In praise of the Wiim (other amps are available)
Discussion
In another thread, some months ago:
In the end we bought him one (I got a deal from Richer Sounds) and when he came over at Christmas he took it back with him...
Anyway, we had a look at it, and a month agowe I bought one as well to replace my aging Denon AVR.
When I bought the Denon about 20 years ago, the idea was to use 2.1 sound and improve the flat screen TV sound. I had dreams of fitting full surround, but in reality rarely watch films, so that didn't happen. We don't watch our music either, it's mostly watched for speech.
And in fact over the two or three new TVs since the sound hasn't been that good either. OK, but not actually 'good'
So, in with the Wiim, and out with the Denon.
TV sound is better but not a lot. I'm now using HDMI arc and the TV is controlling the Wiim nicely.
Until yesterday, when I found that via the App, I could use different equaliser default settings for each input. So I've utilised the preset "Spoken Voice" for the HDMI input. It's a massive leap in speech quality off the TV. I have just earned a zillion brownie points from the Studio Manager.
Oh, and the elderly REL quake is now fed via the RCA sub out from the Wiim which has settings for volume, roll off, phase etc, so it has software control of the sub's audio, really easy to set up.
My usual streaming is from Spotify. I've always had the amp connected via ethernet, but the Wiim is waaay quicker to pick it up. And I've been able to set all those rips I have on a network hard drive as a favourite, so that's a lot easier to use as well.
There's a load more stuff to find I'm sure. But it's really made a difference here.
Thank you for the suggestion, I've stepped forward 20 years.
heisthegaffer said:
What about a Wiim amp pro?
This was a recommendation for my son in Turkey.In the end we bought him one (I got a deal from Richer Sounds) and when he came over at Christmas he took it back with him...
Anyway, we had a look at it, and a month ago
When I bought the Denon about 20 years ago, the idea was to use 2.1 sound and improve the flat screen TV sound. I had dreams of fitting full surround, but in reality rarely watch films, so that didn't happen. We don't watch our music either, it's mostly watched for speech.
And in fact over the two or three new TVs since the sound hasn't been that good either. OK, but not actually 'good'
So, in with the Wiim, and out with the Denon.
TV sound is better but not a lot. I'm now using HDMI arc and the TV is controlling the Wiim nicely.
Until yesterday, when I found that via the App, I could use different equaliser default settings for each input. So I've utilised the preset "Spoken Voice" for the HDMI input. It's a massive leap in speech quality off the TV. I have just earned a zillion brownie points from the Studio Manager.
Oh, and the elderly REL quake is now fed via the RCA sub out from the Wiim which has settings for volume, roll off, phase etc, so it has software control of the sub's audio, really easy to set up.
My usual streaming is from Spotify. I've always had the amp connected via ethernet, but the Wiim is waaay quicker to pick it up. And I've been able to set all those rips I have on a network hard drive as a favourite, so that's a lot easier to use as well.
There's a load more stuff to find I'm sure. But it's really made a difference here.
Thank you for the suggestion, I've stepped forward 20 years.
It's a shame he came so close to having the Ruarks - you can't say you didn't try!
But I'm glad you're enjoying them, they were surplus for me (as you know) but I loved them when I bought them - really nice speakers.
I don't know the Wiim, but I'm locked into streaming in a big way - with Roon and Qobuz. Such a huge difference in experience to buying records back in the 1970's.
But I'm glad you're enjoying them, they were surplus for me (as you know) but I loved them when I bought them - really nice speakers.
I don't know the Wiim, but I'm locked into streaming in a big way - with Roon and Qobuz. Such a huge difference in experience to buying records back in the 1970's.
I love stuff from the eighties, no-sand amps, fiddly record players and crackly vinyl but my recommendation to my kids when they asked about it was 'get a Wiim'. There is only so much you should burden your children with.
ETA - I had a set of Ruark Preludes since the nineties that have only recently given up on life, great sound.
ETA - I had a set of Ruark Preludes since the nineties that have only recently given up on life, great sound.
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