Contributor I

Amazon Echo is better than Sonos

Forum|Forum|4 years ago
August 3, 2022
28 replies
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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 If the tech in the Echo becomes outdated, just get a new cheap Echo instead of throwing out $1,200 in equipment.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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K

Kumar

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 If the tech in the Echo becomes outdated, just get a new cheap Echo instead of throwing out $1,200 in equipment.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

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.

Agree with all this the thinking; this is exactly what I have done, to the extent of using Connect Amps as just amps now with an Echo front end because where that is a Show 5/8, I get voice control otherwise not available in India, with album art as well.

I am not sure I would invest in an Echo link; I have never understood the point of it when even the Dot is a perfectly good source, with sound quality completely dependent on the downstream kit that it is wired into.

C

castalla

Local Superstar

Highly unlikely that Sonos would ditch streaming... In fact, Sonos as a streamer has probably the biggest choice of services.

To my mind, there are other cons, eg. lack of chromecast, bluetooth in/out.

If you're not a fan of voice control, the Alexa control app is even worse than Sonos.

It's the courageous bee's knees - all 6 🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝. - - - - - Make Sonos Great Again - - - - -

K

Kumar

Highly unlikely that Sonos would ditch streaming... In fact, Sonos as a streamer has probably the biggest choice of services.

To my mind, there are other cons, eg. lack of chromecast, bluetooth in/out.

If you're not a fan of voice control, the Alexa control app is even worse than Sonos.

Why the reference here to Sonos ditching streaming? No reason for them to do that, it is now their mainstay.

Does Alexa even have a control app? I haven’t found one, but have never felt the need for one, being able to use voice control and Spotify casting depending on what is convenient at the time.

J

John B

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.

All your Sonos devices are compatible with each other under S1. Your statement is simply untrue.

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.

More nonsense. The solution is to address your network issues. There is no need for you to buy any replacement equipment.

Still, welcome to the forum, as you joined today after 10 years as a Sonos user! It is a shame that you seem to have believed the misinformation spread by numerous trolls on here. The S1/S2 split seems to be their topic of choice.

melvimbe

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.

This is a perfectly fine solution for a lot of people. However, you’re limiting yourself to the streaming services Amazon offers, while Sonos offers quite a bit more. To my knowledge, no airplay option. You can play audio from an aux input or TV. You can’t play a bluetooth or local music file source. You could bypass your echo and play directly on the amp for some of these, but you can’t play that audio in any other room in your home. You cannot change the rooms you’re playing audio in midstream. You can’t do anything without an active internet connection. You can’t use any voice control but Alexa.

Again, it’s a good option for a lot of people, particularly if you just want easy streaming music for cheap. I’ve got my mother setup with echos, as it meets her needs better than Sonos. She doesn’t even connect them to a better amp/speakers. But I certainly would not say that Echos are better than Sonos.

Danny

106rallye

If you only use an Echo dot to feed a non-connected amp you are, at least financially,les vulnerable to electronics that stop receiving updates. You’ll only need to replace a part of your system when the updates end on the part that connects to the net. This is the timeline for Amazon devices: https://www.aftvnews.com/when-each-fire-tv-fire-tv-stick-and-fire-tv-cube-model-will-stop-receiving-software-updates/

Note that Sonos still gets security updates to players that could have been produced in 2006. It’s just that you cannot group them anymore with (some of the) newer stuff.

K

Kumar

If you only use an Echo dot to feed a non-connected amp you are, at least financially,les vulnerable to electronics that stop receiving updates.

That is one part of the rationale. The other part is that new features to existing Echos are available immediately - while the Sonos Alexa integration involves a wait for these, and some may not even make it to there. With SVC this delay may no longer be there, I don’t know SVC - the new Sonos voice control feature - but I suspect the same may apply.

Then there is the case where Amazon releases a brand new front end, loaded with the latest in smarts, and it will still make financial sense to just replace the older front end without letting the downstream audio components go to a landfill, especially if these are quality components.

Not to forget the opportunity today to use even the humble Dot to drive audio components that are better than the best of Sonos to get sound quality that is correspondingly superior, knowing too that these can survive the Dot being superseded, and therefore justify a higher spend on them.

Now it is understandable that financial investment translates to emotional attachment, and for people with such an attachment to not accept that Echos could be better than Sonos, except as a cheap solution.

Having used/using both, I will just say that Echos now offer a very viable option to Sonos, for those that want cheap and cheerful all the way to those that want high end audiophile set ups. In the latter case, they just need to get over a hang up for Dot as a source in such a set up. But they also have to make the same mental leap to use the Connect/Port in a like manner.

There is also the opportunity to use the Dot to drive active speakers of excellent quality and value, if sourced from the pro audio maker product lines whose target customers refuse to pay for frills like veneered carpentry. From a vast range of price points - USD 100 to maybe USD 2000 a pair.

PS: I have always found it ironic that a lot of Sonos fans are also Apple haters - Apple and Sonos basically treat their customers in a like manner via bundled hardware. Sonos has even copied Apple extensively in product and package design. Which is all fine of course, but the Apple hate in Sonos fans is amusing.

K

Kumar

You can’t play a bluetooth or local music file source.

False, where local music is concerned. I play mine often, using voice control and also get album art when played on Echo Show devices - even SVC cannot voice command local music to start as far as I know, and album art is beyond Sonos, no model offers a screen option. Yes, even this needs the Show to be connected to the internet, but even in India, this is now as much a utility as is mains power.

PS: I don’t use bluetooth, but I am pretty sure the BT claim quoted is also false.

melvimbe

If you only use an Echo dot to feed a non-connected amp you are, at least financially,les vulnerable to electronics that stop receiving updates. You’ll only need to replace a part of your system when the updates end on the part that connects to the net. This is the timeline for Amazon devices: https://www.aftvnews.com/when-each-fire-tv-fire-tv-stick-and-fire-tv-cube-model-will-stop-receiving-software-updates/

Note that Sonos still gets security updates to players that could have been produced in 2006. It’s just that you cannot group them anymore with (some of the) newer stuff.

The link is for firetv devices only, and I’m not sure you can assume a similar schedule for echo devices, I could be wrong, but I think all devices are still supported and can connect with all other echos. Regardless, the point still stands that a more component based setup, where a single device performs are granular function in your system, will tend to have lower replacement costs.

Danny

melvimbe

You can’t play a bluetooth or local music file source.

False, where local music is concerned. I play mine often, using voice control and also get album art when played on Echo Show devices - even SVC cannot voice command local music to start as far as I know, and album art is beyond Sonos, no model offers a screen option. Yes, even this needs the Show to be connected to the internet, but even in India, this is now as much a utility as is mains power.

Are you using a 3rd party skill to access local files, or is it standard Alexa functionality? Can you play the audio on multiple echos at the same time (without using Sonos to group the audio)?

AS far as album art, correct that Sonos doesn’t produce any devices with a screen. You can see the album art on the Sonos app.

PS: I don’t use bluetooth, but I am pretty sure the BT claim quoted is also false.

I believe echos can be put into bluetooth mode, where they can then be used as a dumb BT speaker. You cannot share the BT audio with any other echos in your system, as can be done with the Roam.

Danny

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