Amazon Echo Studio (1st generation), Our best-sounding Alexa speaker, Perfect for living rooms, family rooms, and other large spaces, Charcoal

4 words to describe Echo Studio. "I Absolutely Love It!" You get sent an email notification from Amazon it will be arriving. They give you the information needed to make sure your ready for setting it up when you receive it. The links are easy to follow and make sure you download the Alexa app prior to it arriving. That way the process is seemingly easier than just plugging in and going "Willy-Nilly" without a clue on what your doing. Also, it's important you have you Internet 🛜 password in hand when setting the Bluetooth. There's a lot of settings in the app for this item but just take your time so you don't set something wrong unexpectedly. Otherwise the whole setup is easy. You can play around with the other settings later. Just make sure it works out of the box when going through the initial setup. Then it's clearly enjoyment time if all goes well. The Echo Studio is a HUB device. So keep that in mind. Functionality is a breeze and the design is perfect for any room. Sound is incredible and you can tweak it. Do not max out equalizer or you can potentially damage the speaker's inside it. I have the bass set to the middle. Even there it rattle's the floor. The midrange and treble are very crisp to the ear especially after a tweak. Find you own perfect balance though. Refer to Alexa app for all your questions and other things it can do. Echo Studio automatically updates itself after connecting to the app. It's worry free! I just can't get over the sound it produces for such a small tabletop speaker. I'm very happy with it. I plan on buying a second one to really amplify my experience by linking both for True Stereo 2.0 and possibly the Echo Subwoofer. Yes, other Alexa speakers may be linked to this. Again, the Alexa app helps if planning on doing it. Moreover, it really is a great entertainment investment. Definitely worth the purchase. Besides, it comes with a Alexa shopping bag you can use when going to a convenience store for party snacks. Lol Believe me, i think it was intentional.😉 Enjoy the Vibes with Echo Studio while having Alexa a voice command away. DJ Alexa! 😂 Thanks Amazon, for an incredible Bluetooth speaker.

There will be plenty of reviews for the Studio in stand alone, single speaker use. It does sound excellent that way. But if you pair two Studios and throw in the Echo Sub, that is an extraordinary composition! That is the way to do the Echo Studio! That is how I'll review it here. I decided I must pair two Studios since I had two Echo Plus's stereo paired with an Echo Sub and it sounded pretty darn good. So I had to try the Studio paired in stereo, and since I had the Sub, I threw that in too. What else am I going to do with it? The Sub added a lot to the two Plus's. I wondered would you even notice it with the two Studios? I'm here to say that you definitely notice it. You notice it's not there, I can tell you. The sound of this whole system (two Echo Studios and the Echo Sub) is quite exceptional. I would have to say it's thrilling! Yes, it costs $530 but that is bound to come down and did I tell you that it sounds incredible? It commands a respect, it really does. There is such a depth to this. The bass is deliberate and authoritative. Very punchy. It has exceptional dynamic range (at high volumes this can be startling) and the stereo image is just stunning. An enormous stage. Those 6 midrange speakers sound sweet indeed. Be sure to turn everything up in the equalizer in Audio Settings of the device in the Alexa App. This thing likes loud! It can easily handle max volume for extensive listening. You crank this up to ten and it literally takes over the room. If you can listen at that volume for awhile with this system (you must live without neighbors) you will be found with a huge smile on your face. All of Amazon's music library is now available in lossless CD quality streaming or better, which shines on this. The new celebrated 3D formats also sound excellent, though I thought there'd be more to them (Abbey Road sounded great but I didn't think it was transformed). But anything you play on this will sound exceptional. I really can't believe Amazon has taken it this far from the original Echo. Bravo! I notice that the Apple Homepod is now down to $200 at Best Buy. Would two of them paired sound better than this setup? I truly doubt it. They'd need a subwoofer and none, as far as I know, are available for it. A few things. The circling Alexa lights are now on top of the speaker. You can no longer really see them from the side, which is unfortunate. I love those lights! And two, the Studio comes with this "spatial" setting set. I recommend turning it off. In the Alexa app, go to the device and then Audio Settings and below the equalizer is that on off button for the spatial effect. I don't find it adds anything even though it really changes the acoustics. But if you want to hear music as it was recorded, leave this off. Oh, and I have to say that Amazon still does not make it super easy to set this all up. You have to start with a new or deregistered speaker. Set up each separately and then pair them. But it's anything but obvious or close to foolproof. Come on, Amazon! And I feel I must tell you that you can't connect to the Studio by Bluetooth when stereo paired. It will only play through one Studio, the first one you set up. To use the Studios in stereo pair with the Echo Sub, you can only stream. And you can only stream if you pay. Finally, then, these things are big. Really quite large. And seemingly only available now in black, though there's a gray one in Amazon's web site ads. This is not a speaker that sits demurely upon a table. It's almost as big as the Echo Sub, if that helps visualize it. But you will definitely be challenged as to its home, because that is where this will stay, like forever. Especially if you go for the whole magilla. But I urge you to at least try it (the whole magilla!). But be prepared, I guarantee you won't send them back! UPDATE: After a software update, the Spatial effect is now the preferred way, so leave it on. Turning it off now makes the music too flat. I think it may even turn off one of the mid range speakers. But something's missing! ADDENDUM: After two years, these still shine as brightly as ever. But the thing that must be emphasized is that this system of two Echo Studios and the Echo Sub is designed to take full advantage of Amazon Music’s HD streaming service, since these can work together only with streamed audio. Using that enables you to get at least CD quality audio recorded in lossless FLAC files (what Amazon calls HD, 16-bit/44.1kHz) for everything in the catalog, and Ultra HD (up to 24-bit/192kHz) available on an ever-growing list of recordings. In addition, it is also capable of playing Amazon’s (admittedly still in limited quantity) so called 3D Audio recordings (Amazon Music supports Dolby Atmos and Sony 360 Reality Audio spatial audio formats). If you don’t get the Amazon Music HD package ($12.99 monthly with Prime / $14.99 without), then you will be missing out on what these speakers are designed to deliver. Amazon’s Ultra HD music must be heard on a system that supports it to be appreciated. It truly is something else in audio quality, significantly better sounding than any CD or LP. And Amazon Music’s catalog is growing by leaps and bounds every month. It is currently quite vast, even its Classical Music selection which has exploded in the two years since the Echo Studio was introduced. Using the Amazon Echo Link ($140), you could get this same quality streaming audio (or even better depending on your amp and speakers) for an existing Hi-Fi setup (at least I think you can- there seems to be some confusion about whether it supports the full 24-bit/192kHz Ultra HD), although you could not get 3D Audio with the Link. You could also use the Echo Link to attach any other sub-woofer to your Echo Studio pair but that would also require an additional amplifier thrown in. However, if you don’t have that Hi-Fi system already, these (2 paired Echo Studios and the Echo Sub) are the way to go to take full advantage of Amazon Music HD at a very favorable price. Just compare their cost to that of a good Hi-Fi system consisting of amplifier, pre-amp, two speakers and a sub-woofer as well as the Echo Link you’d need. The Echo speakers here are a definite bargain for getting excellent audio with minimal wires or fuss!

You can't find anything that will compare at this price point. I bought one and added a second to make a pair a week later. Yes it will work as a stand alone speaker but it is so much better as a pair. As a powered speaker it is amazing. What happens with powered speakers typically is that if you crank the volume up the built in amplifier clips at loud passages. That means the amp cannot supply enough power to drive the speakers resulting in really bad distortion. I cannot get Studio to get clip. That means they have been engineered with plenty of reserve power. They are rated at 330 watts each but I believe that's very coservative and they handle peak power demand much higher. As stand alone speakers they handle mids and highs very well. Playback of streaming 3D content from Amazon was very good. My 13 yr old son who is not an audiophile(yet), remarked while listening to Shawn Mendes Unplugged in Ultra HD. "It is like being in the front row" Are they audiophile grade? No. Why? There is no bass. Frequency response is only down to 50hz. You can hear bass but you cannot feel it. What do I mean? If you have been to a live venue, the drummer steps on the kick drum pedal and a thump hits you in the chest. That's what I am talking about. You need a powered subwoofer to take the setup to the next level. There is the Echo Sub but I cannot recommend it as it has only a 6" driver. The limits of physics. Bass is all about moving large amounts of air. A 6" driver only moves 1/4 the amount of air as a 12" driver. Unfortunately the Studio does not play well with non Echo equipment. Wanting to see how far I could take the Studios, I took a chance and figured out a work around. I bought an Echo Link and hooked it up to a 12" 1000 watt powered subwoofer. With much difficulty I now have it working with the Studios using a multi-room setup hack. Right now 2 x Studios, Link and a large powered subwoofer is easily producing a listening experience similar to that of using equipment costing thousands of dollars. And you have the added bonus of voice control. If you have the Fire Stick, you can stream Dolby Atmos content to the speakers. Good Dolby Atmos Home theater sound for under $1000. I think Amazon has done an excellent job here. No other audio equipment manufacturer can touch the Studio in terms of value and being able to add to. Sonos, Apple and Google are miles behind.

I LOVE LOVE LOVE these speakers. I bought two of them and have them paired up. So far it has been amazing. Here's what I love about them: - In paired mode, the speakers sound incredible. I have tried both "spatial" and "non-spatial" settings and both sound pretty good. - I recently upgraded my fire TV to a fire stick 4K and the dolby sound that comes when watching a movie/show is outstanding - Speaker is so good that I sold off my regular speakers which were really nice, but I truly don't need them anymore - microphone pickup is outstanding. even if music is playing I can say Alexa and usually it hears me - When compared to the google mini I had, I notice that the home automation stuff I have is faster. Like "Alexa turn on kitchen light" it responds instantly Cons: - I have spotify and frankly spotify integration sort of sucks. I can't say "shuffle music", i doesn't work. if i say "play more songs like this" it doesn't work. playing of music will just stop mid-stride for no reason. even "play that song that goes shake it like a polaroid picture" doesn't work. i'm really disappointed with spotify on echo studios. so i tried out amazon music with a free offer, and guess what? of course everything works perfectly. i'm a little bit bothered that i may have to migrate from spotify or change to a different type of speaker. with my google mini, spotify worked perfectly. - i have my speakers paired, and because of this, using the communication feature of the echo studio when paired doesn't work. i found out it will only work if i unpair the speakers. i submitted a bug but there's been no fix for weeks. irritating! - the speakers can be buggy. sometimes the speakers will unpair for no reason. i had initially setup my speakers on a different wi-fi network name. so i changed it to the one I want. i went to amazon and told it to not remember any old wi-fi names. but for some reason, they would randomly re-connect to the old connection. I finally did a factory reset and did it all again and now it seems to work without switching back. Pretty much what I have come to believe/realize is that these speakers are all about the amazon echo-system. I don't see a priority for it to work with spotify because they want you to switch to amazon music. The hardware itself is great, so I may actually follow what they planned and switch to amazon music. But I'm irritated about it. The alexa app is okay, but kind of buggy. So I would've given it 5 stars, but give it 4. I'm still extremely happy because I love the sound from teh paired speakers. and watching movies with atmos is amazing, like for the first time i feel like you can hear sounds coming from the side or further away or atmospheric sounds. my old home theater system never sounded this good. If you're a huge spotify user, I'd stay away and maybe go for the Sonos. But if you're ambivalent about your music service, this works perfect with amazon music. And so far with my fire stick 4k the sound with the paired speakers is amazing.

UPDATE I’ve had the 2.1 setup connected to a 4K Stick for 5 months, which has been used as a sound bar/stereo in our master bedroom. From a music perspective, it sounds it’s pretty good! The sound stage is full and produces decent bass. I wish it got a little louder. I find the bass response better for music than movies (I LOVE heavy bass in action scenes). If you like heavy bass for action movies, you may be a little disappointed. . I have, but no longer experience the connectivity issues others have written about. Mine were limited to music playback, however the issue subsided a few months ago. I’ll address three improvement areas: 1) When connected with the sub, all the lows go through the sub and the woofers on the studios are rendered useless, unless the volume is high. The trade-off is clearer sound than when the studios are paired alone. Personally, I look at it as a design flaw. All three units should produce lows (or at least have the settings in the EQ to do so) for a better, more immersive bass experience. What good is a 5.25’ Studio driver if it won’t be used when paired?? 🤔 2) As other reviewers have mentioned, there is a lip syncing issue when used as a home theater. Depending on the source the fire stick is decoding, there can be a noticeable sound lag. I have not discovered a way to address this issue. 3) The Studios have the ability to play lossless tracks (24bit). However, paired with a Fire device (Cube, 4K stick... doesn’t matter) the output drops to 16bit, because the sound is decoded in the Fire device and played through the Studio. This simply means that fidelity/musical clarity is lost . The limitation lies within the Fire device, not the Studio. However, it’s worth mentioning because when connected to a Fire device, the Studios will be limited to the capability of the decoding device. If they’re used as a stand-alone stereo for music only, you can use the Studios to their full ability. BOTTOM LINE I like the setup. I already owned the Eco Sub so its cost had no bearing on my buying decision. The Studios were an add-on for me. In fairness, I came out off of pocket $240 for both Studios combined. With that said, FOR ME I find great value and functionality. The question is, if I was to start over and pay full retail ($400 for two Studios + $130 for the sub) for a wireless stereo/sound bar system, what would I think? Could I find a better wireless Atmos Sound bar + woofer with no lip syncing issues for the money? YEP! Could I find a better wireless Smart stereo for the money? I’m not so sure! Could I find one that does both pretty well? I doubt it! Could I split the money between two decent systems, one for music and one for theater? Not why would I go do that??? I’d get one that could do multiple things. FOR THE MONEY it’s good buy. It’s not a Sonos Playbar + Sub (which is 2x the cost) nor a B&W sound bar & Sub (which is 4x the cost). It’s good for the money. If you can look past the intermittent lip sync issue, go for it. If that's a deal breaker, spend more and get a sound bar that also produces good music. ———————————————————— The speakers sounds great! No complaints; simple setup, quick calibration and I was off to the races. From a price point, it's comparable to the Sonos One. From a sound quality, it far exceeds. Sonos One is probably slightly clearer, but that's where the comparisons stop. Echo Studio has a wider/fuller sound stage, more bass, gets louder. The closest comparison is probably the HomePod or Play 3. IMO, this sounds better than both. I already own an Echo Sub and ordered an additional Studio for pairing. I have yet to connect to FireTV 4k to test the home theater setting. In summary, this produces very good sound, the price is reasonable and it's the best smart speaker on the market... in my humble opinion...

The Echo Studio is a quantum leap from any other speaker that Amazon has produced to date. Everything else sounds like a transistor radio in comparison. The sound separation is fantastic and you can actually feel the bass at higher volume levels. There a couple of issues, however. The vaunted 3D sound is a waste on anything other than the songs that are specifically set up for it. DO NOT use it as a default setting. The music that is not 3D will sound muddy and the vocals will be lost in the mix. However, if you turn it off, the music will immediately brighten and the vocals will be clear and crisp. There are a lot of online reviews where they claim that the clarity of the vocals is lacking. That is because they were early reviews and took place before you could turn off the Spatial enhancement option. Second, if you combine the speaker in a group or as stereo pair, playing the amazon music app causes songs to stop playing at random and skip to the next song. I have read online where it stops playing altogether for some people. It does not happen when just playing though a single speaker. I have not experienced the problem, as yet, when playing through the alexa app. However the Alexa app navigation leaves something to be desired. Also the Alexa app doesn’t show the quality of the track that’s playing. Ok, issues out of the way, I have 2 of the Echo Studio paired for stereo and the sound is a revelation. Listening to the White Album in Ultra HD reveals melodies and instrumentation that I’ve never heard before. The clarity of the voices is amazing. It’s like listening to it for the first time. The 3D tracks sound great as well. There is a massive sound stage. The music really does envelop you. It’s not the same as surround sound. So those looking to relive the days of 5.1 SACD and DVD-HD will be disappointed. It’s impossible to get the same effect from one or two speakers. You won’t hear discrete sounds from behind you, but instead you get a full range from in front of you. It’s difference between sitting the front row for a concert (Echo Studio) and sitting on stage in the middle of the orchestra (5.1 surround). I haven’t tried out the pair for fireTV as yet. The current options for Dolby Atmos are limited and I’ve already watched the new season of Jack Ryan, but I may try this at some point in the future. The amazon credit for turning in an old Echo, sealed the deal on getting the second Studio. The wait for a second one was too long from Amazon, so I got it at Best Buy. They also participate in the Echo buy back program. So, I turned in an old echo dot and got 25% off the new studio (the discount is the same regardless of which echo you turn in), along with a $5 credit. So instead of $219 (with tax), I got the second studio for $155 (with tax). Great deal and with the discount it’s about the same price as an Echo Plus. The size may be an issue to some, but it wasn’t with me. In order to accommodate 5 speakers, there is no way for it fit into the same space as the Plus. The space is really need to fit the subwoofer and it certainly makes a difference. So my final thoughts: It’s a fantastic speaker. Much better than anything else you can get from Amazon. The price is right, especially if you turn in old echo dot (any echo really, but the dot is the cheapest of the bunch and you get the same discount). Don’t use the Stereo Spatial Enhancement. The songs in 3D will play that way regardless of the setting and it makes everything else sound worse (in my opinion). There may be point when Amazon releases an update to fix this, but at this point it’s worthless. I have never had a Bose or a Sonos, so I can’t compare, but I doubt anything in this price range can compete with what the Studio has to offer. If sound quality is important to you and you subscribe the Amazon HD music service (the studio is the only device Amazon offers that can play the Ultra HD music in full 24/196 quality), I would say run don’t walk to get one (or two) of these. You won’t regret it. UPDATE: I did try out the Dolby Atmos feature last night. I watched some of Jack Ryan and Carnival Row. The effect was just as outstanding as the music. Wide sound stage and clear, crisp dialogue. I do think that for watching movies the subwoofer might be a good addition. The bass was definitely present, but I think that the subwoofer would add some welcome bottom to the sound field (Perhaps that will be a Black Friday/Christmas purchase). The setup was fairly simple after restarting the 4K firestick. Initially the firestick was greyed out in the Alexa app, but after a restart it showed up. Set up involved just following the instructions after that. As stated before, there are very few options to watch Dolby atmos enabled content on Amazon. It does not allow it from Netflix, and as of yet, does not have the option for the Disney+. Hopefully that will change at some point in the near future (although I’m not holding my breath). However, since my main reason for buying the Studio in the first place was for music playback, I see the Atmos option as an added bonus. Update 2: they have fixed spatial enhancement mode! It sounds fantastic. If you toggle between the two modes, you can actually hear the sound field shrink. It's now very worthwhile. Also I added a sub to the mix and it does wonders for the sound. If you are using the studio in the kitchen or a home office, one will work spectacularly. If you are using it in a living room or large space then 2 with a sub is the way to go. The sub adds so much depth when you are listening in a larger space. Currently playing through the app is a problem but voice commands still work fine.

I have had Alexa-enabled devices around my house for years. My living room still sports a 1st Generation Echo I was lucky enough to get through the public beta way back. So when I was looking to replace the Echo in my garage in order to get better music quality while working, I started looking for an Echo that did better audio, while not sacrificing the utility. Fortunately I found this beast of a machine. I say beast, because I ordered this expecting a slightly larger than normal echo, only to discover just how wrong I was. This thing stands as tall as my 1st gen, and is 2.5x wider than my 3rd gen echo. This is without the optional subwoofer that you can also purchase. On firing it up, it also did audio tests in my space as part of the set up process to dial in the sound quality. After that I fed it some various music to test how it performed. In a three-car garage, with this mounted roughly 1/3rd of the way over, it still generated an impressive sound that was clear no matter where I was. Additionally it has the capacity to get very loud, which is great for situations where you want music while also doing loud work. The only temporary issue I found was the downward firing speaker; having this sitting on the top of a metal toolbox, when the downspeaker fired it created a tinny reverb due to the hollow metal of the toolbox. After relocating it, this went away. In all I'm quite pleased. After the initial size surprise, it's been an excellent performing asset. It's cheaper, smaller, and easier to keep clean than some other, higher-quality sound dock options, but it maintains a very crisp clear sound that I would put on par with sound docks. The option to extend it with an attached subwoofer also would take the range and quality likely above a lot of similarly priced and sized systems.

I've had the "Echo 3rd gen Smart Speaker" for 4 years, and am surprised to see it cost $99, close to the $150 I just (July 2024) paid for the subject Echo Studio (refurbished). What a big upgrade! But not to be compared with a big hi fi speaker set-up I used to have, Harman Kardon. In Ravel's Bolero, the big crash at the peak of the crescendo would actually stop my heart. I'm trying that now on the Echo Studio, but I'm sure it won't even break any glass. Adding this edit a few days later. The companion Echo Subwoofer will arrive today. I can't wait to see what it will add. I am optimistic. I note that the Studio delivers that special sound of Italian tenors, one I can stand for only a few minutes at a time. The point I was trying to make in my original review is that the Studio does not give out that brilliant lifelike large cymbal-like deafening crash you get with a true hi fi LP player/tuner/cabinet speakers. But, coupled with Amazon Music, the Studio, hopefully augmented by the Subwoofer, is highly pleasurable. I'll update this after I try the Sub. The performance of Bolero that Alexa came up with is not the performance I had on LP with the big speakers, so that is also a factor. Edit August 5, 2024: First, regarding the Sub, I was not able to get it going even with about an hour on the phone with Amazon Customer Service. I couldn't pair the Sub with the Studio, and had to return it. However, I picked up the tip from another review that Alexa will increase or decrease the Studio's treble and bass. I said twice, "Alexa, turn up the bass." And today I asked her to play J.S. Bach. Many of his compositions include solos by viola or cello, and I find the Studio's bass satisfactory. For comparison, I reset the Studio to its original settings (hold the mic button and the volume down button for 20 seconds) and I couldn't hear any difference in the bass. Both settings sound fine. August 8, 2024 To reinforce my favorable opinion. I just listened to the entire Sibelius violin concerto with Hilary Hahn and my morning coffee, no distractions, and enjoyed it so much. My favorite piece so far. Today will try pairing my "Echo 3rd gen Smart Speaker" in another part of this room, both about 20 feet from where I sit.