Pro-Ject Uni Box S3 Amp Packs WiiM Streaming Smarts

WiiM has been on a seemingly unbreakable winning streak with products such as the WiiM Amp Ultra, Vibelink Amp, and WiiM Amp Pro, and it has even released its first smart speaker, the WiiM Sound.

An undeniable factor in its popularity is the price of its equipment. However, no matter how budget-friendly anything is, it has to work and not be plagued by user-unfriendly bugs. Thankfully, then, the WiiM Home app is well-designed, easy to use and appears to be robust.

So, Pro-Ject's wise move to marry WiiM's software know-how with its own analogue aptitude for its Pro-Ject Uni Box S3 streaming amplifier makes total sense.

Under the hood of the Uni Box S3, you'll find the same dual-mono architecture analogue design as the Applause Award-winning MaiA S3 integrated amplifier, which here also dishes out 40W per channel into 4 ohms (or 23W per channel into 8 ohms).

The preamplifier and power amplifier sections are kept fully analogue, with "great care to integrate the streaming input with clear separation of analogue and digital devices".

We're told that any source connected to the analogue inputs remains analogue throughout, with no extra digital conversion marring the signal. Pro-Ject promises to "preserve the rich character of analogue sound by keeping the analogue signal path intact."

This also gives Pro-Ject the confidence to state the Uni Box S3 can continue to function as an analogue system should the streaming tech evolve or become obsolete.

Regarding source connectivity, you get eight inputs, including a moving-magnet phono stage, a dedicated headphone amplifier with 6.3mm output (70mW at 32ohm (1%THD)), RCA line level, optical and coaxial inputs, and an HDMI eARC input. There is also a subwoofer output.

If you prefer cable-free connections, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 5.1 are baked in. Pro-Ject has chosen a Cirrus Logic CS4344 chip for the Uni Box S3's DAC duties. The company says it can decode up to 24-bit/192kHz hi-res files.

Furthermore, thanks to the WiiM streaming platform, there's support for Qobuz, Tidal Connect, Spotify Connect, Deezer, Amazon Music, TuneIn Internet Radio, and much more. We're not 100% sure if Qobuz Connect is supported right now, but we are confident it could appear in a software update if it isn't already present.

A new Pro-Ject Home app is unsurprisingly similar to WiiM's Home app, which hands you control of EQ settings, multi-room features and playback across other connected Pro-Ject units.

All the tech is contained in a compact 55x206x153mm [HxWxD] aluminium chassis available in black or silver finishes.

The Pro-Ject Uni Box S3 streaming amplifier is priced at £699 / US$1,099 / €799 and available now.

That's a decent made-in-Europe premium on the comparable £399 / US$379 / €459 WiiM Amp Pro.

For more information visit Pro-Ject