I love love the WiiM amp. Roon/Tidal and Klipsch speakers and subwoofer. Beautiful!! Enjoy the music it’s very detailed and warm if you use it properly.
I think you nailed it Kelvin. In my opinion you gave your audience an accurate expectation of class D amps. Including, that it's still suitable for many peoples tastes. Class D amps are the most efficient amps by far (hence the bigger power in a smaller case) , however the class D topology has some innate compromises I'm not willing to sacrifice. The power supply and the amp are switching at very high frequency. This creates a lot of high frequency noise, which requires a lot of high frequency filtering with coils (inductors) at the output. It just doesn't get any better than pure class A amps for sound quality (although the least efficient amps), because there are no compromises. Other that dealing with the heat. All decent class A/B amp have a certain class A bias. If A/B amps get a little toasty, typically it's a good thing, because it means the amp has a higher class A bias (level of pure class A, before needing to switch to class A/B ). 2 watts of vocals are often plenty loud, but bass needs much more power. Before I carry on with never ending tangents, I'm going to go, "bathe in the music".
Two days ago I took the plunge into digital amplification. Just the power amp (Acoustic Reality eAR 202). Pre-amp is Rotel and speakers Kef102 and 105. Having been an audio nutter for 35 years. I was immediately impressed by the number of fine details. Over all I do not find it as impressive as the amps I use on a regular basis. Lots of details, but the stage seems flat, and the sounds are all "In your face" so to speak. The bass however is great. Tight and fast. Thank you for the great audio content. Down to earth, and with gear most can afford.
As long as anyone buying it takes the first step into realising what better equipment can do, it sounds like a great product. If you are amazed by what 350 can do, Imagine what 1000 can do etc...
That AU-317 is, in a word, Fabulous! I know because the one my uncle had, along with his SR-838 d/d ‘table set me STRAIGHT ON my own journey in stereo sound , from 1978 to NOW! I truly lament their passing. They were one of Japan’s premier manufacturers. Bar none!
Sanusi built some truly beautiful, powerful amps in the 70s and 80s. The AU-D9 and D11 sounded magnificent with big Tannoys, Sony SSG monitor speakers and Yamaha NS-1000s.
I have a Sansui AU-317 and I really wanted to sell it to buy a new amplifier and I was planning to buy this Wiim but now I will keep the Sansui especially since it is completely restored. I like your reviews very much. Good luck!
@@danielsimion5224 the Bluenode is much better,the only thing that puts me off is been tired to a mobile phone or tablet,that's the last thing I want.So will stick with my records,every song at my finger tips takes the magic away for me.The people I've met while out & about buying records & the knowledge I've received from people has been fantastic.
@@r423fplipI have vintage, modern analog and digital amps and none of them hide or reveal instruments. Noise floor must be pretty bad for you not to hear certain things.
I have a Sansui Au-417 I bought new in 1981. Recently had the power circuit rebuilt but the rest is original. I have the smsl su1 dac with Wiim pro streamer which sounds great through the Sansui. The sound is just full and deep as you say. I would like to recommend people give Buster Williams Uñalome album tracks 2 and 4 to hear the full spectrum of what a vintage amp can do. The bass will blow your mind for realistic reproduction. Thanks for your honest reviews.
Hi Kelvin,I've been staying away from streaming for a couple of years now,but with all this hifi silliness I keep thinking about getting a node.Ive just picked up a beautiful pioneer PL12D that should stop my itch for a couple of days😂 Great vid as usual.
My best test for determining the merits of an amp is to run a known vocal recording. For me that is Karen Carpenter. If what I hear has no harshness and sounds as though she's right there in the room, I know I've got the right amp.
A good one I’ve found is Lady Blackbird - Black Acid Soul. The LP is excellent too. Recently discovered the artist at Cranage in the Amphion/Hegel room.
Sound is everything as you say, Kelvin. Power doesn't count for much either - I seem to be dropping power every day! I've gone from an Arcam Alpha 10 power amp (100w) to a Leak Delta 70 (35w) to a Chinese push- pull tube kit (12w) to a single ended Chinese tube amp with just 5 watts, and it sounds fantastic with cheap Soviet 1960's tubes! The kit only cost £120, and half of that was shipping! Single ended amps sound amazing, detailed yet sweet, with tons of bass too. Drive my LS7's and ProAcs easy, most people don't realise how much power is really needed to listen at normal levels, much lower than you realise. Only hard to drive modern speakers need some watts to drive them. The amp was from AliExpress from the Lyele Audio Store, uses 6p6p tubes, which are equivalent to 6v6gt tubes. It sounded good with the cheap Chinese tubes, but you can get new old stock Soviet 6v6 tubes off Ebay from Ukraine for about £20 for a matched pair, and the sound is remarkable from these 60's tubes. Apparently the Russians made really good tubes, they had a deal with RCA in the 30's and they shared their technology. If you can solder, go for one of these amps, no missing parts and clear instructions.
To say the amp only cost £60 before tax and shipping, it's great if you can do a little soldering. They do several types of this amp with different tubes, so quite a few choices.
I have the wiim amp. It's a fun little toy. The eq helps and I love the highpass filter. I'm keeping it for a pre amp just incase I get some power hungry speakers. It's a good start to hifi. Funny thing is I had my sansui au417 in rotation when I got the wiim. No comparison. To be fair I'm a sansui fan boy now.
Sitting here in Corfu, roasting me conkers listening to music on Sony WF-C500 (cheap earbuds) and a JBL charge 3. Modern cheap stuff for sea and sangria but nice old vintage amps for home listening. The convenience is great but I think they focus more on this than the actual sound. Another great review, thanks for sharing.
I use it in my bedroom system with triangle bro3. It's pretty good. It could probably be better but I had to mount my speakers on wall mount which is never really ideal. Room correction is cool. It doesn't sound anywhere near as good as my bowers 705S2 with audiolab 9000a.
Detail isn't about exaggerating sharp edges... overshoot on square waves can give that effect. Detail is about the separation of instruments without strain when the music gets busy while staying composed without smearing or falling apart. It's about reproducing the timbre and harmonic content in a way that sounds life like and true to the source. I've not heard this particular streamer/amp but I have heard a few others I was not impressed with over long term listening. It's long term listening satisfaction that separates a great amplifier from the others that can't pass that test of time.
Hi Kelvin. I'm new to your channel and I'm really enjoying it. Thanks for all the work. I've just changed my set up from two rooms to one room. Got rid of my Cambridge Audio 640A and my Monitor Audio S1 shelf speakers and B4 floor speakers. Replaced them with a Sansui Au555a and Monitor Audio SR6 speakers. Sounds great to my ears. Must have watched 20 hours of your videos in the last week ... thanks for the guidance.
WE LOVE YOU BECAUSE YOU ALWAYS SAY WHAT. DIGITAL PEOPLE WILL NOT SAY. OLD BJT ANALOG SOUNDS WARM AND COMFORTING AND ALSO DETAIL. DIGITAL BASS IS ALL ONE NOTE COLD BASS
One thing to keep in mind ... Class-D is *NOT* digital. It got the designation as the next letter in the alphabet after A, AB, B and C. The way these amplifiers work is through pulse width modulation. The audio signal is used to modulate a high frequency carrier, by changing the width of the pulses. The amplified signal is then recovered by filtering out the carrier ... all done in the analog realm.
The answer is a Tube pre paired with a class D amp. Best of both worlds, the grip and control of class D with the spacial harmonics and tube bloom on top
I think you have missed the point that the watt is a defined unit of power. If measured in the way I previously described, it will result in consistent value. What the manufacturers do is quote output power using a different standard that inflates the numbers. But look at how the power output is standardised as RMS into 8 or 4 ohm load. That measurement is constant today as it was 20 or 40 years ago. What you need to say is this amplifier is rated at XXX but sounds much more powerful. What you are referring to is the perceived sound level, which can be affected by many other variables .
FWIW ... the TPA3255 chip is fully capable of 300watts per channel at 4 ohms, but in most of these amplifiers it is limited to about 130 watts or so because of the poor cooling solutions used in fully enclosed cases.
@Douglas_Blake_579 that is the maximum potential capability of once it is implanted in a design it's power output will be dependent on the power supply and load. When you measure it's power output it will 30 or 50 watts RMS or whatever that will not change unless you modify it in some fashion.
@@The-Chrystalmachine Correct. What these companies are quoting is the chip's Absolute Maximum rating. My point is the _chip_ can do that, but the amplifiers using it cannot. As you correctly point out the limits in these mini-amps is the power supply. The chip will work at 48 volts but requires a much more extensive cooling solution than is possible in these little cases. (Think CPU style cooler with a fan). The Wiim Amp outputs about 60 watts per channel on 8 ohms (110 on 4) ... which is about what I would expect from a 36 volt supply. It will produce enough power for almost any home application, but not so much as to require a massive cooling effort.
Honestly, modern HiFi gives me "oversharpen photo taken by phone" vibe. While older amps give me "film photo" vibe. With natural smoothness. I believe that there's something (in older amps) that wraps all the instruments and gives an impression of wholeness of the sound. Instrument separation is smoother and gives it (spatial) volume. While modern amps instrument separation is much more pronounced but sole instruments sound flat. If I imagine how that sound looks like (Synesthesia) I imagine a modern-amp-soundstage as a pop-up book with all instruments 2D and paper cut-outs.
If you don’t like the high fidelity presentation of modern class d amplification, you should pair them with some classic acoustic suspension loudspeakers. The muddy old AR’s need to be driven hard but will reward with phenomenal bass performance hung on the end of a class d output. I’m also not sure your LS3/5a speakers will be a good impedance match for the output filter of the class d amplifier. You should probably review modern gear in the context of a modern system (which may not necessarily mean source component, analog input amplifier, loudspeaker cables to passive loudspeakers). The problem you’ve got here is that you are using technically superior modern equipment capable of high resolution and flat frequency response with old loudspeakers that had response curves tailored to make up for inadequacies of the source components and amplifiers of their time. They had lf and hf emphasis to attempt to fill in what was lacking in the contemporary matching equipment. Therefore you experience harshness. Conversely the modern, flat output loudspeaker will appear to sound dull when paired with your dynamically limited and response curve inaccurate older gear.
Its so true what you say about sound Quality. Specs mean nothing. I have the bigger brother of this Sansui, the AU417 and I honestly agree with you regarding your sound quality observations, it has a warm sound signature but it's still detailed in the mids and highs, with a punchy beefy bottom end. I've compared it directly to a Harman/Kardon, Yamaha and Cambridge Audio. The Cambridge Audio is the closest to the Sansui but still quite different, a slightly more 'digital' sound as you would put it. The H/K was super super smooth but it felt like some detail was missing. As for the Yamaha, it was a clear last, just a dry sound with chesty lower mids. It did not excel in any area. The worst part is, it has the best Specs and I bought the Yamaha purely on Specs, ....Big mistake, I learnt my lesson from that. I've now sold the Yammy and the H/K will probably be next to go.
What I noticed, starting from the 70s, is that hifi started more and more losing the full harmonic body of the acoustic instruments in favour of hi detail. This caused the loss of ambience and nature of the sound. I love 3D natural and real life sound of what I consider the golden era of hifi: the 60s and the apogee of the tube evolution. Full bodied and real sound. The first generation of transistors was still ok, but then... Listening mainly to classical and jazz music, I like to compare the magic of 3D sound to the stereograms that we liked to look at during the eighties: there's a music carpet and then, suddenly and unexpected the image appears and solidifies in front of your eyes. So difficult to reach that in hifi reproduction but when it happens it's magic.
Another great review, Kelvin. The same goes for tuners; I'm an avid radio listener. Detail may be seducing at first, but where's the depth? And the soundstage? Keep up the excellent work.
So the Wiim sounds like an amp with the “loudness” button? Even though the Sansui is not a tube amp, warm and not shrill. Maybe next time mention the music used, thanks!
@@stereoreviewx lol, I know I tried the basic streamer and thought what am I doing and sent it back as it was no better than an old android phone running Plex with a decent Dac. But I do have high hope for the ultra. I’ll let you know.
Hi Kelvin, I have more then10 vintage amps Leak tube, Sansui 221, Nad ....with Harbeth and Rogers speakers using Iphone 4. I like the sound. I tried new Leak amp with dac and sent it back. Tried IFI nano dac, sent back.Why you are still keeping blue sound node 2.0 streamer DAC …as it just 5 percent better from Iphone5 as you sad in one video? Thanks
@relaxvideomusic I only play vinyl can I ask you a question do you run your I phone straight into your amplifier or via a dac I would like to listen to see how good streaming is thanks
@@michaelvincent8306 Hi, I run my I phone straight into amp ,dac has i phone which i like. For 45 years exp amp is important but next thinks how vinyl is mastering, some vinyl can be worse then Spotify, All dac which i tried just make more details just splitting instruments and vocal goes to background I like one clean voice in front.
It's always about the sound, of course. But the Wiim app has all this equalization and I gather people have fiddled their way to pretty good sound. Did you try any of that?
it would be good if you told which album/recording you are listening to when you describe the sound. Many old recordings are thin in sound and will sound thin on a good modern system. Old amps have their own sound and are better at hiding bad recordings.
Good afternoon from Toronto Kevin☕️ Great quick breakdown of what they all bring to the party. Personally ,I run the Wiim Pro feeding a Denafrips DAC …and it’s damn nice . Very hard to make a great streamer and equally hard to make a great pre amplifier and amplifier…for that price . So I guess (IMHO) get a Wiim for the streamer and the software/app and get a beter chain of DAC and amplification. Cheers 🍻
Strange - In this comparison, you are also describing the difference between my new 217 Sansui and my favorite San 4000. Run dead flat on tone , the 217 sounds tinny compared to the richness of my 4000.You come closer backing off the 217 treble 2 notches, the 217 bass is fine. All in all ,the 4000 is just more realistic, warm and enjoyable then the 217. The 217 compares well to my 5000 and pioneer units - nice unit. I seem to have a special 4000. myonly criticism of the 4000 is it does not seem to have the Punch of other units - but the Punch is actually a bit of distortion. Am dying for you to find a good 4000 and see if mine is typical.
@@stereoreviewx After playing my 217 for 3 days, it is sounding different - better! I am still comparing it to my 4000. At first both bass and treble were exaggerated on flat position. I thought it may be my ears adjusting to it, but it definitely sounds closer to the 4000 after a total of 12hours playing - on and off. Have you ever seen this? The 5000 started sounding closer to the 4000 too after a couple of days. maybe components have to warm up for a while , to be in spec, but warming up for 3 days on and off seems weird. . Neither unit had been used in a while when I got them. I'm sure its not just my ears. Thanks for your input - we are similar people, in that we "obsess" about HiFi.
@@stereoreviewx Love your vids - you are the reason I started collecting Sansui ! I got an A/B switch and did critical comparison of my 217 and 4000. On neutral studio headphones, with tone controls flat, the 217 had the edge because of the innately brighter sound. On my big Cerwin Vega 120s, the 4000 won easily. Vocals were warmer amd more natural. You could really hear the character and warmth in Justin Hayward;s voice on the album Seventh Sojourn. it wasnt there on the 217. Kicking in the Loudness on the 217 helped a lot , but thats cheating lol . The sound stage and imaging were close - the imaging seemed slightly better on the 217, but thats because of its high frequency boost. My hearing is ok - 10000 hz limit.. I remember the 60s tube sound. If I didnt know otherwise, I'd swear the 4000 was a tube receiver. I'm selling my other stuff - Pioneer and Sansui, and plan to get another 4000 and compare when I get the funds. Thanks for sharing your knowledge and experience.
i am a NAD fanboy but would be very interested to try an AU317 if i could find one in serviced condition, i always buy seviced and/or recapped models to ensure good working condition, also to widen the search Kelvin are there any alternative Sansui models that offer the same quality?
Thanks really good video.. I put a nice rotel power amp from around 1999 .. up against a class a ..Sony power amp from the early 80s .. the Sony is darker sounding.less detail.but has alot more depth and scale than the rotel.. I prefer the sony
Details, details and details but a sterile "skinny" sound with no body and over $300.00, not for me. Just yesterday, at a street fair, I picked up a Pioneer SX3600 for $20.00, yes 20 $'s, in very good condition and working well. It's at my trusty tech for a cleanup and then I can add a streamer and connect it to just about anything for a fraction of the price. Of course, some "details" will be lost, but does it really matter? Great video!
This is like comparing apples with pears. Comparing a Class AB amp (Sansui non-streaming) with a Class D amp (Wiim streaming). What is the point? All these devices are made in a certain price range and for a certain market and not comparable with each other.
@@stereoreviewx I think your ears are biased after all these years with the better equipment. Nothing wrong with that. But i think the novice audio listener won’t hear what you and i hear. I am going to order one next to my Leak Stereo 130 myself just so see what is up with this thing. I can always send it back. 😉
I felt the same. But I went from an Arcam a39 to a valve preamp and a 600wpc class D power amp. That combo of 1960s/ 1970s valves with ultimate power behind it is intoxicating. My phono stage is purely valve based as well. I'm 40 years into buying equipment and the class D power amp was a real epiphany moment. Every single component sounded like it had been upgraded. I would really love to try pure valve mono blocks but I am very very happy with my amplification and it will drive most speakers. My first experiment was a BRZHIFI X10 with a reported 150wpc based on TPA3255 chips around £80 when I bought it. After hearing it I sold the Arcam to rethink my audio journey.
Hi kevin, i really enjoy your take on vintage, hi fi. In the end the message is to buy what you enjoy listening to, not what anybody else tells you to. But one thing that annoys me is your referring to watts being measured differently today. I think the confusion comes from manufacturers who used different methods to measure or quote power outputs such as peak or pmpo. Most reputable manufacturers have always used RMS figures. These have been measured by RMS voltage output into a fixed resistive load with a maximum distortion level of 0.01 percent. This power measurement method has remained constant it is no different today than it was in 1970. Sorry, this is just one of those common misunderstandings of the science of audio that i find irritating.
would you think manufactures found a way to print higher watts than previously . that would be a big plus for selling gear people think watts are everything
@@stereoreviewx I think in the end watts is watts like has been said above, (at least into a resistive load), but a lot of good Vintage amps like the Sansui are sort of over engineered with beefy power supplies etc. and as a result , deliver those watts more effortlessly into complex non resistive speaker loads. IMO that makes the amp 'sound' more powerful. That's my thoughts anyway.
Detail is useless without harmonics, tone, PRaT, grip, transients, depth, scale, dynamics. It sounds like it’s the same sound as the wiim streamers, detailed and thin.
U don't need to switch your picture from big too small, please keep it the way it was before.. No need for these effects... We love your channel the way it is..
Most younger people did not grow up with hifi, a Phone and a litle Bluetooth speaker is their reference. This will be a step up for them. I had several younger family members listen to my vintage Luxman gear and speakers. They were shocked, were does the sound come from, i don't see a soundbar in the middle or a bass box. Is al this sound coming from these big ugly worden boxes? YES
For me modern hifi sounds like this- artificial and to perfect. It's like instruments are processed to much and vocals the same. On my vintage setups I just increase treble for more detail 😄
I have the same reaction when listening to modern _music_ . We need to be careful not to attribute different recording mixes to our hardware. For me the ultimate test is when a system can reproduce the flaws in the recording as well as the music. There has been more than one occasion where I've been called in to service a system because "This song sounds bad" ... Of course, if the rest of the music sounds okay, it's the song not the electronics at fault.
This is not a bargain! I am sorry. If it doesn’t pull on your heartstrings, it will end up as landfill eventually. You know very well that decent old AB amps can be found around £100 on the used market. Just add a streamer DAC and be done.
I don’t like any class D amplifier. I think they all sound thin on the top end often quite fatiguing and to be honest I have always wondered how most companies get away with the power ratings that they claim on the class D amp. I’ve got friends with some very expensive gear one of my mates has got a very expensive class D amplifier and streamer and I don’t like it a few of my other mates that are really into audio. Also think it sounds a bit thin and fatiguing. I think the only time a class D amplifier sounds good is when it’s being put through EQ and there’s nothing wrong with that at all but all the shouting about people do about these amplifiers. The only way that a lot of people that I know can get them to sound good is by EQ by bringing the top down a little bit and popping a little bit more low end in there . give me a class A class AB any day you can stick your modern stuff don’t want it.
Hi Kelvin I recently bought a modern Rotel amp in case my old Linn intek broke down but I didn't like the sound at all too digital to my ears so I passed it on to my son .
Wow ... interesting. No problem with you disliking the WIIM Amp. But a lot of people will disagree with you. The question is... is it because the Sansui is what you're used to hearing and the added detail of the WIIM feels a bit uncomfortable? ... I love vintage stuff, I've had plenty in my day. But with the modern Class D ... especially amps based on the TPA3255 chip ... I find the accuracy of them very pleasing. Older amps are understandably slower than modern ones, in terms of "slew rate" (the max speed at which the output voltage changes) and lack a bit in "transient response" (the maximum output from short pulses, like snare shots). This does tend to make them sound a bit gentler to the ear, which is understandably more pleasing. But the new guys are far more accurate with less distortion, hence the increased detail. The devil you know vs the one you don't?
People who disagree probs never owned a decent amp. It appears to be lacking in a few areas by the sounds of it. But, to be fair, it does well for its price at the moment. No match for a vintage exposure xv or something similar I would imagine. Entry level class D has rubbish tonality in my opinion, thin, squarky, poor harmonics, flat sounding, plenty of detail and grip but it ends there. I think some people can get swayed too much by the wow factor of bass grip and detail and forget about all the other crucial aspects of the sound. Lets be honest though, its cheap as chips so its not going to be anything spectacular but great for an all in one first unit to get into the hobby.
Anyone who thinks cheap Class D amps are capable of the sheer tonal beauty, musicality, spatial expansion, realism and musicality of the best tube amps, Class A/B or Class A amps, simply can't hear. And people who can't "hear" are the first ones, (of all people!) to try to find probleme with other people's sensory perception. Kelvin CAN HEAR, and he can seriously evaluate too, in a very accurate manner, as I'm sure just about every viewer of this channel realizes and knows. Don't let someone who can't hear, make you have any doubts whatsover about what you know you hear. Or what Kelvin knows he hears; as a very experienced and great evaluator. Some of these these people, like the OP of this comment, wouldn't be able to tell the difference between the finest Stradavarius violin ever made and a violin made of cheap plywood.
That stuff about all the older stuff sounding slow is wrong. For example, the Electrocompaniet amp which was popularin the1980s had a rise time in the nanoseconds. With mediocre examples of Class D it is more synthetic edge,like bad digital, than edge from speed.
The most important thing is the sound...but aesthetic too and those 2 boxes are ugly as hell...it's incredible how more beautiful is the vintage gear compared to the newer stuff.
I love love the WiiM amp. Roon/Tidal and Klipsch speakers and subwoofer. Beautiful!! Enjoy the music it’s very detailed and warm if you use it properly.
I think you nailed it Kelvin. In my opinion you gave your audience an accurate expectation of class D amps. Including, that it's still suitable for many peoples tastes. Class D amps are the most efficient amps by far (hence the bigger power in a smaller case) , however the class D topology has some innate compromises I'm not willing to sacrifice. The power supply and the amp are switching at very high frequency. This creates a lot of high frequency noise, which requires a lot of high frequency filtering with coils (inductors) at the output.
It just doesn't get any better than pure class A amps for sound quality (although the least efficient amps), because there are no compromises. Other that dealing with the heat. All decent class A/B amp have a certain class A bias. If A/B amps get a little toasty, typically it's a good thing, because it means the amp has a higher class A bias (level of pure class A, before needing to switch to class A/B ). 2 watts of vocals are often plenty loud, but bass needs much more power. Before I carry on with never ending tangents, I'm going to go, "bathe in the music".
Best hifi channel out total hifi chat with no bs
I followed your advice and am now the happy owner of the Sansui au317 Nad3020 & Rogers. Thanks Kelvin, always interesting reviews
Thanks for your interesting, informative and honest review Kelvin. Much appreciated.
Two days ago I took the plunge into digital amplification. Just the power amp (Acoustic Reality eAR 202). Pre-amp is Rotel and speakers Kef102 and 105.
Having been an audio nutter for 35 years. I was immediately impressed by the number of fine details. Over all I do not find it as impressive as the amps I use on a regular basis. Lots of details, but the stage seems flat, and the sounds are all "In your face" so to speak. The bass however is great. Tight and fast.
Thank you for the great audio content. Down to earth, and with gear most can afford.
As long as anyone buying it takes the first step into realising what better equipment can do, it sounds like a great product.
If you are amazed by what 350 can do, Imagine what 1000 can do etc...
That AU-317 is, in a word, Fabulous! I know because the one my uncle had, along with his SR-838 d/d ‘table set me STRAIGHT ON my own journey in stereo sound , from 1978 to NOW! I truly lament their passing. They were one of Japan’s premier manufacturers. Bar none!
Great video Kelvin. An honest review and opinion.
Sanusi built some truly beautiful, powerful amps in the 70s and 80s.
The AU-D9 and D11 sounded magnificent with big Tannoys, Sony SSG monitor speakers and Yamaha NS-1000s.
I have a Sansui AU-317 and I really wanted to sell it to buy a new amplifier and I was planning to buy this Wiim but now I will keep the Sansui especially since it is completely restored. I like your reviews very much. Good luck!
@@danielsimion5224 the Bluenode is much better,the only thing that puts me off is been tired to a mobile phone or tablet,that's the last thing I want.So will stick with my records,every song at my finger tips takes the magic away for me.The people I've met while out & about buying records & the knowledge I've received from people has been fantastic.
No way don’t sell that amp
yeah don't sell it you can also use just use power amp and get a good pre amp for an upgrade
Sell it.
Don’t do that ! You have the best amplifier brand of the world !
the sansui looks great
Detail = elevated treble.
yes but thing is class d amps bring a new type of description problem all of there own
That's not true, it measures flat. It's down to the very low noise floor. Something vintage amps have not got .
@@r423fplipI have vintage, modern analog and digital amps and none of them hide or reveal instruments. Noise floor must be pretty bad for you not to hear certain things.
I have a Sansui Au-417 I bought new in 1981. Recently had the power circuit rebuilt but the rest is original. I have the smsl su1 dac with Wiim pro streamer which sounds great through the Sansui. The sound is just full and deep as you say. I would like to recommend people give Buster Williams Uñalome album tracks 2 and 4 to hear the full spectrum of what a vintage amp can do. The bass will blow your mind for realistic reproduction. Thanks for your honest reviews.
Hi Kelvin,I've been staying away from streaming for a couple of years now,but with all this hifi silliness I keep thinking about getting a node.Ive just picked up a beautiful pioneer PL12D that should stop my itch for a couple of days😂
Great vid as usual.
truly i am nốt highly experienced with streamers not sure how the node compares generally
In ~1974 my dad had a pl12d, a pioneer receiver and wharfedale speakers, sounded much better than the stereogram it replaced 😂 happy days...
My best test for determining the merits of an amp is to run a known vocal recording. For me that is Karen Carpenter. If what I hear has no harshness and sounds as though she's right there in the room, I know I've got the right amp.
If you can find recordings that aren't auto-tuned, yes the human voice is an excellent test metric.
Agreed, the best test.
@masudaharris6435 the best midrange of any woman ever
Harry Bellafonte at Carnegie hall
A good one I’ve found is Lady Blackbird - Black Acid Soul. The LP is excellent too. Recently discovered the artist at Cranage in the Amphion/Hegel room.
Class D amps sounds like soundbars, I still do prefer an old school stereo amp and an external DAC. Great content, thank you. 🙏🏻
Thanks Kelvin- straight to the point. I much prefer my old school valves and nad 3020. God bless you
Sound is everything as you say, Kelvin. Power doesn't count for much either - I seem to be dropping power every day! I've gone from an Arcam Alpha 10 power amp (100w) to a Leak Delta 70 (35w) to a Chinese push- pull tube kit (12w) to a single ended Chinese tube amp with just 5 watts, and it sounds fantastic with cheap Soviet 1960's tubes! The kit only cost £120, and half of that was shipping! Single ended amps sound amazing, detailed yet sweet, with tons of bass too. Drive my LS7's and ProAcs easy, most people don't realise how much power is really needed to listen at normal levels, much lower than you realise. Only hard to drive modern speakers need some watts to drive them.
The amp was from AliExpress from the Lyele Audio Store, uses 6p6p tubes, which are equivalent to 6v6gt tubes. It sounded good with the cheap Chinese tubes, but you can get new old stock Soviet 6v6 tubes off Ebay from Ukraine for about £20 for a matched pair, and the sound is remarkable from these 60's tubes. Apparently the Russians made really good tubes, they had a deal with RCA in the 30's and they shared their technology. If you can solder, go for one of these amps, no missing parts and clear instructions.
Just curious what make of Chinese tube amp you have...as many look quite interesting ....but only a few get reviewed!
yeah loads of Chinese stuff so tempting and cheap one day will take the plunge
To say the amp only cost £60 before tax and shipping, it's great if you can do a little soldering. They do several types of this amp with different tubes, so quite a few choices.
I have the wiim amp. It's a fun little toy. The eq helps and I love the highpass filter. I'm keeping it for a pre amp just incase I get some power hungry speakers. It's a good start to hifi. Funny thing is I had my sansui au417 in rotation when I got the wiim. No comparison. To be fair I'm a sansui fan boy now.
hard not to be Sansui fan boy
Sitting here in Corfu, roasting me conkers listening to music on Sony WF-C500 (cheap earbuds) and a JBL charge 3. Modern cheap stuff for sea and sangria but nice old vintage amps for home listening.
The convenience is great but I think they focus more on this than the actual sound.
Another great review, thanks for sharing.
The venerable AU-317. Love this real life talk about HIFI,
In "EARS WE TRUST!"
Strange to call it Hifi. That stand's for high fidelity. People pay thousands on cables, that do absolutely nothing.
Another great review , you should bring out a quick vid midweek as well Kelvin 😁
Hmm. Pretty much as expected!
I use it in my bedroom system with triangle bro3. It's pretty good. It could probably be better but I had to mount my speakers on wall mount which is never really ideal. Room correction is cool. It doesn't sound anywhere near as good as my bowers 705S2 with audiolab 9000a.
Detail isn't about exaggerating sharp edges... overshoot on square waves can give that effect. Detail is about the separation of instruments without strain when the music gets busy while staying composed without smearing or falling apart. It's about reproducing the timbre and harmonic content in a way that sounds life like and true to the source. I've not heard this particular streamer/amp but I have heard a few others I was not impressed with over long term listening. It's long term listening satisfaction that separates a great amplifier from the others that can't pass that test of time.
Hi Kelvin. I'm new to your channel and I'm really enjoying it. Thanks for all the work. I've just changed my set up from two rooms to one room. Got rid of my Cambridge Audio 640A and my Monitor Audio S1 shelf speakers and B4 floor speakers. Replaced them with a Sansui Au555a and Monitor Audio SR6 speakers. Sounds great to my ears. Must have watched 20 hours of your videos in the last week ... thanks for the guidance.
no problem au 555 is a different world to modern amps
Allways genuine truthfull❤
🙋♂️ THANKS KELVIN,FOR AGAIN MAKING COMPARISONS BETWEEN OLD AND NEW KITS 🤔💚💚💚
WE LOVE YOU BECAUSE YOU ALWAYS SAY WHAT. DIGITAL PEOPLE WILL NOT SAY. OLD BJT ANALOG SOUNDS WARM AND COMFORTING AND ALSO DETAIL. DIGITAL BASS IS ALL ONE NOTE COLD BASS
Hell Ye a brand new audio term HUMANE !thanks man!
Great honest review as always kelvin 👍
Hi another great video. As I remember that sansui did a great deal in its day was sr 222 . Regards mark
yes remember that
One thing to keep in mind ... Class-D is *NOT* digital. It got the designation as the next letter in the alphabet after A, AB, B and C.
The way these amplifiers work is through pulse width modulation. The audio signal is used to modulate a high frequency carrier, by changing the width of the pulses. The amplified signal is then recovered by filtering out the carrier ... all done in the analog realm.
good info thanks
Please keep reviews like this coming, I'm waiting for the day when you may like a class d amp, I'm not holding my breath though 😉
breath in
The answer is a Tube pre paired with a class D amp.
Best of both worlds, the grip and control of class D with the spacial harmonics and tube bloom on top
intersting
I think you have missed the point that the watt is a defined unit of power.
If measured in the way I previously described, it will result in consistent value.
What the manufacturers do is quote output power using a different standard that inflates the numbers.
But look at how the power output is standardised as RMS into 8 or 4 ohm load.
That measurement is constant today as it was 20 or 40 years ago.
What you need to say is this amplifier is rated at XXX but sounds much more powerful.
What you are referring to is the perceived sound level, which can be affected by many other variables .
FWIW ... the TPA3255 chip is fully capable of 300watts per channel at 4 ohms, but in most of these amplifiers it is limited to about 130 watts or so because of the poor cooling solutions used in fully enclosed cases.
@Douglas_Blake_579 that is the maximum potential capability of once it is implanted in a design it's power output will be dependent on the power supply and load.
When you measure it's power output it will 30 or 50 watts RMS or whatever that will not change unless you modify it in some fashion.
@@The-Chrystalmachine
Correct. What these companies are quoting is the chip's Absolute Maximum rating.
My point is the _chip_ can do that, but the amplifiers using it cannot. As you correctly point out the limits in these mini-amps is the power supply. The chip will work at 48 volts but requires a much more extensive cooling solution than is possible in these little cases. (Think CPU style cooler with a fan).
The Wiim Amp outputs about 60 watts per channel on 8 ohms (110 on 4) ... which is about what I would expect from a 36 volt supply. It will produce enough power for almost any home application, but not so much as to require a massive cooling effort.
ok
Yes Kelvin that got a little more involved than I intended.
I hope it made some sense in the end.
Bluetooth is the troublemaker. Good Dac and a solid amp. In my case a lot of old amps! (own a few you have). It's all good either way!
timing and detail suffer from bluetooth transmission
Great review as usual 😊
I'd love to see you review marantz model m1.😊
Honestly, modern HiFi gives me "oversharpen photo taken by phone" vibe.
While older amps give me "film photo" vibe. With natural smoothness.
I believe that there's something (in older amps) that wraps all the instruments and gives an impression of wholeness of the sound. Instrument separation is smoother and gives it (spatial) volume.
While modern amps instrument separation is much more pronounced but sole instruments sound flat. If I imagine how that sound looks like (Synesthesia) I imagine a modern-amp-soundstage as a pop-up book with all instruments 2D and paper cut-outs.
nice one
US here - Had to look up Welly lol - great term!
I have this amp sounds better once room correction is used and using a rega turntable as my source.
If you don’t like the high fidelity presentation of modern class d amplification, you should pair them with some classic acoustic suspension loudspeakers. The muddy old AR’s need to be driven hard but will reward with phenomenal bass performance hung on the end of a class d output.
I’m also not sure your LS3/5a speakers will be a good impedance match for the output filter of the class d amplifier. You should probably review modern gear in the context of a modern system (which may not necessarily mean source component, analog input amplifier, loudspeaker cables to passive loudspeakers). The problem you’ve got here is that you are using technically superior modern equipment capable of high resolution and flat frequency response with old loudspeakers that had response curves tailored to make up for inadequacies of the source components and amplifiers of their time. They had lf and hf emphasis to attempt to fill in what was lacking in the contemporary matching equipment. Therefore you experience harshness. Conversely the modern, flat output loudspeaker will appear to sound dull when paired with your dynamically limited and response curve inaccurate older gear.
Its so true what you say about sound Quality. Specs mean nothing. I have the bigger brother of this Sansui, the AU417 and I honestly agree with you regarding your sound quality observations, it has a warm sound signature but it's still detailed in the mids and highs, with a punchy beefy bottom end. I've compared it directly to a Harman/Kardon, Yamaha and Cambridge Audio. The Cambridge Audio is the closest to the Sansui but still quite different, a slightly more 'digital' sound as you would put it. The H/K was super super smooth but it felt like some detail was missing. As for the Yamaha, it was a clear last, just a dry sound with chesty lower mids. It did not excel in any area. The worst part is, it has the best Specs and I bought the Yamaha purely on Specs, ....Big mistake, I learnt my lesson from that. I've now sold the Yammy and the H/K will probably be next to go.
yes never enjoyed or paid attention to Yamaha
What I noticed, starting from the 70s, is that hifi started more and more losing the full harmonic body of the acoustic instruments in favour of hi detail. This caused the loss of ambience and nature of the sound. I love 3D natural and real life sound of what I consider the golden era of hifi: the 60s and the apogee of the tube evolution. Full bodied and real sound. The first generation of transistors was still ok, but then...
Listening mainly to classical and jazz music, I like to compare the magic of 3D sound to the stereograms that we liked to look at during the eighties: there's a music carpet and then, suddenly and unexpected the image appears and solidifies in front of your eyes. So difficult to reach that in hifi reproduction but when it happens it's magic.
Thanks.Good channel.
Another great review, Kelvin. The same goes for tuners; I'm an avid radio listener. Detail may be seducing at first, but where's the depth? And the soundstage? Keep up the excellent work.
High kelvin you should do a review on a WiiM pro streamer it’s not bad
I'm probably going to get a Wiim streamer, but I'm not keen on the idea of class D amps.
@amok281
Be better to get a Cambridge Audio MXN10 Music Streamer than Wiim Music Streamer
@@Music.Movies.671000% I moved from a wiim pro to mxn10, huge difference, made the wiim sound pathetic and wimpy.
@@amok281It's much better to get the bluesound node cex online usually have them pre owned with a 24 month warranty
Could be worth trying it with different pre amplifiers
No. And thank you for saying so, against the Sansui. I don’t have a Sansui, but I shall keep my old Akai.😊
The problem with Class D amps is that the chips are run at too low a voltage to deliver serious low end, they run out of headroom too soon.
sounds right
So the Wiim sounds like an amp with the “loudness” button? Even though the Sansui is not a tube amp, warm and not shrill. Maybe next time mention the music used, thanks!
Hi Kelvin,
Will you be trying the Wiim ultra streamer?
I don't think I've got the enthusiasm😂
@@stereoreviewx lol, I know I tried the basic streamer and thought what am I doing and sent it back as it was no better than an old android phone running Plex with a decent Dac.
But I do have high hope for the ultra.
I’ll let you know.
Hi Kelvin, I have more then10 vintage amps Leak tube, Sansui 221, Nad ....with Harbeth and Rogers speakers using Iphone 4. I like the sound. I tried new Leak amp with dac and sent it back. Tried IFI nano dac, sent back.Why you are still keeping
blue sound node 2.0 streamer DAC …as it just 5 percent better from Iphone5 as you sad in one video? Thanks
@relaxvideomusic I only play vinyl can I ask you a question do you run your I phone straight into your amplifier or via a dac I would like to listen to see how good streaming is thanks
@@michaelvincent8306 Hi, I run my I phone straight into amp ,dac has i phone which i like. For 45 years exp amp is important but next thinks how vinyl is mastering, some vinyl can be worse then Spotify, All dac which i tried just make more details just splitting instruments and vocal goes to background I like one clean voice in front.
well it is better now I m gonna check it for fun
@relaxvideomusic much appreciated thanks Mike
It's always about the sound, of course. But the Wiim app has all this equalization and I gather people have fiddled their way to pretty good sound.
Did you try any of that?
I did not working good from what I found
You should compare some new class AB amps like from Denon, Yamaha, Marantz with the vintage amps you have
Noted!
it would be good if you told which album/recording you are listening to when you describe the sound. Many old recordings are thin in sound and will sound thin on a good modern system. Old amps have their own sound and are better at hiding bad recordings.
interesting points
Good afternoon from Toronto Kevin☕️
Great quick breakdown of what they all bring to the party.
Personally ,I run the Wiim Pro feeding a Denafrips DAC …and it’s damn nice .
Very hard to make a great streamer and equally hard to make a great pre amplifier and amplifier…for that price .
So I guess (IMHO) get a Wiim for the streamer and the software/app and get a beter chain of DAC and amplification.
Cheers 🍻
yes thanks what motivated me bout this whim was lots of other reviews saying what a great bargain it was but never hRDLY MENTIONING THE SOUND
Strange - In this comparison, you are also describing the difference between my new 217 Sansui and my favorite San 4000. Run dead flat on tone , the 217 sounds tinny compared to the richness of my 4000.You come closer backing off the 217 treble 2 notches, the 217 bass is fine. All in all ,the 4000 is just more realistic, warm and enjoyable then the 217. The 217 compares well to my 5000 and pioneer units - nice unit. I seem to have a special 4000. myonly criticism of the 4000 is it does not seem to have the Punch of other units - but the Punch is actually a bit of distortion. Am dying for you to find a good 4000 and see if mine is typical.
love to hear it
@@stereoreviewx After playing my 217 for 3 days, it is sounding different - better! I am still comparing it to my 4000. At first both bass and treble were exaggerated on flat position. I thought it may be my ears adjusting to it, but it definitely sounds closer to the 4000 after a total of 12hours playing - on and off. Have you ever seen this? The 5000 started sounding closer to the 4000 too after a couple of days. maybe components have to warm up for a while , to be in spec, but warming up for 3 days on and off seems weird. . Neither unit had been used in a while when I got them. I'm sure its not just my ears. Thanks for your input - we are similar people, in that we "obsess" about HiFi.
@@stereoreviewx Love your vids - you are the reason I started collecting Sansui !
I got an A/B switch and did critical comparison of my 217 and 4000. On neutral studio headphones, with tone controls flat, the 217 had the edge because of the innately brighter sound. On my big Cerwin Vega 120s, the 4000 won easily. Vocals were warmer amd more natural. You could really hear the character and warmth in Justin Hayward;s voice on the album Seventh Sojourn. it wasnt there on the 217. Kicking in the Loudness on the 217 helped a lot , but thats cheating lol . The sound stage and imaging were close - the imaging seemed slightly better on the 217, but thats because of its high frequency boost. My hearing is ok - 10000 hz limit..
I remember the 60s tube sound. If I didnt know otherwise, I'd swear the 4000 was a tube receiver. I'm selling my other stuff - Pioneer and Sansui, and plan to get another 4000 and compare when I get the funds. Thanks for sharing your knowledge and experience.
i am a NAD fanboy but would be very interested to try an AU317 if i could find one in serviced condition, i always buy seviced and/or recapped models to ensure good working condition, also to widen the search Kelvin are there any alternative Sansui models that offer the same quality?
well from that particular range I think 317 is best
Thanks really good video.. I put a nice rotel power amp from around 1999 .. up against a class a ..Sony power amp from the early 80s .. the Sony is darker sounding.less detail.but has alot more depth and scale than the rotel.. I prefer the sony
Details, details and details but a sterile "skinny" sound with no body and over $300.00, not for me. Just yesterday, at a street fair, I picked up a Pioneer SX3600 for $20.00, yes 20 $'s, in very good condition and working well. It's at my trusty tech for a cleanup and then I can add a streamer and connect it to just about anything for a fraction of the price. Of course, some "details" will be lost, but does it really matter?
Great video!
I don’t want it brilliant 😂 , I don’t want it either kelvin
why would you need a bluesound node to test theWiim amp? Does it not already have a built-in streamer ?
it does it doesn't seem to have an out not rca anyway
This is like comparing apples with pears. Comparing a Class AB amp (Sansui non-streaming) with a Class D amp (Wiim streaming). What is the point? All these devices are made in a certain price range and for a certain market and not comparable with each other.
really my point is every other review says its a great bargain but I don't this sound is worth having at all
@@stereoreviewx I think your ears are biased after all these years with the better equipment. Nothing wrong with that. But i think the novice audio listener won’t hear what you and i hear. I am going to order one next to my Leak Stereo 130 myself just so see what is up with this thing. I can always send it back. 😉
Class D to a Tee Kelvin.
Some of us just prefer Class A or AB or even tubes!
Curious that you didn’t utter the word WiiM once. I agree cheap Class D sounds digital and lacks dimension.
Freudian
Hi Kelvin, you didn't once mention the Wiim by name, even once, just referring to is as this or that??
Why would I need class D amplification for my best home hi-fi set up, when class AB does the job perfectly well and is not improved upon.
I felt the same. But I went from an Arcam a39 to a valve preamp and a 600wpc class D power amp. That combo of 1960s/ 1970s valves with ultimate power behind it is intoxicating. My phono stage is purely valve based as well. I'm 40 years into buying equipment and the class D power amp was a real epiphany moment. Every single component sounded like it had been upgraded. I would really love to try pure valve mono blocks but I am very very happy with my amplification and it will drive most speakers.
My first experiment was a BRZHIFI X10 with a reported 150wpc based on TPA3255 chips around £80 when I bought it.
After hearing it I sold the Arcam to rethink my audio journey.
interesting thanks
Thanks man. (I don't feel I know you well enough to call you Kelvin yet. ;) )
what you talking bout me olde mate Shaun
Hi kevin, i really enjoy your take on vintage, hi fi.
In the end the message is to buy what you enjoy listening to, not what anybody else tells you to.
But one thing that annoys me is your referring to watts being measured differently today.
I think the confusion comes from manufacturers who used different methods to measure or quote power outputs such as peak or pmpo.
Most reputable manufacturers have always used RMS figures.
These have been measured by RMS voltage output into a fixed resistive load with a maximum distortion level of 0.01 percent.
This power measurement method has remained constant it is no different today than it was in 1970.
Sorry, this is just one of those common misunderstandings of the science of audio that i find irritating.
would you think manufactures found a way to print higher watts than previously .
that would be a big plus for selling gear people think watts are everything
@@stereoreviewx I think in the end watts is watts like has been said above, (at least into a resistive load), but a lot of good Vintage amps like the Sansui are sort of over engineered with beefy power supplies etc. and as a result , deliver those watts more effortlessly into complex non resistive speaker loads. IMO that makes the amp 'sound' more powerful. That's my thoughts anyway.
Sounds like class D 😅
Detail is useless without harmonics, tone, PRaT, grip, transients, depth, scale, dynamics. It sounds like it’s the same sound as the wiim streamers, detailed and thin.
Pretty much!
U don't need to switch your picture from big too small, please keep it the way it was before..
No need for these effects...
We love your channel the way it is..
dad you are great as a dad in the comments please also do not change ok? don’t do it. it’ll suck if you do ok?? keep it small
am kind of playing with editing stuff do appreciate your feedback K
Don't spend on highend gear then limit the sound quality with compressed Spotify. Much better to use a lossless streaming source like Apple Music.
Most younger people did not grow up with hifi, a Phone and a litle Bluetooth speaker is their reference. This will be a step up for them. I had several younger family members listen to my vintage Luxman gear and speakers. They were shocked, were does the sound come from, i don't see a soundbar in the middle or a bass box. Is al this sound coming from these big ugly worden boxes? YES
For me modern hifi sounds like this- artificial and to perfect. It's like instruments are processed to much and vocals the same. On my vintage setups I just increase treble for more detail 😄
I have the same reaction when listening to modern _music_ . We need to be careful not to attribute different recording mixes to our hardware. For me the ultimate test is when a system can reproduce the flaws in the recording as well as the music.
There has been more than one occasion where I've been called in to service a system because "This song sounds bad" ... Of course, if the rest of the music sounds okay, it's the song not the electronics at fault.
This is not a bargain! I am sorry. If it doesn’t pull on your heartstrings, it will end up as landfill eventually. You know very well that decent old AB amps can be found around £100 on the used market. Just add a streamer DAC and be done.
I agree
I don’t like any class D amplifier. I think they all sound thin on the top end often quite fatiguing and to be honest I have always wondered how most companies get away with the power ratings that they claim on the class D amp. I’ve got friends with some very expensive gear one of my mates has got a very expensive class D amplifier and streamer and I don’t like it a few of my other mates that are really into audio. Also think it sounds a bit thin and fatiguing. I think the only time a class D amplifier sounds good is when it’s being put through EQ and there’s nothing wrong with that at all but all the shouting about people do about these amplifiers. The only way that a lot of people that I know can get them to sound good is by EQ by bringing the top down a little bit and popping a little bit more low end in there . give me a class A class AB any day you can stick your modern stuff don’t want it.
Hi Kelvin I recently bought a modern Rotel amp in case my old Linn intek broke down but I didn't like the sound at all too digital to my ears so I passed it on to my son .
pretty vague stuff
it doesn't sound good
EQ in the bathroom?
yes in the settings 😅
Wow ... interesting. No problem with you disliking the WIIM Amp. But a lot of people will disagree with you.
The question is... is it because the Sansui is what you're used to hearing and the added detail of the WIIM feels a bit uncomfortable? ...
I love vintage stuff, I've had plenty in my day. But with the modern Class D ... especially amps based on the TPA3255 chip ... I find the accuracy of them very pleasing. Older amps are understandably slower than modern ones, in terms of "slew rate" (the max speed at which the output voltage changes) and lack a bit in "transient response" (the maximum output from short pulses, like snare shots). This does tend to make them sound a bit gentler to the ear, which is understandably more pleasing. But the new guys are far more accurate with less distortion, hence the increased detail.
The devil you know vs the one you don't?
People who disagree probs never owned a decent amp.
It appears to be lacking in a few areas by the sounds of it. But, to be fair, it does well for its price at the moment. No match for a vintage exposure xv or something similar I would imagine.
Entry level class D has rubbish tonality in my opinion, thin, squarky, poor harmonics, flat sounding, plenty of detail and grip but it ends there. I think some people can get swayed too much by the wow factor of bass grip and detail and forget about all the other crucial aspects of the sound.
Lets be honest though, its cheap as chips so its not going to be anything spectacular but great for an all in one first unit to get into the hobby.
Anyone who thinks cheap Class D amps are capable of the sheer tonal beauty, musicality, spatial expansion, realism and musicality of the best tube amps, Class A/B or Class A amps, simply can't hear. And people who can't "hear" are the first ones, (of all people!) to try to find probleme with other people's sensory perception. Kelvin CAN HEAR, and he can seriously evaluate too, in a very accurate manner, as I'm sure just about every viewer of this channel realizes and knows. Don't let someone who can't hear, make you have any doubts whatsover about what you know you hear. Or what Kelvin knows he hears; as a very experienced and great evaluator. Some of these these people, like the OP of this comment, wouldn't be able to tell the difference between the finest Stradavarius violin ever made and a violin made of cheap plywood.
@@sidesup8286
Grow up.
Sansui or not the Wiim doesn't deliver for me
That stuff about all the older stuff sounding slow is wrong. For example, the Electrocompaniet amp which was popularin the1980s had a rise time in the nanoseconds. With mediocre examples of Class D it is more synthetic edge,like bad digital, than edge from speed.
Hifi, high fidelity ! Or lowfi, low fidelity.
Russian reviewers very like this amp
really everyone does but they are also linking to amazon ?
I
You come across as being a little drunk.
The most important thing is the sound...but aesthetic too and those 2 boxes are ugly as hell...it's incredible how more beautiful is the vintage gear compared to the newer stuff.
for sure Sansui is all metal including switches