The WiiM just arrived in the house. Will put it in the system this weekend. I believe it will get you where you want to go.
You noticed no difference between CD and lossless because there is no difference.
CD quality vs higher resolution files, such as 24/96, or vs compressed files, such as MP3, is where there's an audible difference....or at least the potential for one.
YouTube uses compressed audio, so it's hard to understand how it would be a valid means for comparing audio sound quality?
Last edited:
You're right - perhaps not YouTube but one of those "compare digital quality" sites. For me even MP3s sounded only slightly worse. On this test, Spotify and Tidal could be compared A-B and I got <50% right. Very surprising and humbling.
As a benchmark, I was on the low side of average on the Klippel site. Really disliked the format and the samples on that one however.
Was the Marantz EQ flat? Most of those AVR receivers have extensive DSP EQ. Might have smoothed out your L100 midbass hump too much. If it was, it could be speaker placement and room effect also. I would be surprised if there was a big effect from the electronics.
Either way it sounds like your McIntosh rig is working out well, so that is great.
WillVT
Super Member
Wifi and Bluetooth are not the same. Bluetooth is lossy, while streaming through wifi is whatever the source material is. I'm not too familiar with Sonos, but I think it pulls the stream directly from the internet. If you are using Bluetooth to send music to the Marantz, then you are not getting the full lossless rate of Apple music.
I got the Wiim Pro delivered yesterday and connected it today. Wifi modem/LAN to Wiim Pro and through the internal DAC using line out into preamp. So stinking easy and the lossless music is stunning.
The streamer retrieves music via its network connectivity (local network and/or internet) and provides the user interface. Most of them offer both wired and WiFi connection to the network.
User control of the streamer (selecting music source, music choices, etc) is usually thru an app loaded to a smartphone, tablet or computer; the app communicates with the streamer wirelessly. Some streamers have their own remote and/or control panel.
A DAC is needed to convert the digital music the streamer is retrieving to analog, thereby allowing playback via analog amplification.
Many/most streamers include a built-in DAC. However, the streamer can also output a digital signal, allowing you to bypass the internal DAC and instead connect to an external DAC of your choosing, including the DAC in your modern Marantz, if it has one.
Last edited:
