WiiM Amp Pro

WiiM is the awkwardly named sub-brand of Linkplay - and ever since it launched its first product (the Mini, a compact wireless music streamer) less than four years ago, its impeccable quality-per-quid ratio has established it as a true front-runner where realistically priced multiroom and networking audio devices are concerned.

This, the Amp Pro, is the latest demonstration of the company’s entry-level expertise. It’s a compact (66x217x190mm, HxWxD) box finished in ‘Space Gray’ [sic] - and it combines amplification for passive loudspeakers with network streaming smarts. 

Visually, there’s very little to differentiate the Amp Pro from the more affordable Amp - except for the lack of ‘silver’ as an option where finish is concerned. They have the same set of physical connections - HDMI ARC, digital optical, stereo RCA line-level and USB-A inputs, with speaker terminals, subwoofer pre-out and USB outputs. And on the inside, they use the same Texas Instruments TPA3255 amplification to deliver the same 60 watts per channel (into an 8-ohm load).

There are significant differences, though. The Amp Pro is fitted with an ESS ES9038 Q2M DAC chipset, which is a definite upgrade on the Amp. It has triple-band wi-fi connectivity (2.4GHz, 5GHz and wi-fi 6, with a software update to 6E promised) and uses two-way Bluetooth 5.3 with LE Audio compatibility. And it has lower signal-to-noise ratio and total harmonic distortion numbers than its less expensive sibling.

The other specification highlights are no less impressive. The Amp Pro supports Alexa Cast, Google Cast, Spotify Connect and TIDAL Connect, is compatible with DLNA and is Roon Ready. It’s compatible with pretty much every worthwhile audio format (as well as some that are rather less worthwhile). It can be grouped with WiiM or Linkplay devices, and with Google Nest devices, and is compatible with Alexa Multiroom.

So, the lesson is: when you see a small, anonymous box with just a single volume control and a few LEDs on its fascia, don’t rush to conclusions. Even if it is from a brand with a daft name.   

Sound quality

The Amp Pro’s room-correction routine takes next-to-no time to assess your environment and recommend some EQ changes - whether or not you decide to act on them is entirely up to you. Maybe you could just save them as yet another EQ preset in the app…

Once you’re happy with your EQ settings, listening to the WiiM Amp Pro turns out to be almost all gain, with basically no pain. It is at its most effective as part of a realistically priced system where source equipment and speakers are concerned, of course - but even when introduced into a disproportionately expensive set of partners, it doesn’t disgrace itself.

It attacks with polite determination at the top of the frequency range - there’s a reasonable amount of bite and shine to treble sounds, but the WiiM quite sensibly errs on the side of caution. The modest amount of roll-off makes it an easier fit with a wider range of affordable(-ish) loudspeakers.

At the opposite end, there’s proper substance and variation to bass sounds and an impressive amount of control. The bass punches rather than pushes, but the authority the amplifier has over attack and decay means that rhythmic expression is good - and even the wonkiest tempos are described with positivity.

In between, the Amp Pro proves eloquent and quite revealing with midrange information - it’s able to explain the finer details and put them into convincing context, so a vocalist (for example) always sounds characterful. If a singer’s technique is rudimentary, that’s how the WiiM delivers it - and if a singer is an expert, that will shine through too.

The Amp Pro does a pretty good job of unifying the frequency range, the slight bashfulness at the top end notwithstanding. And it’s nicely tonally balanced too, seemingly willing to get out of the way of a recording rather than impose itself too obviously. It’s pretty adept at identifying even quite minor harmonic variations, and can do so without getting all uptight or analytical.

It could be a little more assertive where the broad dynamics of ‘quiet/LOUD’ are concerned - that same politeness and sense of decorum that’s apparent in its high-frequency response is equally present here. But it remains an expressive and engaging listen despite this, and with the asking price uppermost in mind offers an impressive breadth of sonic talents.    

Living with

Not only is the WiiM Amp Pro undemanding in physical terms - it is small enough to be plonked anywhere that it can be connected to your speakers and to mains power - but it’s an absolute doddle to operate too. 

It works with Alexa and Google voice assistants. It’s supplied with a logical, useful and fairly comprehensive remote handset. And it can be operated using the WiiM Home control app that’s free for iOS and Android - and this is an app from which many bigger, better-established brands could learn a thing or two.

Here’s where you can access numerous music streaming services - everything from Amazon Music and BBC Radio via Deezer and Napster to Pandora, Quobuz and SoundCloud is available, and internet radio can be accessed via vTuner and iHeartRadio. You also get access to a ten-band graphic equaliser with which you can define your own EQ settings or select from one of 24 (count ‘em!) presets. There’s a room-correction routine available, a balance control, and space for a dozen presets of your choosing. There’s even an alarm clock. It’s not the last word in absolute clarity when it comes to navigation, and it takes a beat or two to catch up with what’s happening if your device needs waking, but it is streets ahead of many rivals.

In short: living with the WiiM Amp Pro is no kind of hardship. 

Conclusion

Currently there is no more cost-effective way of powering your affordable passive speakers and getting in on the ground floor of multiroom and network audio functionality than the WiiM Amp Pro. If there’s a better pound-for-pound combination of performance and functionality out there, I’ve yet to hear it.

Listening notes‍

Cate Le BonAre You With Me Now?‍

Sonically dry and intricate, and with a midrange that sits proud of everything that’s taking place on either side, this recording will tell you what you need to know about an amp’s ability where staging, focus and separation are concerned.

Mary Love Lay This Burden Down

This late-60s dancefloor monster needs tonally fidelity and low-frequency manoeuverability if it’s going to be heard to its full, toe-tapping effect. A facility with harmonic variation and straightforward dynamic response wouldn’t go amiss, either. 

Vampire Weekend Sympathy

Despite what you might have read, the world needs more smartarses - Vampire Weekend in general, and Sympathy in particular, make it obvious. A system’s tonal balance and frequency response needs to be, well, sympathetic if this is to be heard to the full.  

You buy the WiiM Amp Pro because you have an appropriate pair of passive speakers you want to drive to good effect, because you are interested in the multiroom possibilities the device and its app open up, and because you don’t want to spend an arm and a leg to get very agreeable sound.