No TH-cam Music, no bueno. For anyone that cares.... I built my own whole home audio system. A rack of 200w Monoprice 2 channel amps, and Chromecast pucks with HDMI audio extractors. I can cast TH-cam Music app to my "TV" of choice (CC puck with audio extractor), and the Monoprice amps have built in audio sensing to turn themselves on/off. Google home allows for speaker "groups" to play content in multiple zones. If you are happy with playing music via TH-cam music, the system works very well and is quite inexpensive.
Thanks, we're actively listening and appreciate feedback! Please share what features/integrations you'd like to see to social@ui.com so we can pass along to our team. Thanks!
As typical for Ubiquiti things come out early and without a lot of functionality at first. The real gamble is the question of is this product going to see continued effort from Ubiquiti or will it quietly die off (Like the ubiquiti lighting products, The unifi Security Gateway XG, mFi power outlets, etc) They have a fairly good track record of most of their products getting support and improving over time, but its certainly somethign to know up front. If the connectivity doesnt meet your needs now, wait.
Yep I think this is exactly right. I have a feeling they will improve the product and hopefully demand is sufficient that it will not quietly die. Thanks for watching 🙏
Thanks for watching! I think I’ll come back to the PowerAmp in a little while when it’s had a couple of updates and hopefully Ubiquiti answered some of the concerns people have over the limitation on streaming options etc.
As someone who is pretty heavily investing in both Unifi and Sonos I have never thought .... if only Unifi did audio equipment. Unelss Unifi is going to also go down the road of wireless speakers, its home audio offering will be pretty niche as a whole house audio solution in a home setting.
I agree I had not thought it was something we would see. However as an installation company I can tell you it is pretty common for homes to have speakers and ceiling speakers wired to a central point with amps. In this market I think it could do well. Primarily I think it will be the Unifi brand which will sway people to choose it.
As Sonos has really screwed their customers recently with the "upgrade" of the S2 app (which we all know is buggy alpha release $hit), I think this could work out for UniFi. If over time they add support for the various Dolby formats, DTS, etc, this could be good. I do think this needs some sort of remote control other than just an app. For this to pair with a TV, I am not wanting to get up and change the volume at the device, or to fire up the app in addition to using my TV remote. It really needs an IR receiver, and the ability to respond to IR.
Hi Huw, great video - you did a network install a few years ago for my parents, which is still flawless. Just came access your channel with this video. I will be sure to subscribe!
Useless without being able to stream locally (NAS) stored FLAC and other formats. Might come if the rumoured Unifi NAS appears? Edit: Hope they come out with a non amplified version to compete with the Sonos Port.
I'd be very interested in another year or two of this being out. But at the moment it feels like I have better connectivity and functionality just using HEOS on my denon receiver
Missing Roon. An advanced EQ or basic room correction should be possible in 2024 in this price range. I also hope its open enough to be integrated with smart homes, and possiblity to send text to sound to the speakers. 😊 And what about multi-channel? But it is a start for sure.
Great review, but very expensive for their entry into audio streaming. I have Ubiquiti throughout my house and it's bulletproof so I'm sure the amp will be too. Yes, Sonos has had issues lately but there other options. I have several zones of Bluesound streamers (parent company is NAD, and has been around for a very long time). True audiophile quality, plays from many different streaming services in addition to Airplay 2, FLAC, MP3, a user friendly app, and Roon compatible. Really well priced too.
Blue stream is definitely the audiophiles choice. We’ve used them before a great product. I think we’re in the early stages with Ubiquiti but if they stick at it they’ll nail it eventually. Thanks for watching 🙏
I believe the Unifi amp isn't going for or specific to a home hi-fi setup but something like an office/business setting where customers, patients, etc. typically hear music. If it were strictly for home hi-fi, it's simply too expensive for what it does or doesn't do in that particular setting. There are cheaper, more powerful, and smaller amps for that. I can see Ubiquiti adding the "app" into the Unifi ecosystem (UDM) at some point since it has ethernet so you'll just adopt it into the network like any other Unifi equipment.
I think it will improve with updates and it will be used in homes because it’s good quality and because people like Unifi but only time will tell. I agree it may also be used in commercial settings.
I am considering picking up a play amp for myself Would love it to have some sort of integration into the unifi console for auto play or media sorted on an nvr or something, or some sort of automation from it Can you test the RCA/hdmi input lag? Might use it as my main amp for my small setup, also, does TH-cam music see it as a device it can stream to?
Hi, I know nothing about audio, so please dont flame me if this question is stupid. I have a Ubiquiti setup in a small 12 bedroom guesthouse. This could be something they would be interested in for music in the reception and dining room. Can you connect more than one pair of speakers to this amp?
Yes you can, but you need to know the power requirements for those speakers. It’s probably best to speak to an audio supplier and tell them the amps pose and the number of speakers you would like and they can tell you which models would be suitable.
Thanks for the video. Question.. at home I have a 5 ceiling speaker setup in the living room and a single all in one type ceiling speaker upstairs (basically two zones). Would it be possible to connect all of these to 1 PowerAmp?
This is your answer! You’ll have to know the power requirements of this speakers. Although an ‘all in one speaker’ sounds like it might be an active speaker. This amp is for passive speakers.
The correct answer is "no"; please don't seek audio advice from network techs (probably better than having an electrician install it for you though). Never run an odd number of speakers in a traditional stereo setup; even if somehow within the excepted ohm rating, it is not good for the longevity of the equipment. The only way to make more than 4 speakers work on this would be to run them though a transformer (or series of transformers) to correct the impedance; which is something that all of these small amp manufactures (Sonos. Heos, WiiM, Yamaha, Bluesound, Etc) state not to do at risk of damaging the amplifier. Your 5 speakers in the living room are most likely arranged and intended for sound sound through an AVR (Audio/Video Receiver). The front and rear pairs could be run as stereo pairs (just ignoring the center speaker); just make sure the the rear pair are not true surround speakers di-pole or bi-pole designs with dual tweeters / mid drivers. The "single all in one speaker" upstairs is likely a Single Point Stereo speaker; a dual voice coil design that accepts the left and right wires into a single speaker to allow stereo sound for a small space (or a space that doesn't require much volume). That speaker should be pulled from the ceiling first to verify what it is and how it is wired up before hooking is to any equipment though; if you didn't install it, don't assume the last guy knew what they were doing. Other than the novelty of having a Ubiquiti branded amp that will (or at some point will) show up on your dashboard, there are far better options for your money like the Yamaha RX-V6A (or others by Denon, Onkyo, Etc) would allow you to use all 5 of your living room speakers with surround sound, and have another pair of speaker outputs that would act as a Zone-2 to potentially run the upstairs speaker with independent source selection and volume; controllable via the Yamaha MusicCast app. best of luck!
Can they all replicate one source if one device is connected to HDMI eARC and all others in that group recive signal via IP from the master connected to HDMI Source?
I don't understand this product one bit. Very pricey for the most basic functionality. Similar products would at least include modest DSP functionality and more than just two outputs.
Not a good idea to drive more speakers than a pair. The internal impedance in the amp will 1/2 when using 4 speakers compared to 2. If you want to use 4 speakers make sure that the minimum impedance is above 4,5ohms.
Absolute Garbage- No Play lists. No subwoofer setting...ARC is a joke, does not auto switch when going back to TV... Over prices from US amp in USA market
No TH-cam Music, no bueno. For anyone that cares.... I built my own whole home audio system. A rack of 200w Monoprice 2 channel amps, and Chromecast pucks with HDMI audio extractors. I can cast TH-cam Music app to my "TV" of choice (CC puck with audio extractor), and the Monoprice amps have built in audio sensing to turn themselves on/off. Google home allows for speaker "groups" to play content in multiple zones. If you are happy with playing music via TH-cam music, the system works very well and is quite inexpensive.
I hope they have a good dev team for this. Its a good start. But it needs al lot more integrations and features.
I’m sure it will come in time. Unifi are good at adding features.
Thanks, we're actively listening and appreciate feedback! Please share what features/integrations you'd like to see to social@ui.com so we can pass along to our team. Thanks!
No Chromecast, DLNA, web radio support. Any assistant integration? A quite expensive for basic functionality.
As typical for Ubiquiti things come out early and without a lot of functionality at first. The real gamble is the question of is this product going to see continued effort from Ubiquiti or will it quietly die off (Like the ubiquiti lighting products, The unifi Security Gateway XG, mFi power outlets, etc) They have a fairly good track record of most of their products getting support and improving over time, but its certainly somethign to know up front. If the connectivity doesnt meet your needs now, wait.
Yep I think this is exactly right. I have a feeling they will improve the product and hopefully demand is sufficient that it will not quietly die. Thanks for watching 🙏
No its not, the closes hardware to it is Sonos.
@@marcesw35 There's also the Denon Home Amp.
Much more expensive that the Wiim Amp with much less features. I don’t see any reason why I should opt for this over the Wiim Amp.
Thanks for this! Looks really cool. I hope you will pair it with some premium speakers. Looking forward to a longer term review. 👍🏼😎
Thanks for watching! I think I’ll come back to the PowerAmp in a little while when it’s had a couple of updates and hopefully Ubiquiti answered some of the concerns people have over the limitation on streaming options etc.
As someone who is pretty heavily investing in both Unifi and Sonos I have never thought .... if only Unifi did audio equipment. Unelss Unifi is going to also go down the road of wireless speakers, its home audio offering will be pretty niche as a whole house audio solution in a home setting.
I agree I had not thought it was something we would see. However as an installation company I can tell you it is pretty common for homes to have speakers and ceiling speakers wired to a central point with amps. In this market I think it could do well. Primarily I think it will be the Unifi brand which will sway people to choose it.
As Sonos has really screwed their customers recently with the "upgrade" of the S2 app (which we all know is buggy alpha release $hit), I think this could work out for UniFi. If over time they add support for the various Dolby formats, DTS, etc, this could be good. I do think this needs some sort of remote control other than just an app. For this to pair with a TV, I am not wanting to get up and change the volume at the device, or to fire up the app in addition to using my TV remote. It really needs an IR receiver, and the ability to respond to IR.
Would love to see this integrated with the UniFi Doorbell range so that chimes can be heard throughout the building…..
Nice idea. Seems like a simple feature for Unifi to add.
Hi Huw, great video - you did a network install a few years ago for my parents, which is still flawless. Just came access your channel with this video. I will be sure to subscribe!
Hi Ben, that’s great to hear it’s still working well! Thanks for the sub and for watching 🙏
So you can only play Spotify, no music in mp3 or Flac from a NAS?
At the moment you can’t but I would imagine this will change with updates.
Useless without being able to stream locally (NAS) stored FLAC and other formats.
Might come if the rumoured Unifi NAS appears?
Edit: Hope they come out with a non amplified version to compete with the Sonos Port.
I'm pretty happy with my Wiim Pro. Much cheaper but they're continually improving them with firmware updates.
Thanks for sharing. I’ve heard good things about Wiim.
Thanks the review
I would like to know if I plan to use it at home with a ceiling speaker, how many speakers can support
I almost sense unifi moving into extron’s space fitting out conference rooms all over!
I'm using it for my living room right now ony tv and it's working great
Nice 👌 thanks for watching!
I'd be very interested in another year or two of this being out. But at the moment it feels like I have better connectivity and functionality just using HEOS on my denon receiver
Can’t argue with Denon they are great. I think functionality on the Ubiquiti will come in time as you say. Thanks for watching 🙏
Missing Roon. An advanced EQ or basic room correction should be possible in 2024 in this price range. I also hope its open enough to be integrated with smart homes, and possiblity to send text to sound to the speakers. 😊 And what about multi-channel?
But it is a start for sure.
Yep I think we will see more features added in the future. I’d like to see some configuration via a console for these more advanced bits.
Great review, but very expensive for their entry into audio streaming. I have Ubiquiti throughout my house and it's bulletproof so I'm sure the amp will be too. Yes, Sonos has had issues lately but there other options. I have several zones of Bluesound streamers (parent company is NAD, and has been around for a very long time). True audiophile quality, plays from many different streaming services in addition to Airplay 2, FLAC, MP3, a user friendly app, and Roon compatible. Really well priced too.
Blue stream is definitely the audiophiles choice. We’ve used them before a great product. I think we’re in the early stages with Ubiquiti but if they stick at it they’ll nail it eventually. Thanks for watching 🙏
I believe the Unifi amp isn't going for or specific to a home hi-fi setup but something like an office/business setting where customers, patients, etc. typically hear music. If it were strictly for home hi-fi, it's simply too expensive for what it does or doesn't do in that particular setting. There are cheaper, more powerful, and smaller amps for that. I can see Ubiquiti adding the "app" into the Unifi ecosystem (UDM) at some point since it has ethernet so you'll just adopt it into the network like any other Unifi equipment.
I think it will improve with updates and it will be used in homes because it’s good quality and because people like Unifi but only time will tell. I agree it may also be used in commercial settings.
I am considering picking up a play amp for myself
Would love it to have some sort of integration into the unifi console for auto play or media sorted on an nvr or something, or some sort of automation from it
Can you test the RCA/hdmi input lag? Might use it as my main amp for my small setup, also, does TH-cam music see it as a device it can stream to?
I hope for dante and ndi so i can integrate to real instalations
My Denon amp was purchased in the late 90's. What's the life expectancy of this gadget?
Also, what is that picture at 6:01
They have missed a trick. The volume knob should be detachable. With wall mounts accessories.
why would you call it "TH-cam"? confuses the setup
Because he’s on TH-cam demonstrating
This is the reason 😊 Thanks for watching!
My guess is Ubiquiti white labeled this from Sonos
Are there any vents or fans on the unit - How would this do in a dusty warehouse for industrial applications?
No vents or fans. I imagine it would do well. Thanks for watching 🙏
sonos amp can not drive kef r3 because they go as low as 2 ohms so i doubt this can do it, atm i use a minidssp flex here,
so this was basically an unboxing
And setup!
pretty small channel so nothing unusual, basically what I would do in a first look
Hi, I know nothing about audio, so please dont flame me if this question is stupid. I have a Ubiquiti setup in a small 12 bedroom guesthouse. This could be something they would be interested in for music in the reception and dining room. Can you connect more than one pair of speakers to this amp?
Yes you can, but you need to know the power requirements for those speakers. It’s probably best to speak to an audio supplier and tell them the amps pose and the number of speakers you would like and they can tell you which models would be suitable.
not clear to me how it works with a surround setup (more than 2 channel!)
Thanks for the video. Question.. at home I have a 5 ceiling speaker setup in the living room and a single all in one type ceiling speaker upstairs (basically two zones). Would it be possible to connect all of these to 1 PowerAmp?
As long as its under the total:
130W per channel at 8 ohms
260W per channel at 4 ohms
This is your answer! You’ll have to know the power requirements of this speakers. Although an ‘all in one speaker’ sounds like it might be an active speaker. This amp is for passive speakers.
The correct answer is "no"; please don't seek audio advice from network techs (probably better than having an electrician install it for you though). Never run an odd number of speakers in a traditional stereo setup; even if somehow within the excepted ohm rating, it is not good for the longevity of the equipment. The only way to make more than 4 speakers work on this would be to run them though a transformer (or series of transformers) to correct the impedance; which is something that all of these small amp manufactures (Sonos. Heos, WiiM, Yamaha, Bluesound, Etc) state not to do at risk of damaging the amplifier. Your 5 speakers in the living room are most likely arranged and intended for sound sound through an AVR (Audio/Video Receiver). The front and rear pairs could be run as stereo pairs (just ignoring the center speaker); just make sure the the rear pair are not true surround speakers di-pole or bi-pole designs with dual tweeters / mid drivers. The "single all in one speaker" upstairs is likely a Single Point Stereo speaker; a dual voice coil design that accepts the left and right wires into a single speaker to allow stereo sound for a small space (or a space that doesn't require much volume). That speaker should be pulled from the ceiling first to verify what it is and how it is wired up before hooking is to any equipment though; if you didn't install it, don't assume the last guy knew what they were doing. Other than the novelty of having a Ubiquiti branded amp that will (or at some point will) show up on your dashboard, there are far better options for your money like the Yamaha RX-V6A (or others by Denon, Onkyo, Etc) would allow you to use all 5 of your living room speakers with surround sound, and have another pair of speaker outputs that would act as a Zone-2 to potentially run the upstairs speaker with independent source selection and volume; controllable via the Yamaha MusicCast app. best of luck!
Is rhere support for dolby surround?
Not at this time from what I can see.
This is a commercial/enterprise product.
Can they all replicate one source if one device is connected to HDMI eARC and all others in that group recive signal via IP from the master connected to HDMI Source?
I don’t know tbh. Possibly but I only have one at the moment so I can’t test that.
I don't understand this product one bit. Very pricey for the most basic functionality. Similar products would at least include modest DSP functionality and more than just two outputs.
Not a good idea to drive more speakers than a pair. The internal impedance in the amp will 1/2 when using 4 speakers compared to 2. If you want to use 4 speakers make sure that the minimum impedance is above 4,5ohms.
Can you connect this to PC for audio out?
Yes you could. You could use a 3.5mm to RCA cable to connect the amp to the headphone jack of the PC. Thanks for watching 🙏
only 2 channels so you can do one room in stereo or two channels in mono ... yikes.
Hall David Taylor Margaret Perez Larry
Absolute Garbage- No Play lists. No subwoofer setting...ARC is a joke, does not auto switch when going back to TV... Over prices from US amp in USA market
Martinez Susan Robinson Kimberly Lee Deborah
Sonos killer - again. Sonos has been killed many times 😂
What other music services does it have?
TH-cam music, Amazon music, Tidal, pandora etc?
It has apple airplay so you can use any of those services via that.