First Hi Fi for daughter

hornetstinger · 11 Dec 2025 at 18:00

john_smith said:
Jumping into this thread as i'm in the same situation as the OP.

You can buy the amp now....but pre order for Jan stock. Is there a better / equilivent one available for a similar price? I've just ordered a pair of 9.1s

Personally I'd spend bit more and get wiim amp, that way you have a streamer as well (plus bass management/subwoofer integration & room EQ)

john_smith · 11 Dec 2025 at 20:10

Any specific one?

Thank you.

hornetstinger · 11 Dec 2025 at 20:14

john_smith said:
Any specific one?

Thank you.

WiiM Amp | Versatile Streaming Amplifier: Stream Elegance, Amplify Brilliance

Discover the WiiM Amp, a state-of-the-art streaming amplifier designed to refine the way you experience music, movie, and more, WiiM Amp combines power, versatility, and simplicity like never before. Whether you are an audiophile or a home theater enthusiast, WiiM Amp delivers exceptional sound...

www.wiimhome.com

WiiM Amp | Versatile Streaming Amplifier: Stream Elegance, Amplify Brilliance

Discover the WiiM Amp, a state-of-the-art streaming amplifier designed to refine the way you experience music, movie, and more, WiiM Amp combines power, versatility, and simplicity like never before. Whether you are an audiophile or a home theater enthusiast, WiiM Amp delivers exceptional sound...

www.wiimhome.com

WiiM Amp Ultra

www.wiimhome.com

mid_gen · 11 Dec 2025 at 20:20

john_smith said:
Jumping into this thread as i'm in the same situation as the OP.

You can buy the amp now....but pre order for Jan stock. Is there a better / equilivent one available for a similar price? I've just ordered a pair of 9.1s

The Aiyima A80 is a solid little amp, it's what I use on my PC driving a pair of Quad 11Ls, and closer to the budget OP was looking at.

john_smith · 11 Dec 2025 at 20:29

hornetstinger said:
WiiM Amp | Versatile Streaming Amplifier: Stream Elegance, Amplify Brilliance

Discover the WiiM Amp, a state-of-the-art streaming amplifier designed to refine the way you experience music, movie, and more, WiiM Amp combines power, versatility, and simplicity like never before. Whether you are an audiophile or a home theater enthusiast, WiiM Amp delivers exceptional sound...

www.wiimhome.com

WiiM Amp | Versatile Streaming Amplifier: Stream Elegance, Amplify Brilliance

Discover the WiiM Amp, a state-of-the-art streaming amplifier designed to refine the way you experience music, movie, and more, WiiM Amp combines power, versatility, and simplicity like never before. Whether you are an audiophile or a home theater enthusiast, WiiM Amp delivers exceptional sound...

www.wiimhome.com

WiiM Amp Ultra

www.wiimhome.com

Thank you. They looks slightly outside of budget.

john_smith · 15 Dec 2025 at 15:40

ok, things happened.

I phoned RS and they had a reurned space grey wiim amp pro for £339. So I've bought that.

£339 + £129.

£468 spend on a £200 budget on a thread that's not even mine.

FML.

TY OP.

hornetstinger · 15 Dec 2025 at 15:42

john_smith said:
ok, things happened.

I phoned RS and they had a reurned space grey wiim amp pro for £339. So I've bought that.

£339 + £129.

£468 spend on a £200 budget on a thread that's not even mine.

FML.

TY OP.

Good product, and means she has a DAC, integrated amplifier, audio streamer, and Bluetooth receiver in one.

john_smith · 15 Dec 2025 at 16:01

She's has this turntable. She has been using with a small BT Speaker.

https://www.richersounds.com/sony-pslx310bt-black/?gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=23023687811&gclid=Cj0KCQiAgP_JBhD-ARIsANpEMxxPkt6XTqcCQTvajxRXsncLgVrZiZ9Mrg0rxpOhj22IwsUVzmAf8xcaAgrtEALw_wcB

Hopefully with the above purchaes she's got a nice little setup.

wesimmo · 15 Dec 2025 at 16:41

For some reason I wasnt getting notifications on this thread.

But yeah, the specific amp i wanted wasn't available until New Year so I ended up with a Fosi MC351, Whardale 9s and some speaker cable from RS for £230.

I set it up to test it and it's absolutely fine for what I wanted, barely had to turn the volume up beyond 25% to get to the point I'd be concerned about annoying the neighbours.

I guess i could have gone to 9.1s but I doubt she'd notice and that would have been another £30 on top, when my original budget was £200, it didn't make sense. I only bought it because she loves music and I wanted her to have something to open on Xmas day.

john_smith · 15 Dec 2025 at 17:16

Good effort. I wish I had your restraint.

Gray2233 · 15 Dec 2025 at 17:27

Both are cracking setups tbh, especially for kids/teens.

I'd wager the vast majority have a dodgy bluetooth speaker, or one of those big crappy all in one units that resemble transformers.

john_smith · 15 Dec 2025 at 19:22

I’m actually excited to get it all setup.

hornetstinger · 15 Dec 2025 at 19:27

john_smith said:
I’m actually excited to get it all setup.

Play around with the room EQ I find it works pretty well, although I do have a UMIK1 (and Wiim supports this mic and allows you to import correction file)

Certain Apple phones are supported, if you observe any over corrections and irregularities in the response then stop the corrections don't attempt to correct those frequency ranges.

One benefit now is if you start doing multi room, you can have wiim streamers and single control point. I use LMS in a raspberry Pi for three room system, wiim/squeezeboxes in each room

Gray2233 · 15 Dec 2025 at 19:48

john_smith said:
I’m actually excited to get it all setup.

Be sure to take some pics and post impressions, it's always nice to see someone getting some cool gear. There's so much focus on the super high end in audio communities, or nonsense like magic cables and USB/plug socket noise filters (I'm not kidding, those exist and people buy them), it's good to see a good clean setup with sensible kit that will be 95% as good as setups costing thousands.

I actually think from an aesthetic standpoint the 9.1's are some of the prettiest bookshelf speakers I've ever seen tbh, insane that they can be had for as cheap.

hornetstinger · 15 Dec 2025 at 19:54

Gray2233 said:
Be sure to take some pics and post impressions, it's always nice to see someone getting some cool gear. There's so much focus on the super high end in audio communities, or nonsense like magic cables and USB/plug socket noise filters (I'm not kidding, those exist and people buy them), it's good to see a good clean setup with sensible kit that will be 95% as good as setups costing thousands.

A modern streaming device / app amp is probably more suited to younger type anyway, although nothing stopping you adding a streamer to a regular stereo integrated amp (which in long run may be better choice as they have lots of analogue inputs and some have tape loops for recording) but probably features more suited to the old school hifi people.

I've not used the app support in the wiim spotify etc but using bluetooth from my laptop or phone to the wiim ultra work fine

Gray2233 · 15 Dec 2025 at 20:07

hornetstinger said:
A modern streaming device / app amp is probably more suited to younger type anyway, although nothing stopping you adding a streamer to a regular stereo integrated amp (which in long run may be better choice as they have lots of analogue inputs and some have tape loops for recording) but probably features more suited to the old school hifi people.

I've not used the app support in the wiim spotify etc but using bluetooth from my laptop or phone to the wiim ultra work fine

Not into wireless myself, but I do believe there's some lossless bluetooth supporting devices using the likes of aptX. I think Spotify has started supporting lossless audio too, and of course there's a bunch of free streams/radio stations out there that do the same.

Admetos · 15 Dec 2025 at 23:46

Maybe to late, but for a budget priced book shelf speaker I would have considered these.

Fyne Audio F5e

Review on them