How to control your home stereo with Alexa or Google Home
You say it, your speakers play it
Imagine calling out song requests as if you had a personal DJ. And your best speakers would magically play whatever song you requested. In my house, voice control started as a novelty, but has become second nature to use – especially for music. It's just so easy to ask Alexa or Google Home to play music.
But here at Crutchfield, convenience is only part of the story. We always ask ourselves: how can we get better sound? In this article, I'll show you how to integrate voice control into an excellent-sounding home music system.

“I've connected my Echo Dot to an Onkyo receiver that's powering a pair of Klipsch bookshelf speakers," said JR, Crutchfield Training Manager. "I also use this big-sounding system for my turntable and a keyboard, but we always default back to the receiver input for the Echo Dot — so we can talk to Alexa anytime.”
Voice control: the basics
Amazon Echo and Google Home are the two most popular voice-activated speakers out there. They can answer questions, perform tasks, and even control lots of household devices. Just say “Alexa” for the Echo, or “OK, Google,” and their built-in microphones will start listening.
Smart speakers from leading home audio brands
Many of us use powered speakers as our main way to play music these days. Several leading audio brands have debuted smart speakers with built-in voice assistants.
Sonos, Harman Kardon, and Ultimate Ears are among the brands that offer speakers with Amazon Alexa built in.
JBL, Polk Audio, Sony and others bring you speakers with Google Assistant.
Read our article "Best smart Speakers for 2019" by Benn Grant.

How to play music with Alexa and Google Home
So how do you play music with these devices? Both Google Home and Amazon Echo are compatible with music services like Spotify® and Pandora®. Use the Amazon Alexa app or Google Home app to choose your music service(s) of choice (it's the same app you use to set up the device).

When you set up you Amazon Echo (or Google Home), you can link the device to compatible music services.
Once you link a music service to your device, then you’re free to ask the speakers to play what you want. For instance, I keep a Google Home speaker in my kitchen. So when I'm doing dishes, it's as simple as saying, “Hey Google, play some Clapton!” And an Eric Clapton playlist will play through the Google Home's built-in speaker.
Upgrade your sound
Both Google Home and Amazon Echo devices have built-in speakers. But our customers are always interested in better sound. Read on to learn how to connect these products to external audio gear.
Two easy ways to connect Amazon Echo to your speakers
There are a couple of ways to get bigger sound from Amazon Echo. It offers wired and wireless connectivity. And it will work with just about any receiver or integrated amp, as well as a wide variety of powered speakers and sound bars. With any connection, all audio — including Alexa's responses — will play through your connected speakers.
Wired connection with Echo Dot
The tiny Amazon Echo Dot has a 3.5mm or minijack output. That means you can connect it to any receiver, integrated amp, or powered speaker with an AUX input. Just use a mini-to-RCA cable, or a mini-to-mini cable.

The Amazon Echo Dot has a minijack AUX output for connecting it to a wide variety of external audio equipment.
Wireless connection via Bluetooth
All Amazon Echo devices feature a built-in Bluetooth transmitter. That means you can send audio wirelessly to any Bluetooth-enabled speaker, sound bar, or home theater receiver.
This made for a clean setup when we paired an Echo wirelessly with the powerful KEF LS50 Wireless speakers. I found it more convenient than a wired connection. You can sit in your favorite chair and request songs without having to shout across the room to where your speakers are set up.

The Amazon Echo Dot can connect wirelessly via Bluetooth to powered speakers like the KEF LS50.
A/V receivers with basic Alexa compatibility
There are now some home theater receivers with basic Alexa functionality. You’ll find it in receivers that feature certain multi-room audio systems: Yamaha MusicCast, Denon HEOS, and Bluesound.
At the moment, these receivers only offer basic Alexa voice commands like play, pause, skip, and volume control. But, more features are promised soon. If you’re shopping receivers and have questions about what you can or can’t control by voice, contact us and we’ll break it down for you.
"Hey Google, play Drake in the den"
The Google Home voice assistant uses Wi-Fi to connect to other audio gear. To super size the sound, you'll need gear that has Google's Chromecast audio built in (also known as Google Cast). Fortunately, there are lots of products to choose from.
There are several home theaters with Chromecast built-in. Those are great choices for adding Google Home to your main system.
There are also sound bars and powered speakers with Chromecast built in. I have the Polk Mag Mini sound bar in my living room, so I tried it out with the Google Home. The setup was straightforward and painless:
I used the Google Home app to set up the voice assistant to play audio wirelessly through my Polk Magnifi Mini sound bar.
Once the Google Home and sound bar were linked, I renamed the sound bar "den" in the app. That's a lot easier than using the full product name when telling Google Home where to send my music.
Then I was ready to listen. When I called out a song title or playlist, the music played through the sound bar. I could also skip tracks, and even control the bar's volume — all by voice. Very cool!
Turn your voice into a universal remote
Voice control in home theater receivers is currently pretty much limited to music playback. As a write this, you can’t switch inputs or control video by voice with only your receiver. But Harmony’s Hub-based remotes work with Google Home and Alexa – and give you more functionality.
Many of our Advisors have a Harmony Hub in their homes. With one remote you control your whole home entertainment system and smart home components like lights, locks, and more. And with a Google Home or Echo device you can control it all, hands-free.

“With the help of the Harmony Hub and Google Home, I can just say ‘OK, google, goodbye’ when I leave home and everything that is smart or connected to a smart outlet shuts down," said Marlon, Crutchfield Advisor. "When I get back? ‘OK, google, I’m home.’ Google turns on the living room lights, and automatically turns on the TV.”
Stay tuned...
The beauty of these voice-assistant devices is that they are always learning new skills. As more products incorporate voice control, we’ll keep trying them out. And we’ll keep you updated.
Have questions?
Contact us today. Our Advisors stay up to date with this stuff — and of course, many use Google Home or Amazon Echo in their own homes.
Reader comments (18 responses)
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Greg from columbus
Posted on 7/24/2019
Half of this article is just a worthless fluff with zero information.
on 7/25/2019
The goal here is to cover a wide range of voice control options...and share some ways our own people use voice control in their home stereo setups. If there is any topic you'd like me to explore further, please let me know and I'll try to get you more information -- either in the article or here in comments.
Also, if you have any specific questions, you can give one of our Product Advisors a call at 1-888-955-6000. -
Jerry Rakowski from South Barrington
Posted on 6/28/2019
Is the output from the Amazon Echo stereo?
on 7/25/2019
The 3.5mm mini audio output is indeed stereo. -
Sophia from Newyork
Posted on 6/24/2019
I would like to read more insight from you! Also I am going to share this blog immediately. Awesome! Best Wifi Booster To Buy In 2019
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Dale johnson from Lincoln, ne
Posted on 3/1/2019
Zoe you don't want to use your phono input. Use a tunner or vcr, aux input, and then you may need to bump up your volume on the echo device to make it a little louder thru the amp just don't over drive that input,
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Zoe Tucker from Leeds
Posted on 3/1/2019
Hi I have plugged in the echo for to my receiver however it is really quiet compared with the CD or radio. Plugging it into the record (phono) it is slightly louder is this ok?
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Matt
Posted on 1/17/2019
Would plugging in Alexa to my stereo receiver auxiliary require the receiver to be left on constantly, or require turning on the receiver to play music. Or does Alexa have the capability to turn on the stereo? Also, I have a Chromecast currently connected to the receiver to play Spotify (which disconnects frequently). Between the two methods do you have an opinion on which is the better way to connect?
on 1/21/2019
I personally use Google Home to control Chromecast devices in my own home. I wrote a little more about that (and Chromecast in general) here: https://www.crutchfield.com/learn/chromecast-built-in.html -
Scott Hodges from Pittsburgh
Posted on 1/10/2019
Yes, well....this article doesn't really fit the title. How-to implies there are instructions on how-to make it work. I have several app-enabled stereos and an alexa in every room. It is easy to connect alexa to a stereo via Bluetooth, but much more efficient to be able to control the output volume through the stereo rather than the input volume through Alexa. I would rather tell alexa to turn the volume up on my pioneer VSX than have to open the icontrol app on my phone or dig through the remotes. Some detail on that process would be appreciated.
on 1/11/2019
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John Grace from Milwaukee
Posted on 9/20/2017
Very good presentation and great information thank you and have a good day!
Keith Stanley from Taylor
Posted on 3/7/2021
Connected Alexa to vizio sound bar via Audio Jack. Is there any way to run audio jack and say Hdmi 1 at same time so Alexa doesn't loose voice when switching to hdmi 1?
Terry Redmayne from (Old) York UK
Posted on 2/13/2021
Thanks for this very useful article. At the moment I have Bluesound node 2i streamer into an old Marantz and onto 15year old B&W 602s the streamed sound is great. I also love the simple Echo dot and have it wired with the jack into the amps redundant cd-r/mini disc rca port. IThe sound is ok but not the same level hi Fi that the streamer gives. I have also tried to take the hard wire through the node 2i but it seems to muck up the iPads/node 2i control software. Ok now the question (at last you say) would the echo dot be better using the node 2i Bluetooth feature and if so how? Thanks for a great thread.
John from Austin
Posted on 1/24/2021
I'd just like to comment that the HEOS software/app is very amateur and unstable. I don't have any experience with the other vendor's integrations, so they may be just as bad. But I'm very disappointed in the overall experience with HEOS. Its great when it works, which sometimes can be many months at a time. But when it goes down, good luck. Set aside hours of time, and prepare to have to call HEOS support to reset or unlock/unfck your account.
Kevin from Port Richey
Posted on 10/5/2020
Hey, I am looking to see how I can use voice commands for my Anthem MRX-720.
Torq from Bath
Posted on 9/6/2020
Putting a rights reserved (R) mark after brand names in a blog is the lamest thing I've ever seen.
Jeff Miller from Crutchfield
on 9/7/2020
Chris from Modesto
Posted on 1/7/2020
I currently have my echo in the kitchen and my Denon receiver and speakers in the living room. They are connected, but I can only play one at a time. I essentially want to use the echo as an added speaker in the kitchen. Does it have this capability?
Powell Kelly from League City
Posted on 12/2/2019
So I'm looking for a how to use Alexa to control the input on my marantz AVR. I've connected it via Bluetooth and can verbally turn my AVR on and off. I've verified my AVR can verbally change inputs with Alexa.. however there are no instructions on how to make Alexa do this ( set up). Can you point me to a video or give me a phone number so I can talk to someone that can walk me through this process..
Jeff Miller from Crutchfield
on 12/3/2019
In the meantime, here is some info on Alexa commands you can use with Marantz receivers and other HEOS products: https://www.us.marantz.com/us/Alexa/pages/getstarted.aspx
Kathy from Shallotte, NC
Posted on 9/11/2019
How do you hook up Alexa to an Onkyo receiver?
Matt from Lincoln
Posted on 8/25/2019
Whats the best way to get hi resolution sound from a voice control device to a really good audio setup? If you've spent the time and money on a really good hi-fi, you want really clean, hi-res sources for your music into your hi-fi. For example, I stream from an iPad into my hi-fi using a small outboard A/D. I'm concerned the audio jack output of the Echo dot is probably not very good audio source. Is the Bluetooth output of the Echo any better than this? And how can I get bluetooth to a hi-fi that does not have built in bluetooth?
Jeff Miller from Crutchfield
on 8/26/2019
There are several ways to accomplish this. I've forwarded your email to one of our product Advisors. They'll follow up with you directly to find the best solution for you.
(Quick answer to your last question, there are several high-quality Bluetooth adapters out there. Here's my article on the subject: https://www.crutchfield.com/learn/how-to-add-bluetooth-to-your-home-stereo-system.html)
John from Oxford
Posted on 8/23/2019
I have my Onkyo aux wired to a Dot. If I add a smart plug and leave the receiver on, can Alexa turn on the receiver and then play music?
Jeff Miller from Crutchfield
on 8/26/2019
Let me do some digging on this and I'll find out.