[ad_1]
Amazon's Echo smart speakers produce a sound that's solid enough for their size and price, but they skimp a bit on deep bass and do not even try to reach sub-level levels. bass. Enter Echo Sub, a wireless subwoofer designed to pair with one or two Echo speakers to produce the bass sound that the speakers can not produce on their own. At $ 129.99, this is an affordable wireless subwoofer that offers some pretty solid bass. That said, it can not shake the walls, like home theater subwoofers, and it is held back by a strange incompatibility with Bluetooth streaming.
Design
The Echo Sub is downright puny compared to most other subwoofers. As a cylinder of 7.9 x 8.2 inches (HW), it represents about a quarter or half the size of the wireless subwoofers that you typically find included with the sound bars. In addition, it weighs only 9.3 kilos, while most home theater bass boxes regularly weigh more than 15 kilos. This looks like a much wider version of the Echo Plus, with the same curved edges and the same fabric grid on the sides. The subwoofer is only available in black, with no white or gray versions like Echo Plus and Echo Dot.
Unlike Echo Plus and other Echo speakers, the Echo Sub has no button or Alexa light ring on its top surface. This subwoofer can not listen to your voice, or even operate without one or more Echo speakers. A small notch at the bottom of the bracket contains a power connector for the supplied cable and a pairing button. Under this notch and the edge of the fabric, the subwoofer rests on a short disc – shaped base that keeps the cylinder slightly raised to allow the 6 – inch driver the ability to move air.
We tested the Echo Sub (middle) with a pair of Echo Plus speakers.
Bring your own echo
Echo Sub does not have wired inputs and can not work alone. It must be paired with an Echo, Echo Dot or Echo Plus (or two in a stereo pair) to work at all. The coupling process is simple and straightforward, via the Alexa application. Simply plug in Echo Sub and follow the same process as to install a standard Echo speaker in the application. It will not talk to you, but the app will identify the subwoofer and display it as being connected to your network. Once connected, you can pair it with one or two compatible Echo speakers.
Note that you can not use Echo Sub on Bluetooth. Even if your Echo speaker is paired to your phone via Bluetooth and is connected to the Echo Sub, the audio will only be played through the paired speaker. This limits the sources of music you can listen to, the Echo Sub only providing extra bass to Alexa-compatible services or accessible via the Alexa app. This is a strange and frustrating omission, but we hope to be able to fix it in an upcoming update.
Musical performance
The subwoofer's 6-inch, 100-watt speaker delivers substantial bass, filling in the weaknesses of the Echo Plus speakers and smaller Echo speakers. However, do not expect a complete low end home cinema system, as you will do with a solid soundbar and a separate subwoofer. We tested the Echo Sub with a pair of Echo Plus speakers. The resulting sound was similar in terms of volume and bass response to larger single speakers like the Google Home Max.
The Knife's "Silent Shout," our bass test track, resonates like a whisper with bass synth notes and bass drum strikes, where Echo Plus offered only an almost distorting punch. The Sub offers an impressive sub-bass response for small speakers, but it does not reach the thunderous levels of most wireless subwoofers included in the sound bars.
In Massive Attack's "Teardrop", the regular drum beat becomes palpable with Echo Sub, giving Echo Plus the low frequency beat that fills the room it needs to balance high and mid-range tracks. Again, this will not shake the house, but it complements the relatively low bass of the Echo Plus speakers and smaller Echo speakers to provide enough low frequencies to provide a strong sense of strength.
A solid addition to Echo-Heavy homes
The Echo Sub is perfectly resistant to the relatively low bass of the Echo and Echo Plus speakers, but it's not particularly impressive compared to other audio systems with a separate subwoofer. And the fact that you can not stream Bluetooth audio to an Echo and Echo Sub pair is a frustrating limitation. Nevertheless, this is a good way to improve the sound quality of your existing Echo speakers, especially if you do not often use Bluetooth streaming.
If you do not already have an Echo speaker, the new Echo Show is a monoblock stereo unit that not only gets extremely powerful, with a very solid bass response, but that also features a 10-inch touch screen inches to provide visual information. Add full Bluetooth support and a price below $ 250 compared to the simultaneous purchase of an Echo Plus and a Sub Echo. For an even more powerful sound in a smart speaker without a screen, Google Home Max at $ 400 is another monoblock device capable of producing a powerful sound, but it exchanges Amazon Alexa against Google Assistant.
Source link
