Amazon Alexa amplifier, receiver, subwoofer

I think the Microwave is the biggest threat because there is no "Sonos enabled" microwave to compete with the Amazon offering. It wouldn't surprise me if Sonos stock takes a hit as a result of the Alexa Microwave announcement.

"Alexa, nuke my leftover chili fries." Definite selling point there.

Sonos stock just dropped below $14... the Alexa microwave announcement hit them hard!

Agreed that they were in a panic and stated that they felt they were late to the game, but I saw that concern that other competitors, not really Amazon, were going to take advantage of voice assistants and take away Sonos market.
As I recall, the panic was driven by the sale of Echo/Dots in the preceding 12 months.

Moving on to the subject of this thread, the question is if people would prefer the all singing/dancing integrated Amazon music system or a Dot wired to a third party audio system. I know which way I would go, and that route for others does not have to be the audiophile one either; there have been many that bought the Bose Soundlink Mini as a partner for the Dot, to obtain better sound than from the Echo, if not still as good as Sonos. But Sonos will now have two competitors from Amazon - the all in one Amazon one and the Dot/Spot wired to the Bose/equivalent one that also includes those that will go the JBL LSR kind active/Amp+passive speaker route. Not counting the Echo itself, which is also decent sounding.

And I am pretty sure that the Amazon integrated solution will incorporate a Spot type of display as well.

The thing I wonder about this is how they'll be able to cover the market. Microwaves come in various sizes these days, with many built in. I haven't bought a microwave in a decade or so, as every place I've lived had an existing built in.

Amazon will most likely follow the same approach as with the Echo: develop a cheap product with just sufficient internal processing capabilities for basic functionality and a standard set of features and sell it at a ridiculously low price. Then make sure to enhance the product through regular future software updates. Once the product has been established on the markets, more high-quality varieties of said product will be released.

If their goal is to bring Alexa into every corner of our homes then starting by adding voice control to our most essential household appliances actually makes sense. Think long term.

I do like using the Echo Show for music in the kitchen. When I can’t remember the name of an album, “Alexa, show albums by xxx”. Then I just swipe through the list, and touch the one I want to play.

I have no doubt Amazon will enhance Show (or the next generation) to output to their upcoming amp via Alexa Cast. That would be a killer system; always see which song is playing, with lyrics if wanted.

This would also cast to a pair of Play:1s, which would certainly give Sonos a boost. There are still no self-contained, fully wireless speakers that beat a stereo pair of Play:1s for price, sound quality and functionality. Add a Show or Spot with Alexa Cast, sweet setup. And I’ll forgive Sonos for killing my Dock, lol.

Amazon will most likely follow the same approach as with the Echo: develop a cheap product with just sufficient internal processing capabilities for basic functionality and a standard set of features and sell it at a ridiculously low price. Then make sure to enhance the product through regular future software updates. Once the product has been established on the markets, more high-quality varieties of said product will be released.

If their goal is to bring Alexa into every corner of our homes then starting by adding voice control to our most essential household appliances actually makes sense. Think long term.

I agree that that may be their strategy, but I don't see it working as well for microwaves. As an example, I had no issue bringing in my echo even though I had a Sonos setup in the same room. It wasn't a complete duplication of features. But a microwave? I'm not buying a new microwave until my old one is broke, and it certainly must be built in as mine currently is. That also means it has to be the right size and power. It might be neat to bring in 2nd microwave, but I don't have the space for a cheap microwave that I don't need.

Of course there are going to be plenty of folks that could use a new microwave and/or are willing to switch for the bargain pricing, but I can't see that as nearly a big a market as the echo was.

I do like using the Echo Show for music in the kitchen. When I can’t remember the name of an album, “Alexa, show albums by xxx”. Then I just swipe through the list, and touch the one I want to play.

I have no doubt Amazon will enhance Show (or the next generation) to output to their upcoming amp via Alexa Cast. That would be a killer system; always see which song is playing, with lyrics if wanted.

This would also cast to a pair of Play:1s, which would certainly give Sonos a boost. There are still no self-contained, fully wireless speakers that beat a stereo pair of Play:1s for price, sound quality and functionality. Add a Show or Spot with Alexa Cast, sweet setup. And I’ll forgive Sonos for killing my Dock, lol.

I have a Show in my kitchen as well, and use it a lot. I've not convinced that it's been a successful product for Amazon though as I keep seeing it with deep discounts, leading me to believe they might be trying to dump inventory. I suppose we'll have a better idea of the future for Show and Spot after these new products are announced.

As for the casting feature you're looking for, I don't know. I was thinking that the amp/receiver would be an echo or alexa device with mics built in, so that you would request music directly. Of course, you can request music to play on the amp from your Show (like you can to Sonos speakers today), but that doesn't mean the show screen is going to display lyrics in sync.

That said, I do think this receiver/amp, and a soundbar, could be designed to do tv audio and have firetv and alexa capabilities built in. Given that, you'd then get your song lyrics on the TV...as you can do with a firetv today.

But a microwave? I'm not buying a new microwave until my old one is broke, and it certainly must be built in as mine currently is.

Well, just like analogue speakers, which are nowadays mostly seen as ancient fossils by anyone younger than 20 years of age and hence are more and more being replaced by digital devices, there might be an established new standard when in comes to kitchen appliances in the future, i.e. voice recognition and AI.
Like I said, think long term.

As for the casting feature you're looking for, I don't know. I was thinking that the amp/receiver would be an echo or alexa device with mics built in, so that you would request music directly. Of course, you can request music to play on the amp from your Show (like you can to Sonos speakers today), but that doesn't mean the show screen is going to display lyrics in sync.

That said, I do think this receiver/amp, and a soundbar, could be designed to do tv audio and have firetv and alexa capabilities built in. Given that, you'd then get your song lyrics on the TV...as you can do with a firetv today.

Alexa Cast is a different beast, only available in the Amazon Music app right now. Sadly, it’s disabled (for now) when the app is in Alexa mode, but I imagine Amazon is working on that. The Show is probably on sale due to ramping up competition from Google partners, and Amazon’s own “Show Mode” and Dock for their tablets, which are a cheaper Show equivalent. Amazon is, no doubt, working on another version of Show.

Right now, BlueTooth is the only option to get better sound for Show, but AirPlay is available in the Amazon Music app in Alexa mode. I can’t see Amazon not enabling Alexa Cast for both of these, greatly expanding the options. Their Dock supports 3.5mm analog audio out, another Show killing feature.

But a microwave? I'm not buying a new microwave until my old one is broke, and it certainly must be built in as mine currently is.

Well, just like analogue speakers, which are nowadays mostly seen as ancient fossils by anyone younger than 20 years of age and hence are more and more being replaced by digital devices, there might be an established new standard when in comes to kitchen appliances in the future, i.e. voice recognition and AI.
Like I said, think long term.

If it's got a killer feature, sure. People will replace their micrwaves when they fail. And that's a long term strategy, ok. It's still rather different from the long term strategy that was used for echo.

Alexa Cast is a different beast, only available in the Amazon Music app right now. Sadly, it’s disabled (for now) when the app is in Alexa mode, but I imagine Amazon is working on that. The Show is probably on sale due to ramping up competition from Google partners, and Amazon’s own “Show Mode” and Dock for their tablets, which are a cheaper Show equivalent. Amazon is, no doubt, working on another version of Show.

Right now, BlueTooth is the only option to get better sound for Show, but AirPlay is available in the Amazon Music app in Alexa mode. I can’t see Amazon not enabling Alexa Cast for both of these, greatly expanding the options.

I don't see Alexa cast being that much of a game changer. I see it more of a 'no brainer' feature that was easy to do with their existing cloud infrastructure. For one thing, it only works for Amazon music sources, and I doubt it will expand to the other sources Alexa supports. And I don't think it needs to. There is no need (other than you're lyrics feature) to really cast from one echo device to another, as you can just instruct for music to play on that other echo device.