AMAZON Echo Sub
wireless subwoofer
At $199, this wireless sub seems just the thing to add bass to the output of Amazon’s smart speakers. But how do such combos perform?
While smart speakers are handy for answering your queries and controlling your smart home gear, we’ve found the smaller models to be wanting when it comes to decent sound quality — which is at least partly because of their size. Hence Google and Apple have both addressed sound quality by creating larger smart speakers (as have some third parties, including JBL). But not Amazon. Rather than release a larger top-shelf speaker to rival the Google Home Max and Apple HomePod, it has instead decided to beef up its sound by adding a subwoofer to the mix. This has been the solution chosen already by some of the more hi-fi-styled multiroom speaker brands — Sonos, HEOS, Bluesound and Yamaha all have separate subwoofers available which can be paired with smaller wireless speakers to deliver the deeper frequencies which those cannot reach.
Sync and swim
As with those brands, the $199 Echo Sub doesn’t work as a standalone speaker. Instead it needs to be linked to an existing Amazon speaker (or stereo speaker pair) using the Alexa app. The Sub can thus work in sync with any Echo, Echo Plus or Echo Show, as well as with the new third-gen Echo Dot. (The older Echo Dots aren’t invited to this particular party.)
Amazon says the Sub is optimised for the secondgen Echo or second-gen Echo Plus. It’s also worth noting that you can’t create a stereo pair with two first-gen Echos or two Echo Shows. Once the Amazon speakers and Sub are linked, they act as one, with the Sub taking care of business downstairs, while the other Echo speaker/s handle the highs and midrange.
Performance
In theory this is a great solution, and the Sub certainly has plenty of oomph. But in practice the results can be underwhelming, most obviously because you’re at the mercy of the sound quality of those other Echo speakers.
To be fair, the new $79 Echo Dot (the thirdgeneration model) is an impressive improvement over its predecessor. On its own, the new
Dot manages to sound better than the little Google Home Mini, which in turn puts the old second-gen Dot to shame. The new Dot offers more well-rounded, full-bodied sound from its small puck-like frame, and can even hold its own against the standard Google Home, at least until you crank the Dot’s volume past halfway. At this point what low-end there is starts to falter, and strong bass lines become lost in the mix.
Throw in Amazon’s Echo Sub and things are more inclined to rock the house. And that’s not surprising considering the Sub packs a 100W Class-D amplifier driving the downward-firing six-inch woofer. It tips the scales at 4.2kg, standing eight inches tall and measuring a little
more that that across. It’s fairly compact for a subwoofer, though of course it’s considerably larger than Apple’s HomePod or the likes of the Sonos One.
Since low frequencies are less directional, you can hide the Sub out of the way, even out of sight. But things sound best when you keep all the linked speakers in the same corner of the room. That’s partly because you can pick the gap between the two speakers — the limited downward range of a small satellite speaker means the Sub has to play upward far higher than a hi-fi subwoofer (the specifications put the crossover as high as 200Hz depending on what you pair it with, whereas 80Hz would be a hi-fi norm). So while at first listen the little Dot and hefty Sub make a good combination, listen closer and you hear that the music is suffering. Rather than well-rounded audio, it sounds a little muddy, thanks to a heavy low-end and weak mid-range. The sound isn’t terrible, but if you have an ear for detail you’re unlikely to be impressed. The effect is a bit like flicking the ‘bass boost’ switch on an old boombox when listening to the Beastie Boys because you’re more interested in annoying your parents and rattling the windows than appreciating the audio quality.
Comparisons
So the Sub is really a blunt instrument, and that becomes all the more clear when you place it, as we did, in a line-up of the usual suspects even including non hi-fi brands — alongside a Sonos One and Play:5, the Google Home Max and Apple’s HomePod.
Cue up something like Gnarls Barkley’s Crazy or Macy Gray’s Sex-o-matic Venus Freak and the Sub pumps out enough ground-shaking low end to shame the Google Home Max and Sonos Play:5. You actually need a Sonos Play:5 stereo pair or the beefy Sonos Sub to keep up.
Amazon’s Echo Sub is also relatively kind to AC/DC’s It’s A Long Way To The Top, emphasising the gut-wrenching kick drum and bass line but selling the bagpipes a little short.
It’s a different story when you switch to The Red Hot Chili Peppers’ Give It Away. Flea’s bass riffs don’t come to life on the Sub the way they do on the Sonos One, not to mention the other Sonos speakers, or the Google Home Max. As you’d expect, these other speakers also deliver a wider soundstage than the Dot (which is mono, using a single 4cm driver). Great bass is about tone, not just grunt, meaning the bass solos on Miles Davis’ So What or the Violent Femmes’ Please Do Not Go sound neither sweet nor life-like coming from the Echo Sub.
Swapping out the Echo Dot for an Echo or even the Echo Plus naturally helps, but at this point you’re spending more and more money to make the best of a bad situation. Even with the Echo Plus you’re still struggling to match the Sonos One’s overall fidelity. You can adjust the EQ settings on the Sub, but you’re never going to fully compensate for that weak mid-range.
Keep in mind the prices here are low compared with a traditional hi-fi set-up. The Dot and Sub combined will set you back $268. For only $229 you can pick up the trusty Sonos Play:1, which is a step-up in terms of overall sound quality, and there are plenty of other hi-fi multiroom brands with their lower speakers in or near this price category. While these first-rung products are obviously no match for the Sub’s six-inch driver and thumping bass if you’re running neighbourhood dance parties, those with an ear for detail will appreciate the more nuanced music and consider them a much wiser investment.
And of course Sonos and other multiroom brands are bringing in compatibility with Alexa and/or Google Voice Assistant, so that you don’t lose the ‘smart’ stuff by choosing another brand. As we see elsewhere in this issue, Bluesound, HEOS, Sonos and Yamaha’s MusicCast all have Alexa skill sets; JBL and others have Google Voice Assistant either built-in or can be addressed from a Google Home unit somewhere on your network.
Conclusion
So what’s the verdict? While Amazon’s Echo Sub delivers depth, even a real gut-punch, it’s just not the best option if you really want to feel your music. If you’re wedded to the Amazon ecosystem then the Echo Sub is a handy addition, though even then, with so many other Alexa-capable devices with hi-fi credentials, there are better options. Perhaps Amazon will one day consider a larger device — an Echo ‘Max’ — for music lovers with an ear for the finer things. Adam Turner
“Amazon’s Echo Sub certainly has plenty of oomph. But in practice the results can be underwhelming...”