A WiiM Amp Pro arrived for evaluation today.
The well done package which includes the unit, remote control, 120V US plug/cord, toslink, line RCA pair, and HDMI cables and a brief User Manual.
Configuration is the usual WiiM app-driven process - plug the unit to power, open the WiiM open app and add the device. Very straightforward, especially if the app already manages other WiiM devices. During that process the app also did a firmware update.
Connect the Amp Pro to a pair of speakers and music plays. My evaluation focus is on using the Amp Pro as a streamer/amp connected to a pair of passive speakers used as a self-contained compact audio system. This can be used in a variety of environments, including office, small room, garage, etc. Compact and remotely controlled.
I am evaluating its performance with two 'book-end’ types of speakers - a high end 6 Ohm Magneplanar on one end, and on the other a fairly compact Neumi BS5 (6 Ohm, 2-way, 5” woofer, 1” tweeter) sold at Amazon for the incredibly low price of US$110. The main focus of the evaluation is using the Neumi pair. I connected the Amp Pro to the Magneplanar first and it behaved well, but bear in mind Magneplanars prefer high current high power speakers, so this is not the ideal load for the Amp Pro. The unit matched well with the Neumi BS5 and I am sure it will match well with a variety of speakers such as Klipsch (high efficiency), Elac, PSB, etc.
The Neumi BS5 is an 86dB efficient speaker, but even so the Amp Pro did not have any issue to drive it to a good distortion-free 80dB SPL in a fairly large room.
I used a variety of wide frequency range tracks, classical mostly, to check imaging, dynamic range and speed. I tend to concentrate on piano tracks, large symphony orchestras and small jazz and close-mic voices. Here are a couple of examples:
The Shostakovich Piano Concerto No. 2 is good to appreciate the delicate passages of the slow movement against the wide ranging forces of the orchestra. Here is a live in-room acoustic spectral analysis of that piece, where we can see a fairly smooth frequency range with the desirable in-room slope (no EQ, no Room Correction) at a peak 77.6dB SPL:
The piano image is solid and well separated from the orchestra. The orchestra image field is wide and stable.
The Jennifer Warnes recording is excellent to showcase closed-mic female voice and bass. Bass is quite good in-room for this combo (Amp Pro/Neumi BS5). Another track on the same recording - Lights of Lousianne - is very good to evaluate high frequency extension and detail. The Amp Pro performed very well there too.
I played a bit with EQ and Room Correction. All worked well. I am not a fan of electronic signal intervention and typically prefer natural acoustics - assuming the boundary interactions are taken care of and the speakers are well balanced, which is the case here.
The unit operational temperature is 103F (40C) in my 78F (25C) ambient temperature room:
I will continue to evaluate this system and will report here, should I note something worth mentioning.
Note: Adding the Amp Pro to the WiiM Home App requires setting streaming accounts’ credentials and re-entering Presets/favorites as currently these items are set per device. I hope WiiM will work on an option to make those settings common to all devices managed by the app.
The well done package which includes the unit, remote control, 120V US plug/cord, toslink, line RCA pair, and HDMI cables and a brief User Manual.
Configuration is the usual WiiM app-driven process - plug the unit to power, open the WiiM open app and add the device. Very straightforward, especially if the app already manages other WiiM devices. During that process the app also did a firmware update.
Connect the Amp Pro to a pair of speakers and music plays. My evaluation focus is on using the Amp Pro as a streamer/amp connected to a pair of passive speakers used as a self-contained compact audio system. This can be used in a variety of environments, including office, small room, garage, etc. Compact and remotely controlled.
I am evaluating its performance with two 'book-end’ types of speakers - a high end 6 Ohm Magneplanar on one end, and on the other a fairly compact Neumi BS5 (6 Ohm, 2-way, 5” woofer, 1” tweeter) sold at Amazon for the incredibly low price of US$110. The main focus of the evaluation is using the Neumi pair. I connected the Amp Pro to the Magneplanar first and it behaved well, but bear in mind Magneplanars prefer high current high power speakers, so this is not the ideal load for the Amp Pro. The unit matched well with the Neumi BS5 and I am sure it will match well with a variety of speakers such as Klipsch (high efficiency), Elac, PSB, etc.
The Neumi BS5 is an 86dB efficient speaker, but even so the Amp Pro did not have any issue to drive it to a good distortion-free 80dB SPL in a fairly large room.
I used a variety of wide frequency range tracks, classical mostly, to check imaging, dynamic range and speed. I tend to concentrate on piano tracks, large symphony orchestras and small jazz and close-mic voices. Here are a couple of examples:
The Shostakovich Piano Concerto No. 2 is good to appreciate the delicate passages of the slow movement against the wide ranging forces of the orchestra. Here is a live in-room acoustic spectral analysis of that piece, where we can see a fairly smooth frequency range with the desirable in-room slope (no EQ, no Room Correction) at a peak 77.6dB SPL:
The piano image is solid and well separated from the orchestra. The orchestra image field is wide and stable.
The Jennifer Warnes recording is excellent to showcase closed-mic female voice and bass. Bass is quite good in-room for this combo (Amp Pro/Neumi BS5). Another track on the same recording - Lights of Lousianne - is very good to evaluate high frequency extension and detail. The Amp Pro performed very well there too.
I played a bit with EQ and Room Correction. All worked well. I am not a fan of electronic signal intervention and typically prefer natural acoustics - assuming the boundary interactions are taken care of and the speakers are well balanced, which is the case here.
The unit operational temperature is 103F (40C) in my 78F (25C) ambient temperature room:
I will continue to evaluate this system and will report here, should I note something worth mentioning.
Note: Adding the Amp Pro to the WiiM Home App requires setting streaming accounts’ credentials and re-entering Presets/favorites as currently these items are set per device. I hope WiiM will work on an option to make those settings common to all devices managed by the app.
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