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

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.

UPDATEI’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 LINEI 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...