echo Dot Sound Quality

Update: The price has been $50 USD since long after the intro. In fact, I bought mine on Black Friday @ $40. My sole purpose for buying it was to jack it into my stereo and upgrade my music listening experience from the crappy distorted headache inducing sound of my Echo. I bought that one in 2015 primarily for control of my Insteon smart home system. However speaking as an audiophile, you get what you pay for: convenience over sound quality. The electronics in the Dot (Echo too)  are cheap,  (DAC, analog output amp chip, etc.) There's very limited dynamic range, it sounds dull. I wish it had an optical digital output in addition to the 3.5 mm, but that would probably drive up the price to double. On the audiophile forums, the Chromecast is reputed to be superior, due to the HDMI direct digital connection. My problem is that it excludes my Amazon Prime subscription. I'm not going to pay for another music subscription just to use my Chromecast. Oh, that only applies to the Audio Chromecast. I have the just the original. Bummer.