The Best Stereo Amplifiers and Receivers Under $300 of 2025

Top pick

This stereo integrated amp adds Wi-Fi streaming to deliver potentially better sound than you can get over Bluetooth, plus an HDMI ARC port and subwoofer output. But the front-panel design is almost too simplistic.

The WiiM Amp is the integrated amp to get if you want to stream audio over Wi-Fi without having to add an external streamer, or if you want to use your system for TV sound.

Wi-Fi gives you better sound and does more. Wi-Fi streaming results in subtly better sound quality than Bluetooth can offer since the signal doesn’t require compression. It also lets you play the same audio on multiple systems in different rooms.

The WiiM Amp uses an app (Android and iOS, with MacOS and Windows versions available in beta) for Wi-Fi streaming and control functions. At last count this app accessed 17 streaming services, including Amazon Music, iHeartRadio, Pandora, Qobuz, Spotify, Tidal, and TuneIn. The same app also controls other WiiM devices in a system, such as the Pro Plus.

The WiiM Amp is also compatible with Amazon Alexa, Apple AirPlay 2, and Google Chromecast—so, for example, you can play the same audio on the WiiM Amp and a couple of Amazon Echo speakers.

This amp includes lots of inputs and useful features. The WiiM Amp is the least-expensive amp we’ve found that has an HDMI ARC port, which connects to a TV and allows the TV remote to control the amp’s volume. We found this feature extremely useful, and it makes the WiiM Amp a viable alternative to a soundbar. The amp and a pair of good speakers can’t deliver the wraparound sound and powerful bass of a good soundbar, but they’re likely to sound better with music.

The WiiM Amp also has Bluetooth support (just the standard SBC variety, no AAC, aptX, or the like), as well as USB and optical digital audio inputs and a line-level analog input.

Like many mini amps, the WiiM Amp has a subwoofer output, but this one has an adjustable crossover that routes the bass into the subwoofer (and out of the main speakers) at any frequency from 30 Hz to 250 Hz, and it allows you to adjust the phase and volume of the subwoofer from the app. Because the bass is filtered out of the main speakers, they play louder with less distortion.

The WiiM Amp comes with a small remote that lets you adjust volume and control play/pause and track-skip functions for Wi-Fi and Bluetooth sources. The remote has a built-in microphone as well, so you can access Amazon Alexa, Apple Siri, and Google Assistant voice-command systems.

It performs well. Our measurements showed that, at 1% total harmonic distortion with a 1 kHz signal, the WiiM Amp produced 65.6 watts into 8 ohms and 130.9 watts into 4 ohms—both are impressive numbers for an amp of this size and price. The distortion is higher in the bass—at 20 Hz, distortion rises to 7.3% at 65.6 watts into 8 ohms—but because bass distortion is much less audible, it’s doubtful you’d notice this effect, and most people wouldn’t use such a small amp with big, bassy speakers in the first place.

The frequency response was mostly flat, with a bass dip of -0.4 dB at 20 Hz and a treble boost of +0.7 dB at 20 kHz, neither of which would make an audible difference. Unlike some subwoofer crossovers in inexpensive amps we’ve tested, this one works perfectly, reducing the bass and midrange/treble at about -15 dB per octave—enough to keep your main speakers from distorting and voices from coming out of your subwoofer.

The design doesn’t look cheap. The WiiM Amp’s simple, sleek styling doesn’t draw attention to itself. At just 7.5 inches wide and 2.5 inches high, it can slip into small spaces, and its efficient, Class D circuitry needs only a bit of ventilation. It’s available in silver or gray.

The amp also has a detachable, generic AC power cord rather than a separate power supply, so you don’t have to worry about misplacing the power supply.

Flaws but not dealbreakers

We wish it had more controls on the front panel. There you’ll find only a volume knob and a play/pause button; to change inputs, you have to use the remote or the app.

It offers only garden-variety Bluetooth. The WiiM Amp supports the standard SBC codec and nothing more—no AAC, aptX, or LDAC. As we’ve noted, we don’t consider upgraded codecs to be an important addition to a device like this, but some audiophiles do.

The WiiM app doesn’t directly support Apple Music or YouTube Music. You can, however, stream to the amp directly from those services’ apps.