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If you use the Amazon Echo/Alexa ecosystem, and especially if you use Amazon Music (although many of the other major music streaming systems are also supported, including Apple Music), then the Echo Link is a no-brainer. Keep in mind that you have to use either a standalone Amazon Echo to control it or need to use the Alexa app on a phone to control it. It downsamples everything to 24/48 (just like Apple does with AirPlay 2) but for most streaming services that doesn’t matter at all.I received a lemon from bestbuy, could've returned it and got the money back, but they didn't have another unit and I thought this was worth trying a warranty service request. They made me send the receiver back to their service center in Syrcayse, NY, with postage all paid for, to and from Kansas City. Apparently they changed the main board and sent back to me in less than 2 weeks. Not bad, considering I was expecting them to get me a brand new one!
Is it a bad thing to have the main board changed, I mean in terms of long term reliability and/or audio quality?
Anyways, I think the time is past to take it back to best buy for returns and I seem to like this one, using it for my home office desktop. I had it initially hooked up to Klipsch R-41M, but didn't like how the speaker performed on the desktop, so got the old sony ss-b1000 gathering dust in my basement and am pleasantly surprised. It's no audiophile speaker, but it sounds much more balanced than the more expensive Klipsch!
So far I've been streaming spotify premium over blueooth, and this receiver has bluetooth 4.2, which seems to support 44.1KHz sampling, and is probably good enough for streaming music.
I am thinking about getting either as an upgrade
https://audioengineusa.com/shop/adapters/b-fi-multiroom-music-streamer/
https://www.amazon.com/Echo-Link-Stream-stereo-system/dp/B0798DVZCY
Which one would be an ideal upgrade over the bluetooth streaming on this reciever? Echo link has a subwoofer out, supports higher sampling rates, but it's a bit confusing!
Where as this for audio engine
Generally the reviews seem to favor the audioengine, but specs seem to be a bit better for the echo link. My primary use would be streaming music over wifi.
Accessing streaming music over wifi instead of Bluetooth will give you a marked improvement in sound quality. The Bluetooth SBC and AptX codecs are really poor. AptX is touted to be an improvement but it really isn’t that much of one. With most streaming services, the music is already lossily compressed for streaming (usually to mp3, AAC, or another MPEG-4 container codec) and if you then stream over Bluetooth, you are again lossily compressing that already compressed signal, using a much poorer performing codec!