WiiM Amp review in What Hi-Fi?

[BowsAndArrows]

Cheapaudioman, despite his clickbaity video title, concluded that the WiiM Amp sounds better than the Loxjie A40.

The Loxjie is only about £40 - £50 less than a WiiM Amp but has no streamer...how is that a better value proposition?

Well, in my area you could get a WiiM mini + an A40 for the cost of the amp. Which would overall be a more versatile setup. A40 has usb in and optical out which the WiiM amp is missing...
No idea what either product sounds... But my point still stands. (Value has progressively decreased with each new product)

 

[BowsAndArrows]

Honestly that review totally misunderstands the value proposition given the 2 recommendations they make instead of the WiiM cost 1100 and 600. And my WiiM cost me 299…

The WiiM amp doesn't include speakers though. So the kef and triangle they recommend are comparable once you factor those costs in... Especially the denon micro hi-fi that costs only £79 more than the WiiM?! that's a good value system

 

[cooky560]

The WiiM amp doesn't include speakers though. So the kef and triangle they recommend are comparable once you factor those costs in... Especially the denon micro hi-fi that costs only £79 more than the WiiM?! that's a good value system

The denon is not a streamer

 

[canard]

The denon is not a streamer

with a mini or pro...that s ok

 

[harkpabst]

Still no high-pass filter for main speakers on the Loxjie A40, only low-pass for sub. The WiiM Mini would add some of the missing (P)EQ features to the mix, but only for streaming sources, not for native inputs on the Loxjie A40.

This combo is another option, depending on your preferences, but certainly not better value per se.

 

[es6rd6z]

I find a majority of the audio review sites are just a jumble of word salad.

Maybe there is an app where you can simply ask it to come up with something and it would spit out a bunch of adjectives. And you can tweak them to your liking?

I'm convinced ChatGPT and the likes are based entirely on audio reviews.

 

[es6rd6z]

It has a lot of cons, you know. Only one analogue input, so you can't connect your old tape recorder and a 1987 Amiga 500 (for all the funky Equinox, Tristar and Spaceballs demos) at the same time. That's inexcusable! What, music is digital now that we're a quarter through the 21st century and CD is realistically dead? No it's not, you need to connect your CD player through RCA as well! You need at least three analog inputs.

This surprised me as well. Surely an audiophile reviewer would want to connect a cd player via the optical input, which isn't even mentioned in the review at all? But many expensive amps don't even have optical inputs, so perhaps that's why the reviewer neglected to mention it.

(Also, looking at the picture at the top of the review, the reviewer must be almost completely deaf.)

 

[rjbell]

They can't upset the legacy brands that plaster their mag with ads and pay their wages now can they?

 

[BowsAndArrows]

where was all this "constructive" criticism when they gave the Pro Plus 5 stars??

 

[Fender]

Many, if not the majority of readers/viewers of such commercial tests/reviews/praise/damnations are longing for confirmations for decisions they've already made. Five stars are fine, it does not matter who is the reviewer or the magazine. Loving only the confirmation they are right. Less stars are on the other side only bias or stupidity from the author.
Take back the command over your decisions and decide for yourself. By ears or by measurements. But by yourself.

 

[cooky560]

where was all this "constructive" criticism when they gave the Pro Plus 5 stars??

The proplus is essentially a silent interim device between the music, and their choice of amp / speakers, it was always going to get 5 stars lol

 

[BowsAndArrows]

The proplus is essentially a silent interim device between the music, and their choice of amp / speakers, it was always going to get 5 stars lol

yeh, you'd think that, wouldn't you... but whether it's an inconvenient fact for some people, it's definitely true that there is an audible difference between streamers.

if you don't believe me then just listen to the PS Audio airstream for example vs any other streamer (except for maybe Grimm ones) and you'll hear the difference over compressed youtube audio even! i've heard the grimm audio MU1 vs a bluesound node X on the same system, and it's mind blowing how much better the grimm is. (keep in mind - we were using stock everything for each when we tested this - cables, power supplies, etc)