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Amazon Echo Dot + Vintage Gear

andyoz

andyoz

pfm Member
...anyone else using Echo Dot with old gear.

I've just setup my parents 25+ year old Luxman/Klipsch rig with one and it's a wonderful way to link the new with the old

I'm looking for an old rig to do the same in my office...
 
andyoz said:
...anyone else using Echo Dot with old gear.

I've just setup my parents 25+ year old Luxman/Klipsch rig with one and it's a wonderful way to link the new with the old

I'm looking for an old rig to do the same in my office...
Click to expand...
 
I agree that an Echo or a Dot is certainly a great way to simplify access to music, the news or whatever, through a music system, but in my view it's not hi fi.

I do use a Dot through an old Nytech CRA252 / Epos 11 system and the sound quality is ok for background music. I also use a Squeezebox in the same way and that sounds far better than the Dot. No voice activation of course.

in the end, the Amazon products have great functionality, but the Dacs they contain are not really "hi fi".
 
I think they are great.
I have one connected to my main CB rig.
I can hardly hear a drop in quality.
Mustn’t have golden ears.
 
Bob McC said:
I think they are great.
I have one connected to my main CB rig.
I can hardly hear a drop in quality.
Mustn’t have golden ears.
Click to expand...

Yes, for the stuff I listen too (classic rock) they sound great.

I'm hearing lots of nice detail in cool jazz stuff my parents like to play. Klipsch have a lovely slightly old school presentation to them.

AD converters aern't expensive anymore.
They paid A$49 which is £25 so it's insane.

I expect critical listening on classical might be another issue.
 
I've just put a bunch of these things around the house (different models, some with display) but the line out sounds pretty decent on first listen, if a bit quiet and needing more gain than usual. The latter might help when feeding a vintage amp which pre date the 2v CD standard.
I've not compared to anything yet, but if the internal dac and line buffer is clean it could make a great solution with Amazon music which has a lossless (FLAC) streaming option.

I mean, the dac doesn't even need to be that good - I always remind people that these cheap dacs are still orders of magnitude better than the equipment used to record and master our LPs from 20+ years ago :)

Nevertheless, manufacturers do screw up with poor implementation so I'll compare to a known good dac.
 
Robert said:
I mean, the dac doesn't even need to be that good - I always remind people that these cheap dacs are still orders of magnitude better than the equipment used to record and master our LPs from 20+ years ago :)

Nevertheless, manufacturers do screw up with poor implementation so I'll compare to a known good dac.
Click to expand...

Agree with this.

I don't discount any digital gear now based on price. Amazon are basically selling these as a loss leader when heavily discounted
 
Andyoz - pleased its working out for you and your parents - the Dot 3rd Gen is available here in Toronto for $24.99 = UK 15 !
Given your success I might try one into one of my set ups for access to BBC Radio 4 and a bit of Spotify.
Happy listening - J
 
The only issue I have found listening to BBC on our echo dot is that BBC radio doesn't use tune in so you have to download the BBC skill for Alexa then it works.
 
Colinb said:
The only issue I have found listening to BBC on our echo dot is that BBC radio doesn't use tune in so you have to download the BBC skill for Alexa then it works.
Click to expand...
Sadly the BBC Skill is not available for us in Canada !
So its back to plugging in the laptop to get The Archers........
 
I’ve just added a Yamaha WXC-50 to a vintage Yamaha setup.. B-2 and NX1000XW. Brings it into the 21st century, and seems to work better than through sky Q and Apple TV.

It’s also nicer listening to music without having to have a screen on... especially important for my children to enjoy music without the visual distraction of a TV screen on.

I would like another Yamaha amp in another room - I’ll post a wanted thread.
 
I use an Echo Dot in the kitchen connected to a little one-box Teac affair, I have had it through all sorts of amps, it's great. The bit of my hifi that sees most listening is Amazon Fire tablet (£30) into a Chi-Fi Bluetooth antenna (£2) connected to a Rotel Michi pre, an Amcron Crown power amp and stacked pairs of ESL 57s. That's about as mullet as it gets, but it sounds fantastic and nothing is outclassed.

It's not 1987 any more. Things have moved on.
 
I'm currently searching the local Gumtree and FB adverts for a 'Big Old Fun' rig to put in the office with an Echo Dot at it's core.
 
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