I am looking for opinions on the above. I currently have a denon 4300 receiver, paradigm founder 80F speakers with a svs sb3000 subwoofer. I am only looking to play 2 channel music. My room is 12' x 18'. I looking for thoughts on adding a wiim ultra to my setup or dropping my denon receiver & purchasing the wiim ultra amp? I am currently trialing the ultra with my current setup. I am wondering how this would compare with using the the wiim ultra amp instead of my denon receiver. The difference in price is not much different so that is not a factor. Thanks
wiim amp ultra or wiim ultra with denon 4300
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With your equipment and for future flexibility, I would go for the WiiM Ultra and let it feed the Denon and the sb3000 to begin with.
The WiiM Amp Ultra's extra cost could be applied to a less-smart, high-quality little power amp like the Fosi ZA3 if you later want to remove the bulk of your old AVR. Also, I've noticed here on this forum that new features and public-beta and official firmware builds seem to reach the WiiM Ultra first.
Are you adding the WiiM [Amp] Ultra mainly for the streaming features, or are you trying to fix something you don't like with the Denon?
The WiiM Amp Ultra's extra cost could be applied to a less-smart, high-quality little power amp like the Fosi ZA3 if you later want to remove the bulk of your old AVR. Also, I've noticed here on this forum that new features and public-beta and official firmware builds seem to reach the WiiM Ultra first.
Are you adding the WiiM [Amp] Ultra mainly for the streaming features, or are you trying to fix something you don't like with the Denon?
I am trying to get better audio quality. I am currently using either HEOS or a firestick (with music apps installed) plugged into a Denon HDMI port. I am having a hard time noticing a better sound quality with the wiim ultra compared to either HEOS or a firestick plugged into a Denon HDMI port. The wiim does have some nice features but am finding using the music streaming apps on the firestick to be just as easy as using a tablet to control the music on the wiim. The firestick advantage is the music apps coming up on my tv & using the firestick remote to search & control music. My favorite about the wiim is the searching for artist, album & tracks. Should music not be sounding better through the wiim ultra than on the firestick? That is why I am wondering how the ultra amp would compare to my current setup.
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hipoagumol
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Your sound (and all of us) main quality bottleneck is not the streamer vs firestick, wiim amp or denon app. It ls the room and the speakers and their interactionn. Your amp/receiver is capable and your speakers are good.
Using wiim ultra as input instead of firetv/heos even wiim amp ultra to replace also the denon wont give you any sound quality improvement 'per se', assuming you are using fairly same and good streaming quality both cases.
in my opinion you may keep your receiver and if you want maybe use a wiim pro/pro plus/ultra conected via rca to your your denon.
Wiim ecosystem does offer a very good app and integration of streaming services, internet radios etc...multiroom etc. Maybe more convinient than Heos. Plus fire tv wiim app to nicely see art and lyrics and control (up to some extent) your wiim playback. But the most important, it has a very nice room correction and EQ functions, that would help on the room correction part and will make a clearly audible sound difference much more than changing the amp or the streaming source...
Using wiim ultra as input instead of firetv/heos even wiim amp ultra to replace also the denon wont give you any sound quality improvement 'per se', assuming you are using fairly same and good streaming quality both cases.
in my opinion you may keep your receiver and if you want maybe use a wiim pro/pro plus/ultra conected via rca to your your denon.
Wiim ecosystem does offer a very good app and integration of streaming services, internet radios etc...multiroom etc. Maybe more convinient than Heos. Plus fire tv wiim app to nicely see art and lyrics and control (up to some extent) your wiim playback. But the most important, it has a very nice room correction and EQ functions, that would help on the room correction part and will make a clearly audible sound difference much more than changing the amp or the streaming source...
Hi,
Nice speakers
I was just about to order a pair when I got a very good deal on the 100Fs instead. (This was a few years back; they are waaay more expensive now!)
I can't comment on how the Denon compares to the Amp Ultra.
My room is a similar size to yours and I can say that the Amp Ultra sounds really good with my Founders.
Surprisingly good in fact.
But there are caveats.
I sometimes play things quite loud, and on quieter tracks even 100% volume isn't particularly loud.
When things are loud it's not as refined as my 'normal' amp, like it's running out of steam.
But for the vast majority of everyday listening it's quite capable of providing a clean, engaging sound.
One thing I would say about "maybe use a wiim pro/pro plus/ultra conected via rca to your your denon" is don't use a Pro
For me, the Pro's analog out is very significantly inferior to that of the Ultra. I don't have personal experience of the Pro Plus. When I did these comparisons a year or two back it was into a Hegel H190 (with the Founders), which doesn't digitise the analog inputs.
Nice speakers
I was just about to order a pair when I got a very good deal on the 100Fs instead. (This was a few years back; they are waaay more expensive now!)
I can't comment on how the Denon compares to the Amp Ultra.
My room is a similar size to yours and I can say that the Amp Ultra sounds really good with my Founders.
Surprisingly good in fact.
But there are caveats.
I sometimes play things quite loud, and on quieter tracks even 100% volume isn't particularly loud.
When things are loud it's not as refined as my 'normal' amp, like it's running out of steam.
But for the vast majority of everyday listening it's quite capable of providing a clean, engaging sound.
One thing I would say about "maybe use a wiim pro/pro plus/ultra conected via rca to your your denon" is don't use a Pro
For me, the Pro's analog out is very significantly inferior to that of the Ultra. I don't have personal experience of the Pro Plus. When I did these comparisons a year or two back it was into a Hegel H190 (with the Founders), which doesn't digitise the analog inputs.
I am using the rca cables to the cd input on the denon. I thought there would be better sound using the wiim dac.
Since you've got it, try this experiment: Setup the WiiM Ultra as a 'digital preamp" feeding the Denon in 'power-amp mode' AND feeding your subwoofer via the Ultra's LFE output. [Edit for clarity] Turn the Denon up as high as you occasionally listen and free it of subwoofer duty with full-range-output to the mains. Set your crossover and time alignment in the WiiM app and then run RoomFit. After running RoomFit, I would look at the RoomFit PEQ results and select the strongest and most effective filter recommendations below the crossover frequency, and implement them in the SVS. Then run roomfit again to let it tune from the crossover up to ~500Hz or so through the Denon. You should also try using one of the Ultra's digital outputs to the Denon for the main speakers, perhaps its DAC will sound better to you.
This approach might give you the noticeable audio enhancements relative to how well the Denon and SVS are now configured together.
I am sorry but can you explain the digital pre amp setup & denon in power amp mode
Well, the WiiM takes over your AVR's role as the controller of system volume for one thing, adjusting the subwoofer and Denon output level using 32-bit digital attenuation. Both the SVS subwoofer and the Denon are set to max listening volume and the WiiM feeds them both with crossover management, etc. Is there a TV in the picture? Oh - sorry about that. But the Ultra's HDMI ARC input would optimally hijack the TV's HDMI ARC port. You would then move your fire stick to a TV HDMI port which could then play through the WiiM via the HDMI ARC.
Yes there is a tv. I was told to use rca cables out to denon to use the wiim dac. I will try your suggestions. Thanks
You can still do that - the point is we're updating the DSP capabilities of your stereo 2.1 channel setup so that the WiiM Ultra handles the crossover and Room Correction. Again, the WiiM Ultra will output all the audio [Edit: all the High-Pass-Filtered, EQed and level-adjusted audio] to the Denon via either RCA line out, or via digital coax or optical. The Denon has lots of options. Whether you choose the WiiM Ultra's DAC or the Denon's the Ultra is handling the crossover and volume as the digital controller of the system. You'll control the system volume via the TV's remote or the ultra's.
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