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Tom's Guide
5 days ago
- Tom's Guide
I put together my first HiFi system for under $500 — and it gives you excellent sound without breaking the bank
The best Bluetooth speakers are a great way to take your music on the go or amplify the sound indoors without spending hundreds upon hundreds of dollars. But at a certain point, Bluetooth speakers become expensive enough that there are similarly priced sound systems that sound much, much better than a single speaker unit. Take the Sonos Move 2, for instance. As a portable speaker, it's about as good as they come for $450. It sounds good, features a massive battery to help you port the speaker around with you. But, if you spend $450 on some HiFi components, you ditch portability and make up for it with flexibility and sound quality. My first HiFi was made up of second-hand units that I grabbed for cheap on eBay, but that comes with its own risks. My first amplifier only lasted about a week before it started to smoke, for example. It's just as possible to put together a system of brand new parts for Move 2 money — so that's what I've done. The Wiim Amp is awesome. It's a compact streaming amplifier that packs in loads of features without taking up too much space or compromising on functionality. There's plenty of power on-board to power even more demanding speakers down the line, so you won't need to upgrade it for a while once you've plugged it in. The amplifier portion has 30W of power on tap, an ample amount for the speakers you can afford at this price point. Its core sound is excellent as well, with a lovely neutral sound for your speakers to build on and minimal sonic coloring. Plug them into the speaker ports on the back, and you're off to the races. The reason I chose this amplifier over similarly priced options from the likes of Cambridge Audio is the built-in streaming features. The amp connects to the Wi-Fi and then uses Spotify and Tidal Connect for easy streaming. You can also use the Wiim app to stream music from other streaming services, like Qobuz. It's a useful option to have, and opens up the sound customization features that let you really dial in the sound of your system. You can also connect over Bluetooth, if you'd prefer something old school. Get instant access to breaking news, the hottest reviews, great deals and helpful tips. For something so cheap, the Wiim amp is surprisingly fully featured, making it perfect for our $450 HiFi system. My Wiim amp has a place under my TV — because you can even plug your TV in with eARC for better TV sound. The results are far better than a similarly priced soundbar, that's for sure. The Wiim Amp not only features Wi-Fi for streaming, but there are enough ports on the back to plug in a turntable or a CD player. There's plenty of power for even larger speakers as well, giving you a clear upgrade path. This is the best way to spend $300 for excellent sound. With our amplifier coming with streaming capabilities built in, that really only leaves us with $150 for a pair of speakers. It's not too hard to find fantastic speakers for that much money, and our friends at Polk come in clutch here with some great budget options. My pick of the bunch is the Monitor XT15. One of the best things about stereo speakers over a Bluetooth speaker is the actual separation you get with proper HiFi speakers. They physically move the two channels apart, allowing your music to sound much richer and more spacious. Once you've experienced it, you won't want to go back. The XT15 are perfect for medium rooms and bedrooms. Their horn-guided tweeter brings out precise details, while the much larger 4-inch woofer brings the dimension for the low and the mids. Remember to place them further away from the wall, or the bass ports at the back could well make things sound slightly boomy. Grab some speaker cable (it's super cheap, I promise — you don't need the really expensive stuff) and get them hooked up to your Wiim amp for a great-sounding mini-HiFi system. The Polk Monitor XT15 aren't going to win any beauty contests, but they'll make your music sound amazing. Connect them to your amplifier, and listen to the sweet, sweet sounds they make. So you don't need to spend the $2,400 on the Cambridge Audio EXA100, but a system like the above does allow for a whole load more options than a Bluetooth speaker like the Sonos Move 2. You can plug in a Turntable, so that you can listen to vinyl records, or a CD player so that you can pull your old collection out of the attic. You could even hook up an old cassette player for a proper hit of nostalgia. It also means you can buy ever better equipment. New speakers that sound better, a new amplifier with more power. It's a slippery slope, that's for sure, but you won't find anything in audio as flexible and upgradable as a HiFi system. Follow Tom's Guide on Google News to get our up-to-date news, how-tos, and reviews in your feeds. Make sure to click the Follow button.
Tom's Guide
09-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Tom's Guide
The best audio brand you've never heard of just reduced the prices on all of its stuff — save big on Wiim streaming gear this Prime Day
As much as I love the physical formats my stereo system can play, I still like the convenience of streamed music. Just grab my phone, queue some Kpop, and away I go to musical Nirvana — and Wiim has made some of the devices that have helped me get there. Wiim makes streaming devices and streaming amps that connect to the internet and play your tunes from the likes of Tidal and Qobuz. In the Prime Day sales, the prices on a bunch of these devices just dropped to all-time lows. How about the beginner Wiim Amp for $239 at Amazon? Just add speakers for some of the best sound you've ever heard. Want to add something extra to your older system? Pick up the Wiim Pro for $119 at Amazon. The whole family is in on the action: Here are the best Wiim Prime Day deals. The Wiim Pro is the core of the Wiim line. It's a simple device, lacking a screen, but it's super simple to use. You hook it up to your chosen device with RCA, and it lends your speakers or even a compatible soundbar streaming capabilities. It's all controlled with the excellent Wiim home app and the good remote control that comes in the box. It sounds great and offers very stable streaming for even the highest resolution tracks and streaming services. The Wiim Ultra is my favorite Wiim device at the moment. It offers great streaming quality for connected devices and packs in extras like a phono pre-amp and sub out if your system lacks them. The little touch screen on the front is the icing on the cake. This is the lowest price we've seen the Wiim Ultra land. Wiim's latest device is an amplifier that lacks any kind of streaming skills, but makes up for it in sheer power. This is the first amp on the list, and thanks to its peak 100W of power, it will power almost any pair of speakers you might throw at it. There are three inputs on the back, ready to receive a CD player, streamer, and more. This is the lowest price we've ever seen on the Vibelink Amp. The Wiim Amp is the beginner streaming amp in the line. It has a peak power of 60W per channel for speakers that need some extra oomph, and the streaming capabilities of the Wiim Pro are ready for some hi-res streaming. As with all other Wiim streaming devices, this is controlled with the Wiim home app or the included remote control. This is the largest discount I've seen for the Wiim Amp. Housed in a similar shell to the Wiim Amp, the Amp Pro adds in some extra power and a more potent amplification circuit. That means better sound and more power for larger speakers. This is also a streaming amplifier, so you can stream music from your favorite streaming services with a WiFi connection. This is the lowest price the Amp Pro has ever been. The Wiim Mini is the baby of the family — just plug into your speakers or HiFi with the included RCA to 3.5mm wire, and you're streaming music in Hi-Res. It works through the Wiim Home app, and doesn't include the Wiim Remote. This is the lowest price we've seen for the Wiim Mini. There are plenty more deals to be had this Prime Day — make sure you check out our Prime Day live blog to make sure you're staying on top of all the latest sales and offers.
Tom's Guide
08-07-2025
- Business
- Tom's Guide
This audio device is my favourite way to listen to music - and it's dropped to its lowest ever price for Prime Day
Over Prime Day I like to keep watch to see which of my favorite devices gets reduced during the sale. And, this year, we're in for a treat — my most adored device of the last year or so, the Wiim Ultra streamer, just reached a brand new lowest price in the sale. The Wiim Ultra is now just $263 at Amazon, thanks to a massive $70 discount. That's the lowest I've ever seen the device — now let me tell you why I love it so much, and why you need to add one to your whole home streaming environment. The Wiim Ultra is a relatively inexpensive way of getting music streamed over some powered speakers or an older stereo system. I loved testing the Wiim Ultra, and this new lowest price makes it a whole lot easier to slip one into your listening center. I know I'll be buying another. Or maybe another two... or three... Wiim has long made some of my favorite devices. The first devices that let me stream music to my then aging HiFi system were Wiim units, connecting up to the WiFi and then playing my streams directly to my speakers. The Wiim Ultra does all this and more. There's a very powerful DAC inside for one, so those digital tracks from the best music streaming services like Tidal and Qobuz sound extra good when I play them. Then there's the extra features on top. There's a subwoofer out if your amp doesn't have one for some extra low-end, a mode which lets you tune the sound of your HiFi system to your room, and even a phono pre-amp in case neither your turntable or your speakers have one. You can even plug your TV into it, so that you can play your movies over an older pair of speakers that lack eARC compatibility. It's my absolute favorite device of the year — and it looks like only the upcoming Wiim Amp Ultra is going to dethrone it from the top spot. This deal makes it a whole lot more tempting as well — if you want to add streaming to an older audio device that has an RCA connector or even a 3.5 input, this is the device to pick up. There are plenty more deals to be had this Prime Day — make sure you check out our Prime Day live blog to make sure you're staying on top of all the latest sales and offers.
Digital Trends
14-05-2025
- Digital Trends
Wiim's new Amp Ultra goes above and beyond its amplified streamers
Table of Contents Table of Contents No AirPlay Wiim Voice Remote 2 For those seeking the ultimate all-in-one network music streamer and two-channel stereo amplifier, Wiim might just have exactly what you want. Its new Wiim Amp Ultra, which debuts at the High End Munich 2025 show alongside its first wireless speaker (Wiim Sound) and Wiim Sub Pro wireless subwoofer, appears to be the company's award-winning Wiim Ultra, but packed with 100 watts of amplification and internal components that exceed the capabilities of Wiim's current Wiim Amp, Amp Pro, and Vibelink Amp, plus Dolby Digital decoding — a first for the Wiim lineup. Much like the Wiim Sound and Wiim Sub Pro, the company hasn't released pricing or availability for the Amp Ultra, saying only that it will be available in Q3 2025 through Amazon and select retail partners. However, given that the Wiim Amp Pro and Vibelink Amp both sell for $299, it's likely that the Amp Ultra will be more expensive, but by how much is hard to say — especially when tariffs are factored in. As you can see in these images, the Wiim Amp Ultra bears a very strong resemblance to the Wiim Ultra streamer, with a full color, 3.5-inch touchscreen, oversized volume knob/playback button, and a sleek aluminum chassis. Recommended Videos Around the back, the available ports look like a mashup of the Ultra's digital inputs (HDMI-ARC, optical, USB, and Ethernet), analog inputs (stereo RCA) and the Vibelink Amp's hybrid speaker terminals. Unlike the Vibelink Amp, the Amp Ultra picks up an analog subwoofer output, but sadly, it loses one of the Wiim Ultra's handiest features — the front-facing 3.5mm headphone jack. There's also no dedicated input for turntables. I guess you can't quite have it all yet. Inside, the Amp Ultra is nearly a carbon copy of the Vibelink Amp. It uses Post-Filter Feedback Technology (PFFT) with a 32-bit/384kHz ESS ES9039Q2M Sabre DAC and six TI OPA1612 op-amps. However the Amp Ultra get dual TI TPA3255 Class-D amp chips, compared to the Vibelink's single TPA3255. Like the Vibelink, the Amp Ultra can power a set of 8-ohm speakers with up to 100 watts per channel, and a pair of 4-ohm units with up to 200 watts. In both cases, you can wire up to two speakers per channel. On the streamer side of the equation, the Amp Ultra offers up all of the usual Wiim goodies, including: Google Cast Alexa Cast DLNA Spotify Connect Tidal Connect In-app access (via the Wiim Home app) to Spotify, Amazon Music, Tidal, Qobuz, and more Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant compatibility Wi-Fi 6E, two-way Bluetooth 5.3 with LE Audio Built-in room calibration Support for hi-res audio up to 24-bit/192kHz Parametric and graphic EQs No AirPlay It's notable that the Wiim Amp Ultra is now the fourth streaming music product from Wiim that lacks Apple AirPlay support. Neither Wiim nor Apple have offered any explanation, leaving us to guess as to what may have happened since the debut of the Wiim Amp, the last of the company's streamers to include Apple's wireless music protocol. For diehard audiophiles, the absence of AirPlay won't be a deal-breaker. AirPlay currently uses lossy compression, which deletes some information from audio sources to keep file sizes small. Those who care will choose Google Cast, Tidal Connect, DLNA, or Qobuz and Amazon Music from within the Wiim Home app to get truly lossless audio. Wiim Voice Remote 2 The Wiim Amp Pro will include Wiim's new Voice Remote 2, which debuted earlier in 2025. The Apple Sir remote clone, with its all aluminum construtcion is the perfect complement to the Amp Ultra and turns the streamer into an Amazon Alexa speaker via the built-in mic.
Digital Trends
14-05-2025
- Digital Trends
Wiim debuts the Sub Pro, its first wireless subwoofer
Wiim is on a tear right now. Alongside the reveal of its first wireless speaker, the Wiim Sound, and its new Amp Ultra, the wireless audio company has announced its first wireless subwoofer, the Wiim Sub Pro. It can connect wirelessly (or via a wire) to Wiim's network music streamers and amps, and the company says its 250-watt class D amp will faithfully reproduce frequencies down to 25Hz without distortion. Like its other two announcements, Wiim hasn't given us pricing or specific availability for the Sub Pro, saying only that it will be available starting in Q3 2025 on Amazon and at select retailers. Inside the glossy, piano black enclosure sits a down-firing, 8-inch driver that moves air through a large horizontal slot that runs right through the cabinet. The overall dimensions are 15.7 x 11.8 x 12.7 inches and it weighs in at 35.2 pounds — almost exactly the same as the first and second-gen Sonos Sub (36.3 pounds). Recommended Videos When used wirelessly with other Wiim components, the Sub Pro gets its audio via Wi-Fi 6E or Bluetooth 5.3. Alternatively, you can give it a more robust network connection via the 10/100 Ethernet jack. With an RCA analog input, you can run the Sub Pro directly from any soundbar or other component that has a dedicated sub output, while still controlling the sub's settings via the Wiim Home app. Speaking of the Wiim Home app, it not only provides precise EQ adjustments, crossover tuning, phase control, latency customization, and subwoofer level adjustments, but you can also access Wiim's 'RoomFit' AI-driven room calibration. This option uses your smartphone to take acoustic measurements and then adjusts bass to match room size, speaker placement, and listening position. I had a chance to hear the Sub Pro in action during a short demo in Markham, Ontario. It was wirelessly paired to a Wiim Amp Pro, which was powering a set of imposing Klipsch floorstanding Reference speakers. Given the Klipsch's already formidable low-end capabilities, it might not have been the ideal scenario for showing off the Sub Pro's bass chops, but it nonetheless added impressive amounts of extra oomph. The demo experienced a few connectivity hiccups, and I'm not entirely sure the room correction feature worked as intended, so I'll withhold judgement until I can try it in my own home, and with smaller speakers — perhaps the Wiim Sound. One thing's for sure: With the Sound, Sub Pro, and Amp Ultra, Wiim is edging ever closer to having a full set of Sonos alternatives in its wireless audio lineup. It wouldn't surprise me to see Wiim leverage the Sub Pro as it delves deeper into home theater territory. For those who love deeper specs, here's the official list: 250-watt class-D digital amplifier Driver size: 8 inches Sensitivity: 104 dB SPL, 1W@1m Frequency Range: 25-200 Hz, +/-3 dB for 30-200Hz Max Power: 250 watts, THD @1% Analog RCA mono input 10-band parametric EQ Automatic room correction Adjustable crossover frequency, level, phase, and latency Wi-Fi 6E, 250b/g/n/ac/ax 2.4 GHz, 5 GHz, and 6 GHz triple bands Bluetooth 5.3 with BT LE audio Ethernet, 10M/100 Mbps
