Echo Link Amp - Stream and amplify hi-fi music to your speakers

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.

I just added this and the so-so reviews are just wrong. The sound is very good and it’s very nice to just have Alexa play music. Buying another.UPDATE - I now use two. I can separately control zones easily using echos. I’ve tried multi zone before with other amps and while I could make it work nobody else in my family could. Nobody wanted a “fancy” amp.This solved my problem completely. Easy to use. Great sound. Enough power to drive patio speakers. Voice control. Multi zone.For those comparing this with cheap amps and connected echo dots… it’s just no comparison.

I picked up Echo Link Amp since my Bose SA5 has been sitting with Bose for couple of months to get Airplay support. Reviews for Echo Link Amp were just ok, nothing special so I was a bit concerned. My setup needed to power 4 speakers - Bose Free space 51 and Polk Atrium 6 so I was not sure if this amp would be able to handle either.I was quite surprised when I connect all four speakers and at 50% volume, it was loud. I went up to 60% and didn't hear any distortion and didn't wanted to bother neighbors either. Out of the box, the sound is a little flat for my taste, though good thing is that you can change the EQ settings and apply a crossover. You can set this amp with other Alexa's for multi room too, you just need to be on the same network. Multi-room on Alexa actually works pretty good. Overall, I have used Bose SA5 for 5 years, and I think Echo Link amp + Alexa devices are decent replacement for the whole Bose SoundTouch multi room speaker line. I am already selling my sound touch and will actually sell my Bose SA5 too when I get it back.Here are the Pros -1) Price $299 vs $499.2) Way better iPhone App. Amazon keeps updating the app too. Bose Soundtouch app is buggy, loses connections to speakers, had to restart the app few times, it works though experience is pretty poor.3) You don't have to be on your home network to control the speakers.4) EQ settings + crossover support in the app.5) Has Line out for stereo, subwoofer and optical too in the back. I have connected my old Airport express which has Airplay support and line out. It works great. If you are not playing music from the Alexa app, it switch to RCA stereo automatically.6) Decent Internet music services. The ones I care about Pandora, Amazon Music, Audible and Apple Music are all there.7) Amazon's support is far superior than what I have experienced with Bose.Cons -1) I haven't seen ability to play music from NAS or DLNA. Personally, this is not a deal breaker for me since I rarely used this feature.2) App itself is designed more for Internet Radio. You cannot browse your library on the app. So you can see all Radio channels from Pandora, Apple Music, Amazon Music. In order to play an album, you have to ask Alexa to play a song or album. Again, this is not a deal beaker though this is something I hope Amazon adds it in their Alexa App. I understand this was not needed for Alexa devices though for the amp which is powering speakers outside in the patio, it would be nice.