Top positive review
5.0 out of 5 starsIn many ways better than Sonos Amp for half the price
Reviewed in the United States on May 24, 2019
I returned my Sonos Amp because that product is notorious for not working with 3rd party subwoofer. There are multiple threads online relating the exact same issue, Sonos unfortunately will only send a new unit but there is a big chance that it will have the same issue.
I bought the Echo Amplifier as a replacement, and I'm pleasantly surprised. The system works great with my Audioengine set up (P4 speakers and S8 subwoofer), subwoofer can connect either through line in or LFE without any issues at all.
The sound quality is fine. It is a bit worse than the sonos amp (judging only by the bookshelf speakers since I couldn't connect my subwoofer). It has half of the power as the Sonos amp at 65w per channel compared to the ridiculous 120w from the Sonos. Personally this is not a problem for me since at 40% I have enough power to fill the living room during a house party. More power would be nice, especially if running a 4.1 system like the Sonos support but its not a must have.
Connectivity is just so much better on the Echo Amp than the Sonos. I can easily use it for multiroom audio with any echo in the house, or just add a dot to integrate dump speakers. This is huge considering the Sonos does not support Echo multiroom unless you plugin an echo device through Line In (thus defeating the purpose of having superior audio quality).
Final thoughts: This is the perfect no frills amp. Easy to set up, integrates with everything, well priced, and sound quality is good enough for the price.
My set up: main living room with S8 subwoofer and two P4 speakers with a turn table connected. Echo dot in the kitchen and office (connected to two A2+ speakers), and first gen Echo speaker with battery as a mobile speaker. FireTV in the TV room. Everything can cast audio, the FireTV is the only thing that doesn't support multiroom audio.
