Amazon’s Home Theater System Rivals Sonos and Bose for Just a Fraction of the Price
Surround sound acoustics create a powerfully immersive home audio environment. It's easy to love going to the movies or experiencing a premier home theater audio setup, but the price tag on many modern systems puts the dream out of reach for many consumers. You might be convinced you can nab secondhand surround speakers, but older technology is becoming rapidly outdated due to limited wireless connectivity, audio engineering, and lack of integration with smart home devices. In a world where the best Bose surround sound system costs over $2,000, many consumers are on the hunt for alternatives that don't sacrifice audio quality. The surprising solution? The affordable, compact, Amazon Echo Studio and Sub.
We're already organically an Amazon devices household, so why didn't I make this connection sooner? With a few simple products, you can save *thousands* while achieving a high-end audio experience.
Related: Amazon’s Newest Smart Alarm Clock ‘Wakes Up’ its Traditional Echo Design
We're Using Echo Studio — And It Sounds Really, Really Good
We put two Echo Studios to work in our main TV-watching/video game-playing/entertaining room. To paint a picture, this room has a large projector screen and a 10-year-old Epson projector (it's high-def, but not a smart home projector). The projector was plugged into two old, computer speakers. And yes, the makeshift "surround sound speakers" were about as good as watching a movie on your 1998 PC — totally insufficient.
Our upgrade includes a pair of speakers – two Echo Studios – in opposite corners of the room. The two home theater speakers sit only a few inches off the ground – one on the base of a floor lamp, the other atop a shelf about 16" off the floor. The listening position was decided in part due to proximity to an electrical outlet. Can you install them as overhead speakers? Technically not; the product suggests that closer to the ground will perform better than if it's used like ceiling speakers.
To turn our old projector into "smart" product, we plugged an Amazon Fire TV Stick 4K into its HDMI port. Together, all three devices are managed through the built-in smart home hub. When the projector turns on, the audio is automatically synced, generating the most theater-like sound we've ever experienced at home. Do we feel that we need additional speakers or center speakers/rear speakers to round out the experience? Nope, two Echo Studios does the trick. The total cost? $459.97
Amazon
Do you need to use an Echo Sub to get a great surround sound experience?
We're not using an Echo Sub for subwoofer output, but for an additional $129.99, it's an easy and affordable way to elevate your audio listening experience even further. It's especially good if you're going to use your speakers to create a concert-like music experience. The subwoofer easily registers to your two Echo speakers to form a Stereo Sub Pair that can deliver strong bass, mid-range, and treble — all things a dedicated audiophile would want to maximize audio quality.
Awesome Audio Output for a Fraction of the Price
Amazon
Echo StudioMSRP: $199.99
Modern speakers, subwoofer, and tweeter all in one compact package that'll transform your home's dedicated theater setup. One on its own is enough to create 3D sound, but for the ultimate movie theater experience, buy two and link them both on separate sides of your room.
- Size: 8.1”H x 6.9”D (206 mm x 175 mm); 7.7 lb (3.5 kg)
- Five integrated speakers in a single device. These audio components are great. Three 2” (51 mm) midrange speakers, one 1” (25 mm) tweeter, one 5.25” (133 mm) woofer with bass aperture to maximize bass output. Peak output 330W; 24-bit DAC; 100 kHz bandwidth
- Supported Audio: FLAC, MP3, AAC, Opus, Vorbis, Dolby Digital, Dolby Digital Plus, Dolby Atmos, Sony 360 Reality Audio/MPEG-H; includes support for CD Quality (16-bit) and Hi-Res (up to 24-bit)
- Supported music streaming services: Amazon Music, Apple Music, Spotify, Tidal, Deezer, Pandora, SiriusXM, iHeartRadio, TuneIn
- Features Spatial Audio Processing Technology. "This mirrors the performance of a hi-fi stereo system, so vocal performances are more present in the center, while instruments are better defined on the side," shares an Amazon Representative. "This creates a more immersive sound experience that reproduces that spatial separation of instruments and vocals, but also mirrors the ideal stereo arrangement that artist and mixers have in studio."
- Frequency range extension delivers better performance, improved mid-range clarity, dynamic range, and deeper bass (yes, even without the Echo Sub).
- Multi-room audio enabled; better than a basic setup
- Bluetooth connectivity. No, they're not wireless speakers (they plug in), but they do wirelessly connect to Echo Studio with Fire TV Cube (1st Gen or 2nd Gen), Fire TV Stick 4K, Fire TV (3rd Gen), Fire TV Omni Series, or Fire TV 4-Series.
Amazon
Echo SubMSRP: $129.99
If you're registering two smaller Echo devices (such as Echo Dot), the Echo Sub is a great +1 to your home audio system. Plus, you'll love it if you're looking to immerse your home with music at a fraction of the price of other true surround sound systems.
Note: Some Echo devices support different stereo sound and woofer combinations
- Size: 8.0”H x 8.3”D (202 x 210 mm); 9.3 lbs (4.2 kg)
- Audio: 4L sealed chamber with 6” (152 mm) downward-firing woofer, 100W Class D amplifier; Low-frequency response, 30Hz (-6dB). Crossover frequency, 50 Hz - 200 Hz adaptive low-pass filter.
- Home theater equipment compatible
- Multi-room music compatible for an awesome sound setup
Amazon
Fire TV Stick 4KMSRP: $59.99
We like our Fire TV Stick for more than just movie nights; it'll turn any television into a modern smart home TV with built-in streaming apps and access to all your favorite movies. Best of all, you can unplug it and take it along with you when you travel to have the conveniences of your at-home streaming devices.
- 4K Ultra HD entertainment with a powerful 2.0 GHz quad-core processor for lightning-fast app starts
- Dolby Vision Atmos for a cinematic experience
- Wi-Fi 6E Support
- HDR10+
- 16GB Storage
Cloud gaming-enabled; check out Amazon Luna and purchase a coordinating controller if you don't already have a gaming system that'll sync to your system.
But wait, there's more: Amazon's Fire TV AI-enhanced search experience is now available for select Fire TV devices running FOS6 or later. If you're already a Fire TV stick user, this upgrade will make it easier than ever to find what you’re looking for. Powered by an Amazon-built Large Language Model (LLM), programming recommendations will be increasingly personalized, and the more you ask, the quicker it'll learn your interests, as well as favored genres, plots, characters, and more. Go ahead, give it a try! Some prompts you might want to explore include:
- “Show me movies about dog and human friendships.”
- “Show me psychological thrillers with surprise endings.”
- “What movie has the line, 'You're killing me Smalls'?”
Related: 20 Smart Home Devices We’re Obsessed With This Year
