Unitra WSH-805 integrated amplifier
You might be forgiven a brief, unvoiced ‘who?’ when confronted with the Unitra WSH-805. Answering that question isn’t the work of a moment either. Unitra was the umbrella group of Polish companies involved in consumer electronics back in the Cold War who produced audio equipment for domestic and export purposes. I will happily admit that audio equipment of the Soviet Bloc is not a subject I’ll be picking for Mastermind any time soon but Unitra gear seems to have been well regarded. Even so, faced with an influx of new competition, the original Unitra ceased operations in 1989. The reborn Unitra appeared a few years ago, taking inspiration from the original company but with all new product.
This means that the WSH-805 is, according to Unitra at least, at least partly inspired by the WSH-205 from ‘in period’ Unitra. Information on the 205 (in Polish or otherwise) is limited but there is at least some visual similarity between the two. The newer amp is rather more than a pleasant retro box though. It is a completely dual mono design where both the preamp and power stages are so arranged, rather than the more common practise of using a stereo pre with mono power amps. It uses current feedback in the circuit with a hefty basket type transformer for each channel. It is a balanced design from front to back and has a balanced input available to make use of this.
Power outputs fall into the ‘decent’ rather than ‘biblical’ category but the WSH-805 has a party piece in this regard that we’ll come to. Power is quoted at 80 watts into 8 ohms rising to 125W into 4. For reasons I don’t fully understand, Unitra quotes a distortion figure into 40 watts rather than the full 80 but, given that the figure in question is < 0.0008% THD, it’s likely that it’s not going to be terribly exorbitant at full chat either. All the other quoted measurements suggest that the Unitra is extremely competently engineered.
The party piece of this is that the 80 watt figure isn’t the only quoted power output. At the flick of a switch (something we’ll return to in due course), the WSH-805 changes to pure Class A operation. In this mode, power output drops to 8 watts into 8 ohms and 16 into 4. This is not a huge amount; there’s no sense pretending otherwise, but partnered with a degree of care it goes further than you might think. This is not a common feature and it gives the Unitra an unusual degree of flexibility. The output is available into two sets of selectable speaker terminals (which can either be independently selected or run together).
Connectivity is exclusively analogue but usefully broad within that. As well as the XLR input mentioned earlier, you get five RCA inputs and a phono stage that supports both moving magnet and moving coil cartridges. This is like most internal phono stages in that the moving coil section is ‘best fit’ for impedance with no scope to adjust it, but it’s still a welcome feature to have. The WSH-805 goes on to offer both a direct AV input and a stereo pre-out, both on RCA connections. It would have been nice to have an extra XLR connection and a balanced pre-out but it’s far from end of the world that it doesn’t.
The aesthetics of the WSH-805 will live or die depending on your feelings towards retro. As I am very partial to it, I think it’s a bit of a star turn but, even if you aren’t, it does a few things to win you round to its way of thinking. Having spent a bit of time with it, the thing that has really stood out is that no element of what might be seen to be styling impinges on what is a very logical and intuitive interface. There are bass, treble and balance controls on the front panel as well as a ‘Contour’ switch that follows a similar path to a loudness control; boosting frequency extremes for low level listening. If all of this feels a bit much, flick another switch and they’ll all be bypassed from the main circuit. Everything falls to hand and everything works well.
There is a small but very solid remote handset which also activates the true surprise and delight feature of the WSH-805. You might look at those various two position switches and assume, you’ll need to get yourself to the front panel to operate them and, however satisfying they might be (and they are very satisfying), that might get old rather quickly. You would however be wrong; each switch is motorised and pressing the relevant button on the remote will have them snap to their second position as if you’d collared a poltergeist to assist in your listening. This has no effect whatsoever on sound quality but you’ll be too busy grinning like an idiot and showing your friends who care about details like that. It’s part of a wider feeling of quality that means- even judged at £4,500, the WSH-805 feels very special indeed; easily one of the best built devices under five grand I can remember testing.
Sound quality
I initially used the WSH-805 with a Chord Electronics Qutest as a digital source and an AVID Ingenium Twin turntable via an SME M2-9 arm and Gold Note Vasari Shibata MM and also Audio Note Arm III and Goldring Ethos MC cartridge. To kick off with, I used the amp in Class AB mode and attached the resident Kudos Titan 505s; a speaker that benefits from being driven rather than simply powered. Whatever the bald numbers of the power output, the Unitra meets the brief perfectly. The magnificent Remind Me by Emily King is delivered with the glorious energy of King’s vocals and that scudding electronic synth line that starts midway through the track, combining to create something genuinely exciting. At points, more than anything, there has been an almost Naim like quality to the propulsive force on offer here.
What the WSH-805 does extremely effectively is bleed this potency off when you don’t need it. The beautifully subdued Lowswing Sessions by Fink has no need of bombast and the Unitra ensures that it never feels forced or overblown. Instead, Fin Greenall is the centre of a carefully worked soundstage that captures the intimacy and cohesion of the music. When the big kick drum is struck in Long Distance Love you’re reminded of the power on offer but it never dominates proceedings.
There’s more to give, flick the switch (remotely of course) for Class A operation and that socking great kick drum becomes a little less potent but, from 150Hz and up, there is a further emphasis to the already exceptional tonality and texture. The Class A mode is not a night and day difference to performance; it’s the same components at work after all but even so, the changes are pretty noticeable. The catch is that as the scale of material increases, it becomes increasingly clear that the reduced output is wilting a little into the Kudos.
When the Focal Kanta No1 speakers are connected in their place the result is significantly better. The combination of the Focal’s effortlessly detailed upper registers and airiness with an ultra low noise, distortion free, crossover free signal that isn’t working as hard to drive them is better than the sum of its parts. In the very long time that this pair of Kantas have been engaged in test work and across the huge selection of things they’ve been bolted to over that time – many of which that cost more than the WSH-805 does, I think this is the best I have ever heard them perform.
The Unitra isn’t done there either. The phono stage is an excellent piece of hardware with very low noise levels, respectable gain (I suspect that low output MCs while running in Class A mode could see the limits of headroom being reached but you’ll otherwise be fine). The main benefit is the absolute absence of tonal shift between the phono stage and the other inputs. If you like what the WSH-805 does, it still does it via a turntable. This ensures that Good Time/Hard Time by Telemen is relayed with its slick moodiness wholly intact. The gorgeous Easy Now I’ve Got You is delicate where it needs to be and hard hitting when it doesn’t in a way that makes it feel deceptively easy. If you are a moving coil user, rivals at the price that allow for loading adjustment might still pip the WSH-405 but very little else will better it.
Conclusion
What results is a pretty formidable statement of intent from a new arrival. In some ways, the WSH-805 might have had an easier time of it if it had been stuck in unobtrusive black casework with one knob and maybe a display to navigate the menus it would need to deliver the same functionality (you can buy a black one incidentally but it still looks pretty much as fabulous as the silver version). More than one person will dismiss the Unitra as a retro trinket and it will be to their detriment that they do.
There are many different ways of defining an ‘amplifier’ in 2025 and if you need digital inputs, streaming or EQ (as many offer), this can’t ever be the answer. If though you are after an amplifier at this price and you aren’t alarmed by the need for source equipment, you need to listen to this one. Unitra might not yet be a brand on the tip of everyone’s tongue but based on the WSH-805, I don’t give it too long before they are.