2024 has been a tough year for Sonos. of the company would be the winning entry The congested headphone market was overshadowed catastrophic program redesign. In collapse The company decided to fix the failed software update delay products who are willing to be dispatched to give themselves more time to correct course. Consumer confidence was shaken, and people who already owned Sonos gear lived in a period of constant disappointment.
Thanks to a series of rumors, we already knew that one of the expected product releases Arc Ultra ($999). A few weeks ago, the company decided not to wait any longer to reveal it. Although the design is largely unchanged arc Debuting in 2020, there are a few key changes inside that make it a better all-in-one solution for people who don’t want to add more speakers to their living room setup. Sonos promises better bass performance thanks to its new speaker technology debuting in the Arc Ultra, but just barely what good can it be
Sonos/Engadget
Sonos’ latest premium soundbar relies on new technology to improve sound quality, and the upgrade provides more than just bass boost.
- Improved bass performance
- Sharp, clear and immersive sound
- Enhanced Speech Enhancement
- Compatible with Ace headphones
- Again, a single HDMI port
- Expansion remains expensive
- Large footprint
Design
The sleek design of the original Arc was a big upgrade from the Playbar and showed a breakthrough. Sonos’ compact beam sound panel. Honestly, the aesthetic is pretty timeless in my opinion, and it’s a look that should age well for years to come. However, it makes sense that Sonos would keep the design for the Arc Ultra, only making some minor changes to the exterior.
The Arc Ultra is still available in both black and white, allowing you to choose the one that looks best in your living room or home theater. Sonos has updated the controls to mirror those found on the newer Era 100 and Era 300 speakers, moving them to an upward-facing stick on the back. There’s a volume slider on the right, with play/pause and forward controls in the center. On the left side, Sonos gives you microphone controls so you can mute the built-in microphones when needed.
That’s really it in terms of design changes you can look at. The Arc Ultra is slightly shorter than the Arc in height and slightly wider than its predecessor. None of this makes a huge difference and won’t dramatically change how you position the speaker under your TV.
Inside, Sonos has redesigned the Arc Ultra to improve audio performance. The biggest part of this overhaul is the new Sound Motion woofer, which allows for better bass performance before adding a standalone wireless sub. Thanks to the achievement here purchase According to Mayht audio, the new component lays flat and takes up less space than a traditional cone-shaped woofer. The Sound Motion driver also doubles the bass output of the original Arc, helping to provide increased clarity and depth.
Sonos redesigned the entire acoustic architecture of the Arc Ultra in the process of adding a Sound Motion woofer. The soundbar now has three more drivers than the arc, the list includes seven tweeters (two of them amplifiers), six midrange drivers (midwoofers, as Sonos calls them) and the aforementioned woofer for a total of 14. The company uses 15 Class-D digital amplifiers as well as far-field microphones for tuning and volume control.
There is still only one HDMI (eARC) port, which allows most modern TVs to control the soundbar’s volume and mute options from the TV remote. In addition, the Arc Ultra is compatible with Wi-Fi 6, and the newly added Bluetooth 5.3 connection allows streaming from any device. And of course, AirPlay 2 is still in the specs. One last thing I’ll mention here is that the Arc Ultra does not ship with an optical adapter. The company will sell you one For $25.
Software and features
Since the Arc Ultra is a Sonos product, it has many of the same basic features as the company’s other devices. You can use the soundbar as part of a multi-room setup, and there’s Trueplay tuning to match the sound to the room’s acoustics. There’s still an adjustable EQ with bass, treble and treble options, and a Night Sound mode makes things less cluttered when someone in your home might be trying to work or sleep.
While Trueplay gives you the best sound customization for your living room’s sonic properties, Sonos is launching Quick Tune for the first time on the Arc Ultra. Here, the soundbar will use its built-in microphones, as opposed to your phone, to offer some degree of enhancement. The company says it wanted to let people choose something faster than Trueplay, although the full-fledged setup process doesn’t take long at all.
Speech enhancement has been a handy feature on Sonos soundbars for some time, allowing you to improve dialogue clarity when needed. It used to be an all-or-nothing feature, but in the Arc Ultra, the company has introduced three levels of speech amplification to give you more options to better suit your needs. This means that a soundbar can help you hear clearly over background noise, or simply help you follow better by elevating dialogue above the rest of the soundtrack mix.
A trademark feature of Sonos’ Ace headphones is the ability to stream audio from a compatible soundbar to personal home theater boxes. That TV Audio Swap tool is available on the Arc Ultra, so you can instantly send audio to headphones with the push of a button. In fact, Sonos combines the Arc Ultra and Ace headphones $1,373 kit. Plus, the Ace supports spatial audio with dynamic head tracking, so you can count on immersive sound even when you’re using it on a standalone basis.
Despite all the issues with Sonos’ implementation, some of which are still trying to work out, I didn’t run into any problems during testing. The app crashed once when the Trueplay setup process was finished, but everything was fine and I didn’t need to do it again. Other than that, the app ran reliably last week while I was speeding up the Arc Ultra. Most importantly, the software is stable and a full set of controls for the new soundbar is available at launch.
Sound performance
The original Arc already sounded great, so Sonos really had its work cut out for the Arc Ultra to make the sound quality even better. Thanks to the improved bass of Sound Motion technology, as well as a change that takes up less space, the company said that it was then able to overhaul the midrange and high frequency components as well. Using multi-sized midrange drivers and tweeters, Sonos was able to reposition the speaker inside the soundbar for improved projection and more immersive sound.
In addition to the improved bass performance, the second thing that was immediately apparent on the Arc Ultra was the improvement in dimensional sound. Whether it’s a Harry Potter quidditch match or zooming F1 cars Drive to survive The soundbar now has better directional, immersive sound than its predecessor. Sonos says the Arc Ultra now delivers Dolby Atmos content in a 9.1.4-channel setup, versus 5.0.2 with the Arc, which makes the sound even more immersive. Interestingly, I haven’t seen any of the competition claim four up-channels from the soundbar as Sonos does here (those that do, usually count the drivers running in the rear speakers). You can really hear the difference from the moment you turn on the Arc Ultra, and the effect is consistent across content sources.
The increased bass performance makes the Arc Ultra a better speaker for music without a separate subwoofer. You won’t get the great low-end tone that the newly updated Sonos Sub 4 can produce, but there’s enough volume from the soundbar to give the sound of the Kaytranada. Timeless, Phantograms A memory of a day and Bilmuri American Motor Sports a very developing spine when a track is required. There’s still the trademark Sonos clarity I’ve come to expect over the years, which means finer details like the texture of synths, layered guitars and the nuance of acoustic instruments.
Speaking of clarity, the company’s new Speech Enhancement settings are also a big improvement. Being able to choose how much either depending on my needs or the general arrangement of the content offered, this feature is really nice. This allowed me to maximize the dialogue while watching movies after my baby went to sleep so that speech didn’t suffer when the sound effects were louder during intense scenes. The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey.
Competition
There is no doubt Arc Ultra it has deeper, more immersive sound than its predecessor, but some people will still want a more robust setup to extract every ounce of sound from a Sonos living room setup. The top-end option for this is what Sonos calls the Arc Ultra, the Ultimate Immersive Set consisting of two Era 300s and a Sub 4. Right now it will cost you dearly. 2561 dollars. For something cheaper, Arc Ultra and the new Sub 4 (normally $799) for 1708 dollars (Premium Entertainment Kit). And therein lies the biggest problem with Sonos soundbars: expanding your living room setup to get the most immersive experience can quickly get expensive when the centerpiece is already $999.
If you can live without all the conveniences of Sonos products, you can get an all-in-one package from Samsung for $1,500. with Q990Dyou’ll get a soundbar, two rear speakers and a wireless subwoofer in the same box. The setup offers 11.1.4 audio for excellent Atmos sound, thanks in part to the drivers running in the rear speakers. Q-Symphony audio with Samsung TV speakers, SpaceFit Sound Pro room calibration, Adaptive Sound audio enhancement, custom game mode and more. offers a number of useful functions such as The Q990D remains my top pick the best soundbars for many reasons, the main one being that everything you need comes in one all-inclusive package.
Collection
The Arc Ultra is a clear improvement over the Arc in the sound department. The new technology delivers on the promise of increased bass, clarity and immersiveness before you even start adding additional components. Expanded features like Speech Enhancements and a quick tuning option offer new tools for voice dialing, while keeping the stock Sonos experience intact. And thankfully, it includes a much more stable program than it did a few months ago. The Arc Ultra is still more expensive at $999, but it packs more audio capability than its predecessor for just $100 more.
