As WiiM continue to show no interest in producing a power amplifier matching the WiiM Ultra, I'd like to draw your attention to a forthcoming product, or to be more precise, a line of products. From December there will be a new competitor on the market, which isn't really all that new:
3e Audio have proven to produce some of the best measuring amplifier boards based on
TI TPA3255 and
TI TPA3251 amplifier chips. See e.g. the ASR reviews of their stereo and mono modules featuring Post Filter Feedback (PFFB):
Until now, these products have only been available to DIY enthusiasts or through third parties like
Audiophonics. Just recently 3e Audio announced a new range of
finished amplifiers based on newly designed and optimised boards. See their webpage here:
www.3e-audio.com
All models come with a volume pot, which can be bypassed completely (switch on the back). RCA gain is switchable. No trigger input, but they all feature auto input sensing.
More detailed technical information is available in the
preliminary user manual. Initially, there will be 5 distinct products, 2 of them based on the TPA3251 (A5se and A5), 3 based on the TPA3255 (A7se, A7 and A7 mono). All of them come with RCA connectors (single-ended, as ideal for the WiiM Ultra) and XLR connectors (balanced). So, don't be confused by the term "se" in the product name, it does
not stand for "single-ended". The se-Models use
one TPA325x chip per channel, while the models missing the "se" designation use
two TPA325x chips in parallel bridge-tied load configuration. A5, A7 (and A7 mono, no se version for that product) provide slightly more power, slightly better measurements and are capable to drive loads down to 2 ohms. The "se" variants on the other hand are well suited for 8 ohms or 4 ohms speakers and are - naturally - more cost efficient.
This leads to another very interesting topic: The A5se is
announced to be available for "< $200" and the A7se for "< 250$"! The fully fledged A7 (stereo version with 48 V/5 A PSU is
announced for "under $300". That's a pretty attractive price point, no? My personal favourite is the A5, as I don't need the 2 x 250 W power out (at 1% THD+N into 4 ohms) for my speakers and room (and 2 x 150 W at even lower distortion aren't exactly shabby).
If you're not sold by the price yet: 3e Audio provide a poll form to collect information about demand for the different models. They offer the prospect of a discount coupon for those who take part in the poll.
collect which model you are interesting for us run first production as we will try best to provide enough stock for 1st release ordering.
forms.gle
Maybe this is still of some interest for
@Jamesw72 or
@Dan360, too.
To be perfectly clear: I'm not affiliated with 3e Audio in any way. I'm just personally interested in these products and I'm only posting this information since there is no competing WiiM product.