Wiim
Wiim has just given us a sneak peek at its next product: the Vibelink Amp. It’s a 100-watt-per-channel, two-channel amplifier that doesn’t have any streaming smarts built-in. Wiim unveiled the Vibelink Amp at the Bristol Hi-Fi Show.
For now, Wiim isn’t revealing many details. We know that it will get its official launch in March, but the company hasn’t said how much it will cost. In 2024, Wiim released the Amp Pro, a two-channel, 120-watt-per-channel amp with built-in streaming for $369, so that may give us a sense of where the Vibelink will end up — likely less than the Amp Pro given the Vibelink lacks streaming features.
Oddly, Wiim says that the Vibelink is “designed for high-fidelity sound across digital and analog sources,” but so far it has only told us about its digital compatibility: Wiim says there will be digitial optical and coaxial inputs, which work with a “wide range of variable sample rates and bit depths, ensuring maximum compatibility and audio flexibility.”
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The only official photo of the Vibelink Amp so far (above) shows that the device has the same footprint as the company’s flagship streamer, the Wiim Ultra, making it an ideal amplifier for people who either already own an Ultra or plan to create a system from scratch.
Wiim has been on a tear recently. In 2024, it launched the Ultra and Wiim Amp Pro, as well as the first Wiim-compatible wireless speakers in partnership with Audio Pro.
It’s quickly building an ecosystem of wireless and wired audio products that can compete with Sonos — at a time when Sonos is working through major upheavals that began with a botched app update in May 2024 that left many of its customers with limited functionality on their Sonos systems.
Wiim’s software reproduces many of the features found in the Sonos app, including universal search, while its advanced menu options provide far more tweaks for audiophiles.
Simon Cohen is a contributing editor to Digital Trends’ Audio/Video section, where he obsesses over the latest wireless…
Wiim Pro Plus streamer targets audiophiles with upgraded DAC
Fresh off its successes with the Wiim Mini and Wiim Pro, streaming device maker Linkplay is back with the Wiim Pro Plus. The $219 streamer looks identical to the $169 Wiim Pro, but offers several upgrades on the inside designed to make it more appealing to audio connoisseurs. The new streamer, which comes bundled with a voice-capable remote, is available starting August 8 on Amazon.
Like the Wiim Pro, the Wiim Pro Plus is designed to give your analog-only (or even your digital-capable) receiver or powered speakers a streaming upgrade. The small black box has analog inputs and ouputs, as well as two kinds of digital outputs, but the key to its utility is its ability to play music from a huge variety of sources, including streaming music services, your own personal collection of digital music, or (via its analog inputs) older sources like turntables and cassette decks.
Bluesound gives its Node streamer a new DAC/headphone amp for its 10th birthday
It has been 10 years since Bluesound debuted its Node wireless media streamer and to commemorate that event, the company has decided to release a limited-run anniversary edition of the device, known appropriately as the Node X. It looks almost identical to the regular Node, but headphone addicts will be quick to note the one difference: the Node’s 3.5mm headphone jack has been swapped with a quarter-inch output. And if you suspect that change is more than just about accommodating a larger plug, you’re right.
Bluesound says that the centrally-mounted headphone jack is powered by a THX Achromatic Audio Amplifier (AAA) — the same technology found in the $200 THX Onyx headphone DAC/amp — “with patented feed-forward error correction resulting in infinitesimally low levels of noise, distortion, and power consumption.”
Bose Music Amplifier takes a direct shot at the Sonos Amp
With no fanfare of any kind, not even a press release, Bose launched its Bose Music Amplifier in October 2022 — and we only just became aware of it. It’s hard to say why the company decided to take such a stealthy approach, except maybe it wanted all of the attention on its Smart Soundbar 600, which hit retail at the same time. One look at the Music Amplifier and its price ($699) and it’s immediately obvious that it has been designed as a direct competitor to the $699 Sonos Amp, as the similarities are unmistakable.
Like the Sonos Amp, the Bose Music Amplifier is an all-in-one wireless audio component for those who already own (or intend to buy) a set of wired speakers. In fact, as long as you don’t mind listening to the same thing, you can power two pairs of wired speakers from the Music Amplifier, like a set of ceiling speakers and a set of bookshelf units. With 125 watts per channel (same as the Sonos Amp), there should be plenty of power for two sets, as long as you pay attention to the impedance requirements: with a single set, no less than 4 ohms will work, but if you throw in that extra set, all four speakers should be no less than 8 ohms.
