AT A GLANCE Plus
Works with Alexa, Google Assistant, and Siri
Equalizer settings for each input
Can input/output Bluetooth and AirPlay
Uses passive speakers you may already own
Minus
No way to see the input or what song is playing
Could be easier to navigate with fewer clicks/taps
No headphone jack
No Bluetooth aptX for streaming hi-res audio
THE VERDICT
The reasonably priced WiiM Amp is the perfect device to leverage a house full of speakers to create a multi-room sound system. You may have Alexa, Google, or Apple HomePods. Or, passive speakers connected to other WiiM devices. This amp makes it easy to control streaming from the most popular music services anywhere in your home.
Many of us use smart speakers throughout our homes. They control everything from lights to microwaves and washing machines. Usually, these are inexpensive devices like the Amazon Echo, which are not optimal for music listening. But they are perfect for controlling more capable smart speakers and amps.
Maybe back in the 1920s, when Sound + Vision was called Superheterodyne Journal, we might have reviewed some giant tube amplifier that put out 2 watts at full blast. But other than perhaps some forgotten device from audio’s days of yore, this storied publication has never tested an amplifier so small, so weak, so limited in utility as the Qinpu Q-2.
Maybe back in the 1920s, when Sound + Vision was called Superheterodyne Journal, we might have reviewed some giant tube amplifier that put out 2 watts at full blast. But other than perhaps some forgotten device from audio’s days of yore, this storied publication has never tested an amplifier so small, so weak, so limited in utility as the Qinpu Q-2.