
According to the reports it's not class A/B but class B with lots of feedback.
Harvey Krishna
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How about the Fosi V3 Stereo Amp?
BK308
Active member
Has the OP made any headway with amp selections? Just curious.
Thanks again for all input. Here are my updated thoughts:
I am sympathetic to the comment about having an integrated amp that has its own volume.
I dont want to have to deal with having to figure out which piece (Ultra or Amp) to plug the pieces into (turntable, CD, speakers, sub).
I am leaning to the Wiim Amp Pro bc it is same investment as many of the exotic brand suggestions and at least I know: they will work well together, hopefully everything is easily configured in app and near universal good reviews of wiim.
Just seems what I want is a combination product - a Wiim Amp Ultra???
I am not completely decided yet (will probably wait to snag a Black Friday discount anyway) so, if you have a pure power box that simply plugs into the Ultra but lets the Ultra lead in everything else, let me know. Reminder, I am a fairly smart cookie but started from a very low knowledge level in hifi. I enjoy learning the detail just make sure you start with the base explanation so I can understand.
Just posted an update. Not sure where that post shows up, I am typing on phone. Thanks
BK308
Active member
WiiM amp pro would be a great choice. Just remember you’ll need an external phono preamp for your turntable.
Fcuk!!!! Why is this so complicated? What is this “external phono preamp” and where do I research and buy? Do I need an “external CD player preamp”? Of course, I am not blaming the messenger, I am just frustrated.
Skull
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slartibartfast
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The Amp Pro does pretty much everything the Ultra does but it doesn't have a dedicated input for a turntable. You would need a phono preamp to go between the turntable and the amp line in to provide gain and RIAA equalisation.
BK308
Active member
Sorry didn’t mean to stress you out. I know you wanted to keep it simple. You’re turntable may have a preamp built in to it already. If not you will need a separate phono preamp. Your cd player probably has a digital output. Then you can connect your cd player to the digital input of the WiiM amp.
Do people actually read the whole thread?
OP said he already owns the WiiM Ultra so there's need for him to buy an external phono preamp - regardless of the amp he chooses. The Ultra has both a line-level and a phono input.
@Dan360 if you were actually going with the Ultra and Amp, it would be best to connect them through optical so the audio remains in the digital domain between the Ultra and the Amp. If you'd connect them through the RCA output -> input, the the sound will first be converted from digital to analog by the Ultra, then back from analog to digital by the WiiM Amp - two unnecessary stages of DA and AD conversion.
In my opinion it's still a bit odd to pair the Ultra with the WiiM Amp. If you already own the Ultra, you could do with a simple poweramp without all the smarts, controls and extra inputs and outputs of the WiiM Amp. The Ultra is designed to be used as a perfectly capable preamp. If the poweramp has a 12v trigger input, you can control it with the Ultra's trigger output, allowing for a completely automated setup.
OP said he already owns the WiiM Ultra so there's need for him to buy an external phono preamp - regardless of the amp he chooses. The Ultra has both a line-level and a phono input.
@Dan360 if you were actually going with the Ultra and Amp, it would be best to connect them through optical so the audio remains in the digital domain between the Ultra and the Amp. If you'd connect them through the RCA output -> input, the the sound will first be converted from digital to analog by the Ultra, then back from analog to digital by the WiiM Amp - two unnecessary stages of DA and AD conversion.
In my opinion it's still a bit odd to pair the Ultra with the WiiM Amp. If you already own the Ultra, you could do with a simple poweramp without all the smarts, controls and extra inputs and outputs of the WiiM Amp. The Ultra is designed to be used as a perfectly capable preamp. If the poweramp has a 12v trigger input, you can control it with the Ultra's trigger output, allowing for a completely automated setup.
Add a "no" in the right place.
Amen.
The WiiM Amp Pro is a great piece of kit as an all-in-one box (minus phono
). It's a waste of money when combined with the Ultra.@Dan360, all you need is a power amp, so you'd be best off buying just that.
The aforementioned V3 Stereo would be a cheap solution. It's a TP3255 based chip amp with no Post Filter Feedback, making it's output a little dependent on the spekaers's impedance (over frequency), just like the no-pro.WiiM Amp. It also features the volume control you don't need and which makes connecting a sub to the Ultra harder. You'll have to make sure to set it to the same level (e.g. 100%) whenever you switch it on. It doesn't get my recommendation but it would work OK.
The newer and more costly ZA3 shares these characteristics and comes with another feature you cannot make use of (balanced inputs).
slartibartfast
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He could always return the Ultra
I dont want to return the Ultra. I love the screen for settings and ALBUM ART!!!! My som will love it too.
Here is what I want. I want a pure power amp to add to to the Ultra. The amp needs to do 2 things:
1 - doesnt make me think about any of the audio engineer stuff in this thread (setting impedance, changing this, putting the sub on 100%…, be careful which volume you use).
2 - must be powerful enpugh to do justice to the speakers (MartinLogan Motion 40i).
the Ultra does everything I want: can plug in his turntable, CD player, and a future sub (dont have one yet but that may also end up on the black friday purchase list), streams spotify, etc.
As mentioned in my OP, I already own the Ultra. I plugged it into my home receiver (Yamaha) and it worked out of the box. Love it. No reservation. Plays through my regular AVR to my regular speakers. No configuration. So, back to my original question, considering all I have learned from everyones comments and all that I have added to the fact pattern, which Amp should I buy?
Which exact one, lol. When I go to a site like Fosi I see a dozen nondescript black boxes with pages of electrical engineering speak below.
TIA
That's pretty clear. Except for two things: price range and what part of the world do you want it delivered to.
A pair of "FOSI AUDIO V3 MONO Class D Amplifiers" has plenty of power, shows no load dependency and could drive even more power hungry speakers. The only "configuration" is making sure that the gain switch at the back is set to 25 dB (might even be from the factory).
They can reliably switch on and off with the WiiM Ultra by means of their auto-on feature.
The pair of monoblocks will set you back around 250€ plus sales tax.
The "AUDIOPHONICS MPA-S250NC RCA Power Amplifier" can do everything the V3 Monos can, just better and in one single housing (where the V3 Monos are two monoblocks with either one common 10 A power brick or two 5A power bricks, so 3 or 4 boxes in total).
It can switch on and off in synch with the WiiM Ultra by means of a single mono trigger cable.
The price is 400€ plus sales tax for the stereo amp.
A pair of "FOSI AUDIO V3 MONO Class D Amplifiers" has plenty of power, shows no load dependency and could drive even more power hungry speakers. The only "configuration" is making sure that the gain switch at the back is set to 25 dB (might even be from the factory).
They can reliably switch on and off with the WiiM Ultra by means of their auto-on feature.
The pair of monoblocks will set you back around 250€ plus sales tax.
The "AUDIOPHONICS MPA-S250NC RCA Power Amplifier" can do everything the V3 Monos can, just better and in one single housing (where the V3 Monos are two monoblocks with either one common 10 A power brick or two 5A power bricks, so 3 or 4 boxes in total).
It can switch on and off in synch with the WiiM Ultra by means of a single mono trigger cable.
The price is 400€ plus sales tax for the stereo amp.
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Indeed the Ultra, paired with either of these amps will be the nicer setup. Both amps will definitely do justice to your speakers. Audiophonics is the cleaner solution as explained above. Enjoy!!
Hello all,
I bought 2 Fosi v3 mono amps. Now I dont know how to connect them
Apparently, the Wiim Ultra is designed to connect (via 1 cord) to a single AVR or Amp, NOT 2 monoblocks.
What am I missing?
Pics of the 2 devices (Ultra and Fosi) attached
