My kingdom for a simple pair of external stereo speakers!

[TurboMinivan]

I have two Amazon Echo Dots in my home. I use them for numerous reasons, but my favorite thing is having them play music. Each device only has one small built-in speaker, so the sound quality leaves much to be desired. However, they also have a 3.5mm stereo output jack for this exact reason--just plug in external speakers and rock out. What could be easier? Well, there's a catch. When you plug in external speakers, all the Echo's output audio goes through them, including non-music information.

At one end of the house, the Echo is right next to the door to the garage. When I'm wrenching on a car, I'll plug in the output to a cord that runs to the garage and connects to a pair of powered stereo speakers. I'll turn on their power strip and have Pandora accompany me while I'm working. The sound quality is pretty good, and everything works great. When I'm done wrenching, I shut off the speakers, unplug the cord from the Echo, and go back to 'normal' home operation (complete with crappy sound).

But if I'm inside the house and I want to hear music, I am left to the teeny little internal speaker. The same thing happens at the other end of the house, where my second Echo sits. Why not just buy two pairs of external speakers, you say. That's exactly what I want to do! However, everything I find for sale is amplified (read: powered) and not simply passive. This means I would need to plug them in and turn them on every tine I want to hear music, then turn them off and unplug them every time I am done--a significant hassle, especially since the second Echo sits up on an inconvenient-to-reach shelf. My other option would be to leave the speakers turned on 24/7, but I don't want to do that from a standpoint of wasting electricity. So amplified speakers are definitely not the answer.

Remember the old days, when you could buy a pair of (admittedly small) external speakers connected to a single 3.5mm plug, and hook them up to your Walkman or whatever? No power cords, no batteries, just plug and go. That's what I want... but I can't find it. Everything nowadays is powered by a wall wart, or powered by USB, or battery-operated and connects via BlueTooth (and while the Echo does have BT capability, that won't solve my problem, either).

Does nobody make these anymore???

 

[moab_cj5]

I have some kicking around somewhere. If I can find them, they are yours.

 

[I Lean]

What about something like these? Simple enough to wire up a headphone plug. https://www.amazon.com/Pyle-PCB3BK-...lf_m_essveckz4r4f955_ttl?_encoding=UTF8&s=aht

Or a bit larger, like this? https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00Q3MF9YQ/ref=psdc_3236451011_t2_B000MCGF1O It's 6 ohms though, for what that's worth.

It might be easy to get the plug from somewhere like Ra-Elco, but if you want to order that too, some options:

With wire pigtail: https://www.amazon.com/3-5mm-Stereo...1519844084&sr=1-12&keywords=3.5mm+stereo+plug

Plug only: https://www.amazon.com/Neutrik-NYS2...1519844084&sr=1-11&keywords=3.5mm+stereo+plug

Little screw terminals: https://www.amazon.com/LUTIONS-8inc...1519844084&sr=1-10&keywords=3.5mm+stereo+plug

 

[Kevin B.]

How big a speaker will that little 3.5mm port push? I'm a little skeptical that you'll see much if any improvement in sound quality over the Echo speaker.

 

[TurboMinivan]

What about something like these?

Those speakers require an amplifier, which rules them out.

How big a speaker will that little 3.5mm port push?

See, this is the crux of the matter. I can't use any sort of huge speakers; they'll need to be kinda small. What I am looking for is essentially a pair of headphones, but with the speakers in little (plastic) boxes rather than encased in earmuffs.

I used to have a pair of these, and I swear I never threw them away... but I've turned my house upside down and I can't find them.

 

[Spork]

I got one of these from work https://www.purepromo.com/products/boxanne-bluetooth-speaker and it has a 3.5mm jack with a cable that came with it. Sound is actually really good for a speaker a little bigger than a deck of cards.

They have battery that is charged off USB adapter but last 10 hours on a charge.

 

[DaveB]

I did some searching to find out what the echo dots output impedance is and didn't find anything. I am guessing that the output is either a line out or a headphone out. Line out signals are expecting to drive a 10K ohm load and only put out about .44 volts. Headphone circuits are designed to drive 20 to several hundred ohm loads. Most speakers have a 4 or 8 ohm impedance which would effectively short out the output. An amplified speaker is the only real solution to get bigger sound.

 

[nnnnnate]

The obvious, and not cheap, solution is to buy a smart hub and outlet that works with Alexa. Then you'd just tell Alexa to turn on the outlet which would turn in your powered speakers. Then you could tell Alexa to play your favorite long hair 80's band.

 

[TurboMinivan]

The obvious, and not cheap, solution is to buy a smart hub and outlet that works with Alexa. Then you'd just tell Alexa to turn on the outlet which would turn in your powered speakers. Then you could tell Alexa to play your favorite long hair 80's band.

It's a bit trickier than that.

If I connect powered speakers, all Echo sounds will come from the external speakers. No big deal while I'm listening to music. But what about when I stop? The next time I go to send a voice message to a relative, or ask about the weather forecast, or ask about my commute time, or do anything else, the Echo's audio will still come through the external speakers. To prevent that, I'll need to physically unplug their cable from the back of (each) Echo Dot. If I leave the cable plugged in and I simply turn off the amplified speakers, I won't be able to hear anything at all. No good.

I don't think a pair of unpowered speakers are gonna provide outrageously loud volume that will rival my home stereo system. Hardly. I'm just looking for an option that might give me improved sound, yet be able to remain plugged in 24/7 without using electricity and without ruining the rest of the Echo experience.

And since you brought it up, my favorite Pandora "channel" is Running Wild. I love that artist, of course, but all the similar artists Pandora chooses also tend to make me pretty happy.