Wiim Amp Ultra TO External Dac To Power Amp ?

apit9nine

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Dec 14, 2025
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Hi all..
Need confirmation , if can I do this ?
Currently using Wiim Amp Ultra , but wants more power , headroom , as I'm moving to much larger room..
Initial plan , get a Wiim Ultra & Hypex Ncx500 or Nc252mp power amp..
But my friend is letting go his external dac , so I thought , keep the Wiim Amp Ultra , connect to the external dac via usb out , external dac will be the Topping D90 iii Discrete , then RCA or XLR out to either the Hypex Ncx500 or Nc252mp power amp..
As for speakers , I have the Kef Q Concerto Meta , Triangle Br04 , Dali Oberon 3 , Ascilab C6b & Svs Sb 1000 Pro subwoofer..
 
Hi all..
Need confirmation , if can I do this ?
Currently using Wiim Amp Ultra , but wants more power , headroom , as I'm moving to much larger room..
Initial plan , get a Wiim Ultra & Hypex Ncx500 or Nc252mp power amp..
But my friend is letting go his external dac , so I thought , keep the Wiim Amp Ultra , connect to the external dac via usb out , external dac will be the Topping D90 iii Discrete , then RCA or XLR out to either the Hypex Ncx500 or Nc252mp power amp..
As for speakers , I have the Kef Q Concerto Meta , Triangle Br04 , Dali Oberon 3 , Ascilab C6b & Svs Sb 1000 Pro subwoofer..
As far as I see, NC252MP has almost identical maximum power output to the WiiM Amp Ultra:
  • WiiM Amp Ultra (link): ~100W into 8Ohm
  • NC252MP (link): ~120W into 8Ohm
Note that 120W amp would only give you about +1dB max SPL compared to 100W - which is not much.

NC252MP might have different gain, however - which could make it seem louder, but you can adjust pregain in WAU to compensate. NC252MP might also be able to sustain maximum power for longer - but that will at least in part depend on cooling implementation, so we can't be certain.

NCx500 (link) on the other hand has more than double the power of WAU (about 240W into 8Ohm), so that would result in up to +4dB higher SPL at maximum power.
Note that +4dB is also not a lot louder subjectively, and that you'd need 10x the power to get +10dB SPL (which is perceived roughly double as loud).

If you need to figure out your power requirements perhaps this post can help.

My advice would be to test first if the WiiM Amp Ultra might have sufficient power for your new room, before deciding on a new amp.

Good luck whatever you choose to do!
 
Hi all..
Need confirmation , if can I do this ?
Currently using Wiim Amp Ultra , but wants more power , headroom , as I'm moving to much larger room..
Initial plan , get a Wiim Ultra & Hypex Ncx500 or Nc252mp power amp..
But my friend is letting go his external dac , so I thought , keep the Wiim Amp Ultra , connect to the external dac via usb out , external dac will be the Topping D90 iii Discrete , then RCA or XLR out to either the Hypex Ncx500 or Nc252mp power amp..
As for speakers , I have the Kef Q Concerto Meta , Triangle Br04 , Dali Oberon 3 , Ascilab C6b & Svs Sb 1000 Pro subwoofer..

I suggest you focus less on the room size (to a degree) and more on speaker efficiency (SPL dB/W at 1m). Also note that doubling power only gives an extra 3dB of headroom...
 
Hi all..
Need confirmation , if can I do this ?
Currently using Wiim Amp Ultra , but wants more power , headroom , as I'm moving to much larger room..
Initial plan , get a Wiim Ultra & Hypex Ncx500 or Nc252mp power amp..
But my friend is letting go his external dac , so I thought , keep the Wiim Amp Ultra , connect to the external dac via usb out , external dac will be the Topping D90 iii Discrete , then RCA or XLR out to either the Hypex Ncx500 or Nc252mp power amp..
As for speakers , I have the Kef Q Concerto Meta , Triangle Br04 , Dali Oberon 3 , Ascilab C6b & Svs Sb 1000 Pro subwoofer..
A sceond sub will help, too.
 
Yes, that'll work.

My Paradigm speakers' specs say 93db / 90db sensitivity room / anechoic.
Even then, the wiim amp ultra doesn't have the power / gain to drive them loud for some music.
Increasing the pre gain in the wiim app made it louder, but not nicer.

My power amp has xlr inputs, but until recently I was using rca to xlr cables to feed it from the rme adi2 dac.
Assuming standard 2v rca, 4v xlr, it was getting half the voltage input it was expecting.
It was still louder than the amp ultra though.

I now feed the power amp from the rme dac's xlr output, and have no problems making my ears bleed. :)
 
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