Wiim Ultra V Marantz CR610

[Rjpd77]

Hi All,

I use my Marantz CR610 for streaming Spotify (from my phone) via a Soprano Synthesis tube amplifier and a pair of Piega classic 3.0. speakers


I also use the headphone jack on the marantz late at night. Would swapping out the marantz for the Wiim ultra be an upgrade with respect to spotify?

I was also considering the Naim Uniti Atom Headphone Edition. It' s very expensive but I really need the headphone option .

Any advice would be hugely appreciated

Thanks
Richard

 

[Gray]

Would swapping out the marantz for the Wiim ultra be an upgrade with respect to spotify?

Only you could really answer that Richard.
The DACs are likely to be different in the two, so you'd get the usual subtle differences there.
For what it's worth, I've got the same DAC chip that the Ultra uses, in a Cyrus amp and a standalone DAC and, to me, it sounds better than other DACs I've heard....(of course the chip itself is not the whole DAC sound story though).

You're right, that Naim is expensive - for serious headphone listening I'd consider putting your Marantz or the Ultra through something like the excellent Topping A90D - but then, you may prefer an all-in-one 🤔....

 

[Jasonovich]

I see you like your tubes Why not consider a tube headphone amp for your late listening. I have had the XDUOO T-66 for a week now and I am truly impressed by the sound quality. A little partisan I know, but highly recommended and a real bargain.
In terms of aesthics, the WiiM Ulra hits the spot and I suspect the sound quality will possibly be above the Marantz all in one. I was considering the WiiM Ultra but opted for the Matrix Mini i-4 Streamer-DAC because it's ability to play DSD files.

I don't like operating everything on my mobile, i.e. to access my music files, I prefer local storage or NAS ethernet network, which is why I settled for an additional Digital Transport. I think this works well for me. For most people, the Ultra is all you need to play your USB FLAC files.

Also consider if it's within your budget, the excellent Eversolo DMP-A6, on AliExpress they're selling approx. £650+

 

[manicm]

Hi All,

I use my Marantz CR610 for streaming Spotify (from my phone) via a Soprano Synthesis tube amplifier and a pair of Piega classic 3.0. speakers


I also use the headphone jack on the marantz late at night. Would swapping out the marantz for the Wiim ultra be an upgrade with respect to spotify?

I was also considering the Naim Uniti Atom Headphone Edition. It' s very expensive but I really need the headphone option .

Any advice would be hugely appreciated

Thanks
Richard

If you generally like the sound of your Marantz, then just get the Wiim Pro.

if you're looking to replace your system I would consider 2 routes:

1. The Denon Ceol N12 - and all-in-one including HDMI.
2. The Wiim Ultra and an integrated amplifier with a decent DAC.

BUT, since headphone duty is one priority for you, I would seriously look the Bluesound Node Icon, out later in Oct, with powered speakers or a power amp.

 

[Sam Sly]

The Naim Atom is around 7 years old now and could be replaced by a newer platform sometime soon, leaving the Atom obsolete.

This happened to me when I bought the Naim Unitiqute 2, shortly before the release of the Atom. I learnt my lesson and will never buy a streamer which has been on the market for too long.

I also suggest buying the new Node Icon instead.

 

[jjbomber]

Hi All,

I use my Marantz CR610 for streaming Spotify (from my phone) via a Soprano Synthesis tube amplifier and a pair of Piega classic 3.0. speakers


I also use the headphone jack on the marantz late at night. Would swapping out the marantz for the Wiim ultra be an upgrade with respect to spotify?

I was also considering the Naim Uniti Atom Headphone Edition. It' s very expensive but I really need the headphone option .

Thanks
Richard

Can't you just plug the headphones into the phone? You could even use a McIntosh MHA50 portable headphone amplifier at £995 if you want to spoil yourself. At the other end of the scale, a EarFun UA100 at £70 will be good enough for Spotify.

 

[manicm]

The Naim Atom is around 7 years old now and could be replaced by a newer platform sometime soon, leaving the Atom obsolete.

This happened to me when I bought the Naim Unitiqute 2, shortly before the release of the Atom. I learnt my lesson and will never buy a streamer which has been on the market for too long.

I also suggest buying the new Node Icon instead.

The Naim Atom still supports most streaming services including Spotify Connect, Tidal Connect, Qobuz and Amazon Music, and has an HDMI port. So albeit 7 years old it can hardly be called obsolete.

If you knew the UnitiQute 2 was about to be replaced, why did you purchase it?

 

[Sam Sly]

The UnitiQute was released around 2010 and was replaced by the Atom around 8 years later.

Since the Atom is already 7 years old, it may well be replaced by a new platform soon as well, just like the UnitiQute 2 was.

You are correct, the Atom supports all the streaming services and Roon etc. and is not obsolete at the moment.

When I purchased my UnitiQute2, I thought it supported everything I needed at the time. But as new streaming services such as Tidal Connect, Amazon Music and Roon became available, it made the UnitiQute 2 obsolete.

This could also quite easily happen to the Atom as new products and streaming services become available.

When I purchased my UnitiQute 2 I did not know they were 3 weeks away from announcing the release of the Atom. If I did, I would have waited and purchased the Atom instead. I asked the retailer and the importer in my country before buying the UnitiQute 2 and I did not receive any indication Naim was about to announce the Atom. There was no discount either.

Buying an audio streamer is not like buying a CD player, amplifier or turntable. Even if a new model comes out it will not make much difference.

I certainly would never buy another streamer which has already been around for 7 years, especially a fairly expensive product such as a the Naim Atom Headphone Edition.

 

[Rjpd77]

Only you could really answer that Richard.
The DACs are likely to be different in the two, so you'd get the usual subtle differences there.
For what it's worth, I've got the same DAC chip that the Ultra uses, in a Cyrus amp and a standalone DAC and, to me, it sounds better than other DACs I've heard....(of course the chip itself is not the whole DAC sound story though).

You're right, that Naim is expensive - for serious headphone listening I'd consider putting your Marantz or the Ultra through something like the excellent Topping A90D - but then, you may prefer an all-in-one 🤔....

thanks for the advice Gray, appreciate it. Sounds like there may not be a lot between them. I hear how important it is to make sure the all the components of ahi fi system are well matched and as a novice I'm a bit clueless, cheers

 

[Rjpd77]

I see you like your tubes Why not consider a tube headphone amp for your late listening. I have had the XDUOO T-66 for a week now and I am truly impressed by the sound quality. A little partisan I know, but highly recommended and a real bargain.
In terms of aesthics, the WiiM Ulra hits the spot and I suspect the sound quality will possibly be above the Marantz all in one. I was considering the WiiM Ultra but opted for the Matrix Mini i-4 Streamer-DAC because it's ability to play DSD files.

I don't like operating everything on my mobile, i.e. to access my music files, I prefer local storage or NAS ethernet network, which is why I settled for an additional Digital Transport. I think this works well for me. For most people, the Ultra is all you need to play your USB FLAC files.

Also consider if it's within your budget, the excellent Eversolo DMP-A6, on AliExpress they're selling approx. £650+

View attachment 7497

thanks for the advice Jasonovich. Could I hook the XDUOO T-66 to the soprano synthesis? Only downside to the soprano is that i cant listen to my vinyl records on headphones via the soprano.

 

[Rjpd77]

If you generally like the sound of your Marantz, then just get the Wiim Pro.

if you're looking to replace your system I would consider 2 routes:

1. The Denon Ceol N12 - and all-in-one including HDMI.
2. The Wiim Ultra and an integrated amplifier with a decent DAC.

BUT, since headphone duty is one priority for you, I would seriously look the Bluesound Node Icon, out later in Oct, with powered speakers or a power amp.

thanks for the advice Manicm

 

[Jasonovich]

thanks for the advice Jasonovich. Could I hook the XDUOO T-66 to the soprano synthesis? Only downside to the soprano is that i cant listen to my vinyl records on headphones via the soprano.

The TA-66 has RCA output and input, it has preamp functionality.
Soprano output connections can be fed into the TA-66s input so any source you select from the Soprano including vinyl, you should be able to listen 🙂.

If you're thinking of purchasing XDUOO TA-66, when you receive it, make sure the little red voltage switch at the back is set to 220v, you may have to manually switch it to UK, if it is set to US 110v.

 

[DiggyGun]

I see you like your tubes Why not consider a tube headphone amp for your late listening. I have had the XDUOO T-66 for a week now and I am truly impressed by the sound quality. A little partisan I know, but highly recommended and a real bargain.
In terms of aesthics, the WiiM Ulra hits the spot and I suspect the sound quality will possibly be above the Marantz all in one. I was considering the WiiM Ultra but opted for the Matrix Mini i-4 Streamer-DAC because it's ability to play DSD files.

I don't like operating everything on my mobile, i.e. to access my music files, I prefer local storage or NAS ethernet network, which is why I settled for an additional Digital Transport. I think this works well for me. For most people, the Ultra is all you need to play your USB FLAC files.

Also consider if it's within your budget, the excellent Eversolo DMP-A6, on AliExpress they're selling approx. £650+

View attachment 7497

Hi @Jasonovich

I see from your signature that you have a number of systems, but looking at the Bedroom one above, it does look a bit cramped and the speakers do look a bit precarious. Looks like they could easily knocked off.

Do you have the option to wall mount your speakers giving you a bit more space on the top of the cabinet, may also improve the stereo separation.

 

[Jasonovich]

I see from your signature that you have a number of systems, but looking at the Bedroom one above, it does look a bit cramped and the speakers do look a bit precarious. Looks like they could easily knocked off.

I believe @Gray also made the same comment. I grant you, it is very crammed.
Yes, ideally the speakers should be further apart for better stereo separation I can possibly swap the positioning on the opposite side of the wall.
However, my wife's make up furniture would need to be repositioned elsewhere, hmmm don't think she'll like that

The speakers are resting on solid wood furniture, it is absolutely stable. I can mount them on the wall I guess but we're looking to sell house, hopefully in the next few years, so best let sleepy dogs lie.

You're correct it isn't perfect, I suppose I can move it to the spare ironing room.... I need to chew on that, thanks

 

[DiggyGun]

I believe @Gray also made the same comment. I grant you, it is very crammed.
Yes, ideally the speakers should be further apart for better stereo separation I can possibly swap the positioning on the opposite side of the wall.
However, my wife's make up furniture would need to be repositioned elsewhere, hmmm don't think she'll like that

The speakers are resting on solid wood furniture, it is absolutely stable. I can mount them on the wall I guess but we're looking to sell house, hopefully in the next few years, so best let sleepy dogs lie.

You're correct it isn't perfect, I suppose I can move it to the spare ironing room.... I need to chew on that, thanks

Out of interest, what’s the disc mounted to the wall by the door entrance.

I can see that you’re tight for space and don’t want to upset Mrs Jasonovich, by moving her make up furniture. Perhaps a compromise would be to put one speaker on top of the wardrobe to the left and put a small shelf up above the current unit same height as the wardrobe and put one speaker on that. (Only two or three screw holes to fill when you sell the house.)

May give better separation but would allow you to better use the space that you’ve got.