WiiM role in simple audio architecture….

[Ctaudio]

Recently my Pioneer SX-780 bit the dust…but want to modernize what I’ve got. What I have isn‘t audiophile grade as the wife limits what she’s willing to have in the living room…Wife’s opening up to maybe something better

So..I’m amp-less at the time. Have two Polk Monitor 40 speakers, about 10 years old, a vintage Technics SL-D3 direct drive turntable that works great, and an old iPhone8 I use to stream via RCA plug…. whatever I get has to fit on 3 shelves in an entertainment center, each slot 20 x 18 x 7. All this is in a 24’ x 20’ great room with a cathedral ceiling…

Requirements:

• Support turntable (no line level output, requires grounding)
• Support CD player with digital output option (optical/coax)
• Reuse Polk speakers (for next year or 2 until I convince wife….lmao..)
• Listening use cases
  • Room 1, listen to any input using hardwired Polks..
  • Room 2, listen to any input using wireless/powered speakers
  • Would NOT listen to any input simultaneously in BOTH rooms (amp will support A/B speaker select so I can turn off both..)
• sounds like my old pioneer…eg…warmer sound.

I plan to get an integrated Amp. There‘s a lot of amp choices, and all would have pre-outs. so not worried about that.

Question is what WiiM would play best role for my use cases? I get the puts/takes of having inputs direct into WiiM..doing the various transcoding from analog, digital, analog and all that comes with it.. What would having a WiiM input from a pre-out? Guess I’d need to get Ultra to amplify? Thx,,,

 

[adias]

Room 1: Ultra + Amp Pro.

Room 2: Mini or Pro or Pro Plus.

 

[Ctaudio]

Thank you, so in this case I’d connect the turntable (rca) and CD (optical cable) to the Ultra, then output the ultra to the Amp pro, so no need for an integrated amp at all, e.g, rotel, arcam, etc..

Curious why another streamer is needed in Room 2, wouldn’t the Room 1 streamers transmit the audio signals to powered speakers in that room?

 

[dtc]

In room 2, I would suggest a Pro or Pro Plus rather than a mini. The mini is pretty well maxed out from a processor perspective and not all features are being added to it. The Pro/Pro Plus also supports both optical/coax output (mini just has optical) which gives more flexibility for powered speakers. Pro is probably sufficient for powered speakers, since the internal DAC is not used.

There are several reports of people not being happy with the phono input on the Ultra, both from a noise and a sound perspective. You might want to consider a separate phono preamp, like ones from ifi, Schit, Pro-ject or NAD. With that, you could just us the Amps analog input for the turntable and the optical input for the CD. No need for an ultra in that case, unless you want the screen. The Amp supports the same streaming functions as the Ultra or Pro.

With the CD and turntable connected to the Amp. you would need to Link the Amp and the Pro, which means you could play from both. simultaneously. To play from one and not the other, you need to mute the one that is not playing from the app. That is not hard, but it is different than flipping an A/B switch on a traditional integrated amp.

So,

Room 1 - Phono Preamp + Wiim Amp

Room 2 - Wiim Pro

 

[dtc]

Curious why another streamer is needed in Room 2, wouldn’t the Room 1 streamers transmit the audio signals to powered speakers in that room?

If you can connect to the Room 2 speakers from the amp via Blutooth and you never want to play in both rooms at the same time, then you would not need a Pro in Room 2. The Pro is there to provide a wired connection to the powered speakers and to be able to play both rooms at the same time. The Wiim devices can only output to one output at a time.

 

[adias]

In room 2, I would suggest a Pro or Pro Plus rather than a mini. The mini is pretty well maxed out from a processor perspective and not all features are being added to it. The Pro/Pro Plus also supports both optical/coax output (mini just has optical) which gives more flexibility for powered speakers. Pro is probably sufficient for powered speakers, since the internal DAC is not used.

There are several reports of people not being happy with the phono input on the Ultra, both from a noise and a sound perspective. You might want to consider a separate phono preamp, like ones from ifi, Schit, Pro-ject or NAD. With that, you could just us the Amps analog input for the turntable and the optical input for the CD. No need for an ultra in that case, unless you want the screen. The Amp supports the same streaming functions as the Ultra or Pro.

With the CD and turntable connected to the Amp. you would need to Link the Amp and the Pro, which means you could play from both. simultaneously. To play from one and not the other, you need to mute the one that is not playing from the app. That is not hard, but it is different than flipping an A/B switch on a traditional integrated amp.

So,

Room 1 - Phono Preamp + Wiim Amp

Room 2 - Wiim Pro

If you go this route - a good one - I recommend the Schiit Audio Mani phono preamp .

 

[Ctaudio]

Thx guys, I just emailed Schitt about Schitt..