Bluetooth vs 3.5mm audio out

[liquidsteam]

What is the preferred method for connecting a speaker to the echo dot? What are the pro's and cons of BT vs 3.5mm audio out?

[mindmagic]

I had my Dot permanently connected to my hifi amp by cable, but I've now switched to connecting it to a permanently plugged-in BT adaptor. The reason is that the jack plug cuts out the Dot's internal speaker so that you can't hear what it's doing, and I suspect that it was playing music for long periods without being asked. I didn't want to leave my amp always on or to keep removing the jack plug from the Dot's socket in case the socket became damaged with over use.

The downside is that the volume is much lower from the BT connection so I have to turn up the amp's volume control much higher than usual. The sound quality probably suffers too.

[mike27oct]

Good ideas, although I prefer to have a level, clean high quality audio out signal into my stereo amp from Dot, so I have a Dot dedicated to this one task.  We have plenty of Dots and an Echo in the house to have this option.  I have some BT speakers but rarely use the BT signal.  What is "best" depends upon the gear you have and how good of a signal you want/need from a Dot.

[DroMike]

If you're old school like me - and bless you if you aren't -- wired is preferred to wireless.  I can't stand sound degradation when batteries eventually wear down and need to be replaced (or the hassle of replacing them at all).  So if it's convenient or otherwise unobtrusive to have wires, good 'ol AC power is the way to go (and of course if you have a full-blown traditional audio system, well, mo' bettah!).