Wiim Amp Ultra amplifier
Some companies have product ranges that are driven seemingly at random; as if the person in charge strolls in on a Monday and decides on impulse that it’s time to develop something that sprang to mind over the weekend. Other companies are systematic to the point that you can fathom their next product by looking at their existing line up in much the same way you can define the properties of an element by seeing its place in the periodic table.
Wiim is very much in the periodic table school of product releases. Beyond certain curveballs like the Vibelink amp (a device that seemingly began life as a power amp and became a slightly compromised integrated amp at some stage in its development), they are logical to a fault. As there is a Mini streamer and Amp and a Pro streamer and an Amp Pro, it doesn’t take the deductive reasoning of Poirot to suspect that once the Ultra streamer had hit the market, an Ultra amplifier would be along sooner or later.
Sure enough, the Amp Ultra is now here and combines some (but as we’ll cover, not all) the functionality of the Ultra Streamer with on board amplification. The streaming section lifts wholesale from the Ultra. Inside you’ll find an ESS ES9039Q2M DAC (actually a small upgrade on the streamer), with the same supporting hardware that makes use of the same Wiim control app. Sample rate handling is PCM to 192kHz with no DSD (although the app can convert to PCM on the fly).
As well as being able to access a local library over network and via USB, the streaming service support is extremely comprehensive, with Apple Music now the only real absentee of note. There is no Airplay either suggesting Wiim and Apple’s relationship might not be entirely cordial. You do get both Google Cast and Bluetooth as other means of sending content to the Amp Ultra. You also get Wiim’s decidedly impressive room optimisation software which combines an internal mic and the ability to take a measurement before plotting a target curve based on the feedback it generates. It’s simpler than Dirac but, included in the £500 asking price, it’s an excellent addition.
All this is handled in the control app which is still not something I truly love but is unconditionally stable and pretty logical to use. In terms of first setup, I don’t believe there is any other streaming product at any price point that is as quick and straightforward as the Wiim is. It is also fully compatible with Roon.
As well as the streaming section, there is a USB input for drives and sticks (which can also be setup as a digital output), a network connection and recessed 4mm speaker terminals (Wiim supplies the required plugs to terminate bare wires) together with a subwoofer output. Additional inputs comprise an HDMI ARC connection, optical and a single RCA analogue input. The moving magnet and moving coil capable phono stage that Wiim fitted to the Ultra Streamer doesn’t make the transition which is a shame but understandable given there is only a single pair of RCA connectors.
The amplifier section seems to be closely related to the one in the Vibelink and is a class D design with PFFB implementation developed by Texas Instruments. This allows Wiim to use cost optimised ferrite beads without worrying about the adverse effects they might have on audio performance. The idea is that the amplifier has a flat amplitude response across the audio band of frequencies ensuring better measured performance for more of the time. Power is quoted at 100 watts into 8 ohms which then doubles into 4. This is more power than the Amp Pro but I have to say I didn’t really find that wanting for power.
The big jump for the Amp Ultra over the two lower rungs of amplifier is the display that is also used on the Ultra Streamer. This is a full colour touchscreen and it makes accessing functionality on the Amp Ultra a great deal easier than the other amp models even if it isn’t the easiest device of its kind to read at a distance. Oddly, I haven’t found the Amp Ultra review sample to be as responsive as the streamer. There can be hesitations changing inputs and going into standby that weren’t present on the streamer. There is also a very nice remote handset which broadens control options over the more affordable models. Ultimately, the level of fit and finish and the general sense of solidity that the Wiim conveys for £500 is gently absurd if you stop and think about it.
Sound quality
This general perception of quality holds up every bit as well when you stop prodding the Wiim and start listening to it. As is the case with a few devices of this nature, trying to work out where the decoding ends and the amplification begins is largely a fool’s errand as even the ‘analogue’ input is digitised on arrival. I largely used a pair of Q Acoustics 5020 standmount speakers for testing (which, at the time of writing could be combined with an Ultra for under a grand) and the performance that resulted is unreasonably good for the money.
Listening to Emily Wolfe’s eponymously titled debut via Spotify Lossless (which finally activated itself for me during testing), the Wiim can initially feel fractionally bright. This perception takes a little while to evolve into the realisation that, seemingly regardless of what you choose to play on the Ultra Amp, it manages to generate a level of refinement that means that forwardness never tips into being fatiguing. Even with Wolfe’s rough and ready effort, the result is consistently musically satisfying.
This is in part because all of the audible trigger points across the frequency response are handled extremely well. Give the Amp Ultra the unlikely but lovely bluegrass version of Eye of the Tiger by the Rural Alberta Advantage and it delivers the stripped back vocals and guitar with a realism and presence that stops you listening in a technical sense and has you enjoying what the combo is doing. It’s unquestionably hifi, even if it is also compact and convenient at the same time. This is rammed home the moment you power a TV on and it effortlessly segways into boosting the sonics of that instead. We can legitimately argue that the performance difference between HDMI ARC and optical is non existent but the effortless sync the Amp Ultra has with your TV means your household will actually use it.
It’s not perfect. Although it has since departed, the Cambridge Audio MXW70 power amp manages to sound fuller and somewhat lusher than Wiim’s take on music and this can feed into you feeling that bass extension is fractionally limited, when the reality is that the Amp Ultra hits every bit as hard with the potent musings of GusGus’ Lies Are More Flexible. Something else that seems to be the case, at least with a Philips 909 OLED TV is that the level via the HDMI ARC input is lower than via the streaming module or analogue input which wasn’t the case with the Amp and Amp Pro.
Against this nitpicking though, the EQ functionality is tremendous. This room is a relatively well sorted and benign space that doesn’t require huge digital intervention. Even so, the Wiim was able to tidy up a 50Hz bump in the frequency response (that, in fairness, tends to help small speakers sound fuller than they are), and leave the presentation sound a little cleaner and more detailed. It was rather more flummoxed by the Acoustic Energy AE1 40th Anniversary but I suspect the Venn diagram of people who use Wiim EQ and people who fancy a pair of 40 year old homages will be two distinct circles. I feel that this functionality makes more sense on the self-contained amps than it does on the streamers (where any input other than the Wiim will behave differently).
Conclusion
In fact, the only real competition for the Ultra comes from further up the periodic table of Wiim amplifiers. If you can live without the display (and, if you’re honest with yourself, you probably can), it’s hard to ignore that the Amp Pro offers much the same astonishingly flexible spec for £100 less. This should not take away from quite how good this latest Wiim offering is though. The Amp Ultra is a superb device that blurs the boundaries between amp and all in one system to spectacular effect. Whether it’s your first step on the hifi ladder or an extremely precocious second system, it’s exceptional value for money and another brilliant addition to the Wiim range.