Amazon Echo is better than Sonos

  • 6 March 2021
  • 3 replies
  • 620 views
S

I've had Sonos for over a decade. Started with a Play:5. Decent enough. Definitely not audiophile and doesn't compare to my B&W CDM 9NT speakers, nor do I expect it to, but I did hook a Sonos Connect up to that system for the better audio quality of those speakers. I also eventually got some Play:1's, a Playbase, a Sub, and a Sonos One.

Sonos eventually rendered my old system incompatible with itself. The older Play:5 and Connect are not compatible with the other newer speakers. If I try to play through all of them on the legacy app, the sound keeps dropping out. Their solution is to buy more of their stuff and junk my old perfectly working $500 Play:5 and both of my $350 Connects. Yes. That is over $1,000 in equipment they want me to junk.

Well, with the Echo, you can take the 1/8" jack and output audio to any type of amp and speaker. If the tech in the Echo becomes outdated, just get a new cheap Echo instead of throwing out $1,200 in equipment. In fact, I had an old, but good quality 100W/channel studio power amp in a rack and some decent bookshelf speakers, just hooked an Echo up to them, and they sounds way better than the pair of Play:1's that were originally in the room... And it still would have been cheaper if I bought everything new instead of using stuff I had lying around.

Granted, the audio quality of the Echo output isn't audiophile quality. However, if you pair it with a better speaker, it will sound better in many respects than any of the Sonos speakers. Also, if you want better quality audio, just get the Echo Link. Best of all, you won't be forced to throw out a perfectly good amp and speaker when Sonos decides to render the streaming portion obsolete.

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3 replies

106rallye
Userlevel 7
Badge +17

Two questions:

  • all devices you mention are S1 compatible - how has Sonos “rendered (your) old system incompatible with itself”?
  • you seem to have wifi problems - can the community or Sonos help?

Connecting an Echo with a not connected amp seems a good and future proof idea, but it will have cables and be a bit less multiroom.

K

If I try to play through all of them on the legacy app, the sound keeps dropping out. Their solution is to buy more of their stuff and junk my old perfectly working $500 Play:5 and both of my $350 Connects. Yes. That is over $1,000 in equipment they want me to junk.

Well, with the Echo, you can take the 1/8" jack and output audio to any type of amp and speaker. If the tech in the Echo becomes outdated, just get a new cheap Echo instead of throwing out $1,200 in equipment.

To the first part, this isn't a Sonos/S1 issue, but something that needs troubleshooting your system to fix. You do not need to junk the legacy Sonos hardware to retain all S1 functionality, it works just fine via the S1 app.

I too refuse to junk perfectly good hardware just to be led down the S2 garden path. Fortunately my 5 zone system has three line in jacks, so the Echo interface to Sonos in the manner you suggest works fine for me as well. And I agree with the excellent Echo audio quality via the output jack - sound quality is limited only by limitations downstream, of what those jacks are wired to. 

I would make a general statement from your last sentence: it does not make sense to me to buy bundled audio with smarts given how rapidly the smarts will progress with the audio tech remaining stagnant. Better to invest in quality audio tech that will last and replace the smart front end like Echo even every couple of years and get the best of both worlds. And it isn't necessary to be tied down to Amazon either, in future.

There are some here that look down upon what I perceive as areas where Echo smarts win over those of Sonos, but that isn't something that bothers me; I know what I get from Echo front ends that Sonos - even S2 - simply cannot deliver.

K

 

Granted, the audio quality of the Echo output isn't audiophile quality.  

Also, if you want better quality audio, just get the Echo Link. 

I will take exception the quoted though, for the simple and usual reason that this better quality has never been established in a level matched double blind test. Or more correctly - I have never come across any such reported anywhere in the world.

Amazon of course does what all audio makers do to collect more money for the Link by saying this:

The internal DAC of the echo device is not that good, so does not sound as good as the Link. Using aux cable, you'll still be using the internal DAC. Solution is to use coaxial or optical out to your amps coaxial or optical in, so that it uses amps DAC instead of echo's DAC.

The internal DAC may not technically be as good as high end DACs, but is it audibly inferior to such DACs? Only a blind listening test can say. 

On the other hand I have found no difference in heard sound quality from my Sonos Connect/Connect Amp driven zones, using my Echo Show 5 as a source to their line in, compared to any other audiophile sources I have used, and these include USD 1500 priced external DACs.

Which isn't to say there isn’t any for sure, but don't be fooled into thinking so simply because of what Amazon say because that is almost certainly to just get more money for the Link.

S

I've had Sonos for over a decade. Started with a Play:5. Decent enough. Definitely not audiophile and doesn't compare to my B&W CDM 9NT speakers, nor do I expect it to, but I did hook a Sonos Connect up to that system for the better audio quality of those speakers. I also eventually got some Play:1's, a Playbase, a Sub, and a Sonos One.

Sonos eventually rendered my old system incompatible with itself. The older Play:5 and Connect are not compatible with the other newer speakers. If I try to play through all of them on the legacy app, the sound keeps dropping out. Their solution is to buy more of their stuff and junk my old perfectly working $500 Play:5 and both of my $350 Connects. Yes. That is over $1,000 in equipment they want me to junk.

Well, with the Echo, you can take the 1/8" jack and output audio to any type of amp and speaker. If the tech in the Echo becomes outdated, just get a new cheap Echo instead of throwing out $1,200 in equipment. In fact, I had an old, but good quality 100W/channel studio power amp in a rack and some decent bookshelf https://nox.tips/ speakers, just hooked an Echo up to them, and they sounds way better than the pair of Play:1's that were originally in the room... And it still would have been cheaper if I bought everything new instead of using stuff I had lying around.

Granted, the audio quality of the Echo output isn't audiophile quality. However, if you pair it with a better speaker, it will sound better in many respects than any of the Sonos speakers. Also, if yhttps://xender.vip/ou want better quality audio, just get the Echo Link. Best of all, you won't be forced to throw out a perfectly good amp and speaker when Sonos decides to render the streaming portion obsolete.

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