Amazon echos as a Sonos replacement

[MrCheese]

So after the news that Sonos have introduced the concept of legacy units to their extremely expensive speakers I’m trying out alternatives.

As a test I bought a couple of the latest generation echo dots. I paired them as a stereo pair and bought a couple of holders that very neatly hide the cables and plug. They look great and the sound quality compares very favourably with Sonos particularly given their extremely small size. Based on my experience of these units I’d be fairly confident that the larger units would match Sonos in terms of functionality and sound quality.

There is one problem I’m experiencing which at the moment is a dealbreaker - when I use the Amazon Alexa app to control the volume there is an extreme lag between changing the volume and the units doing anything. It makes them unusable in situations where I need to turn down or mute the music when I receive a call. Is this normal? Do other Echo users experience the same extremely laggy response from the controller app? My Wi-Fi is extremely well set up with a mesh system so I’m fairly co nfident it is an issue with the Echos.

I’d really appreciate feedback from other users of the Amazon sound equipment.

[stevemcs]

Why don't you say Alexa volume 0 ?

[Nickbrapp]

I recently sold my Sonos 3 play as it had got so slow to respond to the app and often just wouldn’t play direct from Spotify, I found myself using my echo dot more and more

The sound isn’t quite as good but to be honest it’s perfectly fine for day to say listening.

[Andeh1]

Doesn't sound right to me, though 90% of the time I just shout at them to turn it out. Works extremely well!!

Have you got the echo dots or the bigger tower units?

[Rick101]

Switched to full Google here. Pretty much did the whole lot with the proceeds of one used Play 5.

[matt666]

Just say Alexa stop and they stop immediately. Much better than faffing with the app.

The full size Echos are a decent speaker for the size, and you can connect other speakers to them, either line out or Bluetooth.

You can also set up multi room and tell Alexa to play everywhere.

It’s not the last word in audio quality but for the size and price it really isn’t bad.

[MrCheese]

I’m using the dots not the full size units.

I think the problem may be that the amazon ecosystem is setup for voice control, I never use that as I don’t want microphones on in the house. It seems a shame because the sound from the tiny amazon units is pretty decent. The app delay makes the whole thing unusable.

[Douglas Quaid]

Have you looked at the audio pro units? I have just bought a c10, but they do smaller units too.