WiiM Amp Ultra amplifier/streamer

WiiM once again succeeds in surprising, signing off on a small revolution that further raises the bar of fan expectations. WiiM Amp Ultra draws the best from the WiiM catalog, while adding, however, what many users have been asking for: an amplifier built into the Ultra’s sleek aluminum unibody chassis with display, capable of effortlessly driving even large speakers, all while maintaining an attack price and the proverbial ease of use that has made the brand famous. WiiM Amp Ultra, with a 3.5-inch touchscreen display where you can immediately and intuitively manage music playback, source selection, display of high-resolution covers, and all major settings.

Under the hood much substance. ESS SABRE 9039Q2M DAC, coupled with a pair of Texas Instruments TPA3255 class-D amplifiers and an analog section with six TI OPA1612 op-amps. Claimed power is 100 watts per channel into 8 ohm loads, rising to an impressive 200 watts per channel into 4 ohms with Post Filter Feedback technology that helps keep the amplifier’s response stable and consistent, dynamically adapting to the speaker load.

At the construction level, nothing has been left to chance: an intelligent thermal system with copper heat-pipes, which we had already seen on Amp and Amp Ultra, and the natural dissipation of the aluminum shell, guarantee hours and hours of use even at high volume without ever generating excessive heat or drops in performance. Connectivity is at the highest level: tri-band Wi-Fi 6, Bluetooth 5.3 with support for SBC and AAC codecs, and HDMI ARC with Dolby Digital decoder that in the case of Ultra Amp supports up to 2.1 wired and in the future 5.1 with wireless channels. There is no shortage of analog RCA inputs, optical digital, a subwoofer output, a USB-A to connect an external DAC or USB media, and of course the four binding posts, compatible with banana plugs, among the accessories 4 adapters to use even stripped wire.

Also Home Theater

The WiiM Ultra Amp then introduces the Home Theater Mode function, thanks to the built-in 5.1 decoder that in the future-we imagine-will allow the ability to connect wirelessly not only the subwoofer, the Sub Pro on which we have already had a chance to get our hands on, but also the rear speakers that could be the ones seen at Munich 2025 (the WiiM Sound) and that will soon debut on the market. Ultra Amp then also becomes a true home theater hub from which one can fully manage one’s 5.1 system. It is still to come but a solid foundation has already been laid with this product.

Streamer as a tradition

But the true soul of the WiiM Amp Ultra remains its vocation for streaming. Spotify, Amazon Music, TIDAL, Qobuz including Connect, Deezer, Pandora, iHeartRadio, TuneIn, and SoundCloud are natively integrated and immediately accessible from the WiiM app, or from the front panel touchscreen itself. As the music scrolls, you can view album covers or activate an analog-style VU-meter graphic, a touch of nostalgia that many manufacturers now have. The WiiM app, is now mature and stable on all platforms, but the introduction of the new WiiM Voice Remote 2 expands the possibilities even further: made of aluminum, equipped with a rechargeable battery and “push-to-talk” voice commands, it allows you to quickly manage the most important functions and recall smart presets with a single gesture.

Another element that confirms the care taken in the design of this new product is the room correction system, inherited from the Ultra models: a sophisticated technology that analyzes the behavior of the speakers, the listening position and the acoustic characteristics of the room, adapting the equalization curve and even the crossover with a possible subwoofer accordingly. For those who prefer a more personal approach, 24 preset sound profiles are always available or a fully customizable 10-band parametric equalizer for each input

All this contributes to an extremely versatile device that can transform a traditional system into a modern and powerful music hub, capable of satisfying both the audiophile seeking quality and the ordinary user who wants simplicity and uncomplicated performance. WiiM thus succeeds in offering an all-in-one amplifier-streamer that really does it all well: elegant to look at, pleasant to touch, intuitive to use. A little technological jewel that once again redefines what can be expected from a hi-fi product well under a thousand euros, bringing into everyone’s home a sound quality and a completeness of functions that would have been unthinkable at this level just a few years ago.

Listening

We used several different speakers, including Indiana Line’s Diva 6 and Opera V2, and also WiiM’s own active subwoofer, the Sub Pro, which we had a preview of. The timbral signature of the Wiim Amp Ultra is surprisingly neutral for a device in this price range: the sound is clean, well balanced, with no obvious coloration. In acoustic tracks, female vocals are transparent and believable, with nice detail on harmonics and an honest ability to restore the naturalness of the recording. Even in the most dynamic passages, the small amplifier does not seem to lose control, returning a stable and coherent sound image, with a soundstage sufficiently wide and deep enough to make listening pleasant and engaging. The low frequencies, without the help of the subwoofer, appear quite accurate and articulate, while with the addition of the sub you get the right amount of body on the deeper frequencies. During listening sessions with more energetic genres, such as rock and electronic music, the Wiim Ultra Amp demonstrated a good reserve of power, enough to sound out an average room without much uncertainty. It is clearly not designed to drive very difficult speakers in huge rooms, but with normal loads it performs more than decently, always maintaining a certain brilliance and dynamics. Also of interest is the performance on strings and wind instruments in orchestral recordings, where one appreciates the ability to keep the various sections of the orchestra distinct, albeit with a slight tarnishing of the finer details compared to higher level electronics, which is also quite normal given the category. Even using digital inputs from an external source, the internal DAC proved to be of a good standard, with a sound that remains transparent and airy, lacking harshness even with less polished recordings. It obviously does not reach the sophistication of higher-end electronics, but it manages to intelligently combine convincing sonic performance, ease of use and an extremely competitive price. The WiiM Amp Ultra thus marks a new stage in the company’s journey: a concrete, intelligent product that does not forget the passion for music but puts it at the service of everyday life, with a modern and affordable approach. A choice that promises to change the way of understanding home listening for many users, confirming once again that true innovation is not only that which amazes, but that which knows how to silently enter everyday habits and improve them, track by track.

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