Amazon Prime Day 2018 – Audio Deals
This year Amazon’s black friday-ish Prime Day will actually last a day and a half starting on July 16 at 3pm Eastern time. Now an annual tradition, this mid-summer attempt at jumpstarting some brand loyalty along with sluggish summer sales still requires a prime membership to activate. Previous years have garnered some interesting deals for those who love a good bargain, and even a few partnerships with audiophile brands like KEF, ELAC, Martin Logan and AKG. Audiophile DAP-maker Astell and Kern has contacted us saying they will have some special discounts going for the sale, but stay tuned for those links as the deals have not posted just yet. They are up!
We’ve compiled a list of some of the click bargains we have come across for audio products. This feed will stay live until the show is over, so check back for an updates as your personal time allows (or add to your shopping time at work). If you don’t have a prime membership, you can get one here. For audiophiles there is a lossy music streaming service that is included to Amazon-connected devices, but it is really the pinnacle of voice-command convenience when paired with an Alexa-powered endpoint. The selection isn’t bad, but their is a second tier to the service with a wider catalog that costs a little more. Add: To sweeten the deal a little further, Amazon is offering 6 months free of this service with the purchase of any Echo.
Amazon is of course pushing their own ecosystem with authority during the event. If you are already a sub, or have been eyeballing the system for a while, this sale is a good time to pick up pretty much any Amazon streaming products for a decent discount.
There are more elegant solutions on the market, but for a quick fix of on-demand tunes you can now purchase the second generation Echo Dot for $35 and connect via SE line out to your stereo. The platform currently supports Spotify, Pandora, Deezer and the horrid-sounding SirusXM among others. Its not a high resolution throughput just yet, but the quality can be good to amazing from the right source and will give you a hardy fix of your favorite songs with a wave of your tongue. The video version is also available for $100 off now until the end of the Prime Day sale.
While the budget enthusiast might get a kick out of two piece setup above, there are even several more endpoint solutions (imagine that!) from Amazon. Here’s a list of just of few of them on sale today.
If you don’t have prime yet you can actually sign up for a free trial and then just cancel that subscription after your products arrive if you want to take advantage of the sale pricing. Another trick for those who already have prime and an Alexa-power endpoint is to ask the automated assistant “Alexa what are your deals” as she will usually have a unique set of options separate from what you can find on the web.
Here are a few of the other deals to get everyone going, keep in mind that more will be added and some of these will fall off over time, the sale is more of a fluid, moving beast for many products.
ELAC Uni-fi UB5 Bookshelf Speaker (Black, Pair)
Audio-Technica ATH-M50x Professional Monitor Headphones
Audio-Technica ATH-M40x Professional Monitor Headphones
Audio-Technica ATH-M30x Professional Monitor Headphones
Audio-Technica AT-LP120-USB Direct-Drive Professional Turntable in Silver
JBL LSR305 5″ 2-Way Powered Studio Monitor
Fender 6899000002 MXA2 Bundle with FXA2 Pro In-Ear Monitors & PreSonus HP2 Headphone Amplifier
Bose QuietComfort 25 Acoustic Noise Cancelling Headphones
Sennheiser HD 4.50 SE Wireless Noise Cancelling Headphones – Black (HD 4.50 Special Edition)
Sony WH-CH700N Wireless Noise Canceling Headphones, Black
Comply Sport Pro Premium Memory Foam Earphone Tips (Medium, 3 Pairs)
Symphonized NRG 3.0 Earbuds Headphones, Wood In-ear Noise-isolating Earphones
Edifier R2000DB Powered Bluetooth Bookshelf Speakers – Near-Field Studio Monitors
Shower Speaker – Hydro-Beat Box FULLY Water Resistant Bluetooth Speaker
Jethro Tull Aqualung – Steven Wilson Mix
Douni (A7) 20W Portable Bluetooth Wireless Stereo Speaker with Enhanced Bass
Mpow 059 Bluetooth Headphones Over Ear, Hi-Fi Stereo Wireless Headset
VAVA MOOV 28 Wireless Headphones Sports Earphones in Ear Earbuds with 9 Hours Playtime
Astell and Kern Amazon Storefront & All The Deals
KEF Q100 Bookshelf Loudspeakers – Black Oak (Pair)
An $17 DAC with headphone output
Ultimate Ears BLAST Portable Wi-Fi/Bluetooth Speaker with Amazon Alexa voice control (waterproof)
Urbanears Hellas On-Ear Active Wireless Bluetooth Headphones