Sonos Arc Ultra Review: THE £1000 Soundbar to Beat?

[@georgevillalvazo9154]

I think I will keep my gym one. I still get smiles. Every time. I listen to her with my GEN three sub and a pair of Sonos fives along with my UB 9000 Panasonic 4K Blu-ray player.!👍

[@AA-yi3po]

I've been eyeing the Sonos Arc Ultra for a while, and the sound test video has finally pushed me over the edge! As always, I love the Sonos KZbin videos you guys put out and the information in the video was also super helpful. I hope the Ultra doesn't disappoint!! P.S please stop putting Sonos videos out as it's not healthy for my bank balance 😂

[@simonsaysrewind]

It's on my purchase in 2 weeks time. I know I will be blown away as I not updated a 100 pound soundbar since probably 15 years 😂

[@troyflatland5299]

It just came out so no you haven’t stfu 🤡

[@StevenvanderGraaf]

The bass module is a dutch invention by 2 brothers that sold their invention to Sonos for €100.000 Euro’s. It supposed to be a revolution in how bass drivers we have known to date work. Let’s see what the future brings for this new way bass drivers are build.

[@biber9979]

They did amazing job...but they should ask way more money...but it's hard to deal with rich greedy companies.

[@youdontknow3787]

​@@biber9979 they got 100 million. It was on Dutch national TV, I think OP has made a typo.

[@michael-4k4000]

Are we there yet grandma

[@234Whiskey234]

Looking forward for the more detailed reviews. Keep up the work guys!

[@smarthomesounds]

Thanks! Will do!

[@Geekosification]

Awesome. You can actually hear a significant difference in the demo. I wonder if an arc Ultra + a sub mini would sound any different then with the ultra alone (i have a Beam gen 2 and a Sub Mini atm)

[@deonh9303]

Exactly in the same boat. Really want the Arc ultra after watching this because we struggle with the dialogue in some movies and often have to resort to sub titles which I hate!

[@jrmcdonald821]

I have the Arc Ultra paired with a sub mini & mann it sounds amazing it def makes a difference than just having the arc ultra alone by itself, big difference i might add, it sounds like a full big sub.

[@ericsantiago4076]

⁠@@jrmcdonald821same here! I think if one pairs the arc ultra with a sub mini, then really having the bigger sub is overkill. That’s my opinion. The arc with the sub mini sounds incredibly loud, and fills a large room without any issue, and you save yourself some $

[@LawinReborn]

@@jrmcdonald821 I have Ultra and Sub Mini too and its a huge difference

[@edrez1]

great review!! providing actual opinion on difference, I hope that you can do a more detailed review

[@radimpospisil3580]

Sonos fans: Bass on arc ultra is so great that if you pair it with another two subs from Sonos its SOOOO GOOD.

[@sirqdoled1203]

It is another dimension you are entering😉

[@edensl8759]

@@sirqdoled1203 an overpriced one

[@TroupeGoal]

Yep, so often reviews quickly move on to “and if you add a sub and extra speakers” etc it’s £1000, I want it to make my dinner for me.

[@xilefhd]

What I would really like to see is a comparison between the different speakers that you can use as sattelites, not just era 300 or 100, but also other options like those ikea-sonos coop speakers, they are compatible with the sonos ecosystem but with a lot lower pricetag. Are they compatible as rears for the arc/arc ultra aswell? what difference can you expect in comparison to the other options? also what I am always wondering about: how exact does the positioning of the rear-speakers need to be, in order to get a good experience? Because I think there are a lot of people that might want a good sounding setup that also goes well with the furniture so I would really appreciate if you could also cover aspects like equal/unequal distance from rear speakers aswell

[@sheldonwhite4960]

thank you to Sonos for adding Bluetooth support. That’s all I care for so that’s my dream goal set up right now wishing that I can actually use this one day. I’ll definitely have it. I can’t wait to enjoy the sound.

[@TomTKK]

So I've never owned a soundbar, I wouldn't call myself an audiophile or anything like that, I just played everything out of the TV speakers. But I just dropped a grand on this thing. It will arrive on Friday, I expect to be blown away. I see comments saying that its not worth upgrading, but considering I'm going from nothing to this, I hope its good.

[@mrgold3591]

Make sure your TV has eArc, you can set the TV eArc HDMI to bitstream (or Pass through), you can do advance Trueplay with iphone to optimize for your space, and you have the option to adjust EQ in Sonos App for more adjustments (audio Atmos height, dialogue levels, treble/bass). Double check your cable/sat receiver box can be set to pass through or Expert mode (set to Expert mode for my Xfinity cable box). Sometimes, the PCM/Auto mode might not send the audio signal to soundbar to process (sound processed by TV first and then sent to soundbar in PCM stereo/5.1 mode). The Arc Ultra will sound better as you add sub(s) and rear surrounds.

[@smarthomesounds]

Lets us know how you get on :-)

[@derek400004]

how's the soundbar!!

[@TomTKK]

@@smarthomesounds Sorry I ain't getting notifications for some reason! Its great! I can't speak much from past experiences, but wow it blows your socks off. I'm hearing lots of little details that I have not paid attention to, like the sound of actors footsteps and the crunches of things under their feet, the sound of wind etc. Best film I've watched that displays the soundbars full power for me is Coco (if you have others let me know), hearing the bones of animated characters 'clink' when they move is so weird but makes you smile when you hear it. Its hard to describe. The bass is very nice, but I'm already saving for a Sub. The price is well, pricey, but you get what you pay for. I didn't exactly pay for this, I financed it which is how I'm able to get it, but it will be 'mine' in 6 months. Thank you @mrGold for his input, I was a bit disappointed at first with it, until I realise my mistake of not changing my settings around. I now have to re-dow.. rent all my movies again with the better sound quality which will take some time to do, but 100% worth it!

[@TomTKK]

@@mrgold3591 ^

[@mayday6880]

I'm impressed how fast you can switch you're living room with the ARC UIltra 😅

[@henson2k]

Just got mine today, yet to try to it but here I am watching another review about it ;-)

[@smarthomesounds]

Hope you enjoy it!

[@henson2k]

@@smarthomesounds Yes!

[@musicvideos4536]

I feel there is still some improvement that can be done between balancing the bass in the Ultra and Sub as Ultra is doing a lot more bass than I think is needed with a sub, but overall I’m very happy with upgrading to the Ultra.

[@giacintorenta7579]

Thank you for this video - have been waiting for this

[@smarthomesounds]

Hope you enjoyed it!

[@giacintorenta7579]

@ looking forward to the more detailed ones. Thank you

[@freemusicman]

compared trailer demo by earphones，beginning fly scene more powerful，dialogue more clear and fireworks more powerful as well.😊

[@entnfng]

@smart Home Sounds would you choose the arc ultra or Devialet Dione if Price doesn’t matter?

[@HomeCinemaEnthusiast]

Great review 👍👍👍👍👍👍👍

[@MrDexterSr]

Listening to this on the OG Arc 😂

[@RobVarley]

As I was watching this and you talked about truplay I stopped and retuned my beam gen2+subgen3+x2 OneSLs. Now it sounds even better. Sonos must have updated the truplay tuning

[@GreenTree256]

I replaced the arc with the arc ultra and dolby atmos seems much better to me. It has often happened that I thought there was someone else in the apartment, even though it was only in the film.

[@sirqdoled1203]

Got the full set up with ultra 2 sub 4 and era 300 this is mind-blowing good. Coming from Ambeo max with extra sub and a Samsung 990b, this is much, much better.😁 Thanks for the review

[@dharmasx2]

Why does not show the volume level when you level up or down with the remote :O?

[@kentucky4696]

Its Most annoying thing to me…lg and most Samsungs do not communicate the volume level with the bar.

[@dharmasx2]

@@kentucky4696 pretty annoying, such a tiny thing but a big reason to not buy it. I really need the volume indicator

[@paulc5389]

That's honestly a reason to not buy it at all. Not knowing what volume you've got it on is silly.

[@giacintorenta7579]

I have Sonos Arc + Era 300 and dual sub (Gen 3 + Gen 2). With Ultra I will need to give up the older sub. Would an upgrade in my set up still a 30-40% improvement? Or more like 10-20%? Thank you

[@kevinbruijsten2404]

15/20 procent to be honest.

[@juandoe7802]

I upgraded from your exact setup and I really wasn’t wowed, what did you end up doing?

[@giacintorenta7579]

@@juandoe7802 I did not, especially after reading Rtngs comparison. The upgrade would probably bring extra clarity but not much else for now

[@DigitalDesigners]

Definitely looking to upgrade my whole system… (Beam Gen 1 / Solos / Sub Mini) and this has me intrigued… and the Sonos upgrade incentives really sound interesting.

[@shanestephan7151]

Hi there! 👋🏻 I’m looking for a video or some advice on how to get the most out of my Arc Ultra + 2x Era 100 speakers when they’re set up as surround the 100s. The 100s don’t seem to do much, and I can’t really adjust how immersive I want to feel. So, for now, I’ve just turned off the surround setting to get the full potential of the three of them. Any advice or is this something that hasn’t been solved yet because this Arc Ultra is new? Thanks a bunch!

[@iWasimAbbas]

Can you add 2 sub 4s?

[@Joda-is1xy]

Is the Atmos performance better? Is the music listening experience better?

[@sleepycuber]

Well, it was you guys that persuaded me to upgrade to the Sonos Arc. I've now got two Era 300's and a Sonos Sub. My sound experience with this set up is phenomenal. I won't be upgrading for a long time to come. Sonos Arc Ultra looks awesome but not for me.

[@jb7753]

I have the same setup as you and dis upgrade to the Ultra, it is a nice upgrade it's an upgrade worth the $300 difference between and Arc and an Arc ultra. In my case I was needing to move the Arc to a new area, I was lucky that this came out. So, if you're not fortunate enough to upgrade for a valid reason other than wanting to, you're all good.

[@smarthomesounds]

The Arc Ultra is a good upgrade but you have a great system with the 300's & SUB so totally agree 🙂

[@eketony]

I picked up Ultra but will not sell the old ARC as I will move it to the bonus room instead of selling it at low rate. Phew !!

[@jb7753]

@@eketony smart move!

[@michael-4k4000]

Very good review. Everything you said was truthful!

[@vincenthuen]

What about pairing this with in ceilings speakers?

[@steenknudsen8003]

How do get the cables from the soundbar to the tv behind if it is wall mount? Do you have a picture? I have power,hdmi, rf antenne that goes behind the soundbar up to my tv today. Thx

[@corbinsc36]

drill holes in the wall...

[@steenknudsen8003]

@@corbinsc36cant do. Concrete

[@bigtexboatrentals]

@@steenknudsen8003ahh… I would suggest one of those wire hiding panels. Look up a wall cable cover. Might be able to find something pretty sleek.

[@iamjiere22]

I’m consideeing this Arc Ultra for my TV. Do you guys know that I can stream music to the unit directly without having to turn on TV? Just thinking for events that we only want the music to fill the room like parties etc 🤔

[@smarthomesounds]

Yes this is possible 👍

[@actuallypaulstanley]

Yes, the ultra has Bluetooth, or you can enable your Apple Music, Spotify or Prime Music within the Sonos app and play through that.

[@CDPA7]

It has Bluetooth but not entirely sure you'd want to use it

[@paulallan9819]

I tested music via Apple and tbh everything sounds awful, zero bass, vocal low down and tracks sounding like instrumentals. Downloaded Tidal and ran Trueplay again and massive improvement but my Gen 2 sub just isn’t giving me the same bass as my original arc

[@iamjiere22]

@@smarthomesoundsthanks! And this could be done without having to pair or turn on the device everytime I want to use right? I would like to have the same experience their Era 😊

[@echln3209]

Does it have more bass than a stereo pair of HomePod gen 2s? I’m considering the Arc Ultra

[@jasondavid4375]

100% I tried this setup before getting the ultra. The ultra is quite impressive with bass output and blows the HomePods out of the water in all around performance!

[@jazminforbes209]

I was waiting for thissssss

[@mickdenley]

Trueplay (both versions) and speech enhancement are both bugged. This has been confirmed by sonos themselves as I've had several conversations with them regarding atmos music playback via my appletv 4k, in a nutshell it sounds horrendous. They've assured me that their engineers are working on a fix but currently have no eta. Disappointing is an understatement considering my old arc was, for the most part, flawless. This is paired with 2 era 300's and a sub mini. Hopefully they'll sort it soon.

[@JoseUben]

Not sure about speech enhancement but Trueplay was fixed with today’s update.

[@ClementEgan]

Fixed today

[@mickdenley]

@@JoseUben I was hoping it had fixed it I done the app update I'll wait until tomorrow to run the advanced trueplay again hopefully I can hear a difference between low/med & high. Movies in atmos sounded insane which is why I was taken aback by how bad atmos music was it was so bad it was like listening to an instrumental and this was with my trusted atmos tracks, fingers crossed for further updates/improvements.

[@kevinbruijsten2404]

I had a full arc system with 2 era 300 and a sub 3, I have upgraded to the Ultra and I like the wider soundstage but the sound is about 15/20 procent better. Really would not recommend upgrading unless you have to much money 😂

[@Towarddev]

Music sounds terrible in dolby atmos

[@brawrrrXO]

Beam Gen 2 + Sub Mini seems to be a very good option cost-wise if you wanna be within that budget range. kip the arc get the beam 2 and mini sub :D

[@diggergeensen860]

Agreed. I own both Arc original and Beam Gen 2. While the arc is obviously putting out a wider soundstage, and about 10% louder. It’s severely tinny sounding by nature. There’s literally zero base output there. Folks might appreciate the more centralized sound the Beam Gen 2 offers, as it better focuses what you’re hearing as coming directly from the TV. It’s beating Arc in dialogue clarity, and low bitrate music streaming services play back all day, and twice on Sunday thanks to having better mid range punch. According to Peter Pee, Arc Ultra is only “noticeably” louder than Arc original. Reports are also coming back that the new little sound motion sub in the bar is fairly gimmicky, and overhyped. I mean anyone spending this kind of money on a bar is clearly going to add a sub or two anyway. Taking all this into consideration, Is it really worth double the cost over the beam 2, for about a 20 or 30% improvement in sound? I guess it depends if money is no object, or not. I will say that anyone running a TV with a Beam Gen 2, sub mini, and a pair of era 100’s is going to have a great sounding room for the price point. It’s the best bang for buck option by far. If you’re into gimmicky bouncing signals off ceiling Atmos, then go for the spacial audio package. However, that being said, I personally prefer the sound of 5s as rear surrounds over the 300s. They offer far better punch, and round out the setup for music playback much more than the tinny, treble heavy - wide sounding 300’s do.

[@mrgold3591]

I stuck with the Beam Gen 2, Gen 3 sub, and One SLs in my smaller office. Went with the Arc Ultra (upgraded from the v1 Arc), dual Gen 3 subs, and Fives in Great room 3X the size of the office. Both sound equally well balanced and fill the rooms with Dolby/Atmos audio without much variation in quality. Beam/sub can work in a small/med space and you have the option to add Symfonisk/One SL/Era 100 to improve the sound profile later down the road.

[@karlchapman6768]

Would you say the arc ultra would be a significant upgrade on the playbar? Also would the arc ultra work with my play 1s and a gen 2 sub please?

[@AjinkyaKhavare]

I own beam gen 2 and bookshelf gen 1 speakers as rears . Confused between upgrading to arc or arc ultra. If I upgrade to ultra then I might loose the compatibility to the bookshelf speakers. Has anyone actually tried to connect to arc ultra with gen 1. That would help me lot with my purchasing decision

[@casparwhittey]

Thanks for the great review! For those luddites of us who are still rocking the prior generation setup (playbar + Sub + Play:5 surrounds), can you compare how the arc ultra theater setup would compare? Several hot takes out there that the playbar was better sounding than the arc, so I'd be curious as to how much of an upgrade the most modern setup would be.

[@smarthomesounds]

The Ultra would be a step up & also give you the ability to experience Dolby Atmos content. The Playbar is still a great sounding soundbar and our opinion was it did have better bass response than the original Arc but the Ultra is a more refined product with far better dialogue and sound placement.

[@WRX2001]

Also if the arc ultra is really is 9.1.4 out oif the box than what is it when you add a sub and add 2 eras as surrounds goes up to???

[@paulc5389]

It's not. Home theater in a box companies always label drivers as individual speakers to make it sound better than they are. Like if I buy a pair or tower speakers that each have 4 mids and 1 tweeter that's a total of 10 drivers but it's still only 2 speakers. And you don't get to add a .1 just because they play down to 70Hz either lol. I believe the channels the arc gives you are centre, 2 sides (which won't actually be at the sides of your TV if your TV is wider than the arc), 2 front Atmos via sound bouncing and 2 sides via sound bouncing also. That's still 7 channels in one bar but it's not 9.1.4 it's 5.0.2. That's still impressive for a single soundbar solution though.

[@ישראלאבייב-ק9כ]

Want to enter the world of Sonos and are debating what to go for budget-wise: beam 2 + sub mini + era100 or just arc ultra? In terms of price, the whole set comes out like Arc Ultra alone

[@Vldz_3]

Does it work with the Sonos 1’s?

[@badabing6275]

So how much better is it than my standard ARC + 2 x OneSL's and gen 4 Sub??? Don't really have the dosh to upgrade at the moment

[@nikolaah]

i currently have a beam 2. sub mini and two sl surrounds. will i notice a difference if i upgrade the beam to ultra ? its in a medium sized room

[@leecromer3289]

Any good in a small three bed semi, rather than a home with a living room like a football pitch?

[@paulc5389]

No DTS X at this price point is unacceptable. For a full system you could just get the theatre quad for the same money.

[@CebastianRosing]

We have a Beam gen 1, 2 Ones (rear) and a sub mini. How much does it make sense to upgrade just the beam? I get that it'll be a great upgrade in itself - but does the mini become pointless with the new base in the ultra, and therefore we should consider to a full sub? And are Era1/300 also "necessary"? Honestly asking if I can upgrade gradually with and it still makes sense. Changing it all is quite steep 😅

[@jrmcdonald821]

The sub mini is necessary for the Arc ultra it sounds like a big sub. All you need is the Arc ultra 2 ones & sub mini, you'll be good to go.

[@benjaminwitt1762]

The trailer you use in the test, what movie is it?

[@rupamede2022]

I have had an Arc soundbar for a while now - the only issue I have with it is that the sound does not exactly match the lips… it’s been like that for ages I even bought a new tv but nothing seems to work… I tried delaying the sound but it’s very hard to fix. It’s a pity. That’s why I can’t see myself upgrading this soundbar.

[@justinpazzi]

In the app there is an option called tv dialog you should be able to change this on there. On the other hand your TV will also have this option. This issue will not be down to the soundbar

[@natoftw]

I have sonos beam, 2 sonos ones as back speakers and a sub mini. Would replacing the beam with arc ultra improve much?

[@davejones4799]

Yes massively....

[@MSAli86]

I've got an Arc connected to a gen 2 & gen 3 sub. If I wanted to upgrade to the ultra, I'd have to upgrade sub gen 2 too?

[@Nightcall411]

Yes that's correct. If you are planning on using dual subs for the arc ultra both subs either have to be gen 3s, Gen 4's or one of each. If you have one sub the ultra can connect to any of the Gen 1, 2, 3, 4.

[@jeff6143]

Hello ' Sonos arc ultra or Sennheiser ambeo plus for the bass ? Thanks

[@KishorTwist]

Arc Ultra: _The bass has good impact, goes deep and is somewhat tubby and prominent._ Ambeo+: _With the Ambeo effect turned off, the bass has good impact, goes fairly deep and is a bit boomy._ Looks equivalent bass-wise.

[@alamoody3668]

Went for grouping 2 sonos sl ones put them under old arc facing upwards imitating (sound motion) and eras 300 as surround. Saved me self 1000 quid 😅 works for me. One thing, though, is that volume must be all at the same level😅

[@mustafahussain3972]

I grouped my fives also have 2 sub gen 3 it sounds amazing I put the fives as wide fronts

[@lynsmith1096]

Another good review

[@lewishague123]

The Samsung Q990D is on sale for under £900 in the UK, which comes with a sub & 2 surround speakers. If upgrading from the Sonos Beam (gen 1), what would you recommend - Sonos Arc Ultra only, or Samsung Q990D?

[@krozansky]

I've got Apple TV 4K and Samsung Frame 65 2023 with 1 HDMI eARC port. Will I get Dolby Atmos on this setup if I add Sonos Arc Ultra? Or do I need to have 2 eARC ports on TV?

[@kubiksoft]

If you connect the Apple TV to the HDMI 2.1 port (it might be labeled with 4k120hz), and the Sonos soundbar to the eARC port, you should get Atmos through.

[@krozansky]

@@kubiksoft Thanks! I can't really be perfectly sure if I got the right ports because tech specs on Samsung website is not great unfortunately. I will have to try I guess :D

[@gm2256]

I absolutely heard a difference between the Arc and Arc Ultra in your demonstration. I'm surprised it was that noticeable

[@giacintorenta7579]

How is the automatic / easy true play?

[@worders]

I'm super hyped but I'd love to know first how thing are going in terms of experience and immersion if you connect the Arc Ultra with two Era300 (by creating a room on Sonos app) and use it with an AppleTV via Airplay2 (since it's impossible for me to connect the soundbar via HDMI cable). Any point on that?

[@tumbletrack999]

I have an Arc gen 1 and two rear One’s. Should I upgrade to the arc ultra or spend the money on a sub?

[@MiguelSanchez-os4xs]

I’d say sub. Arc is perfect

[@MiguelSanchez-os4xs]

Let’s say you already had the ultra… then you’d buy a sub… point is your still buys a sub regardless of the arc/ultra… get sub then later get the ultra if you need it… Sub then Sonos 300s. Then an ultra if you really need

[@PhillipPaton-r6l]

I have two Era 300's and they are extremely good for playing music in the lounge which is a priority for me. I wonder if a Arc ultra connected to the two eras as rears would be better overall sound quality for music with the bonus of much better sound for movies/tv. Any feedback appreciated?

[@GOLFADDICT65]

will the ARC ULTRA sound even better with a SUB MINI and the ERA 100's ? would i even notice the difference ? i already ordered and received the sub Mini and ERA 100's my room is approx. 12 x 12 feet with 7.5 foot ceiling i got the BEAM 2 but changed my mind and wanna upgrade to the ARC ULTRA .... BEAM 2 is still in the box please let me know what you think thx also i intend to add the ERA 300's down the road possibly hoping the 100's will do in my room for now cheers from Canada another question should i not even open the Sub Mini box and just send it back and order the GEN 4 Sub ? i am not a bass head so as long as the mini adds some i would be fine i think not sure what to do

[@jb7753]

So if you have the Ultra m, gen 3 or 4 sub and 2 era 300's does that technically give you 11.2.6??

[@stephenlowes2161]

Does it start to compete with a dedicated 5.1.2 home amp system

[@AndrewB23]

No not even close you could literally buy an entry level surround setup for the same price if not cheaper and then upgrade for better speakers as you see fit you're just stuck with what you got with a sound bar.

[@ryanweng5150]

If I already have arc+sub mini+era100×2, do you think it is necessary to upgrade arc to arc ultra

[@mrgold3591]

The sound gap starts to narrow once you start to add sub(s) and surrounds. It might be harder to hear the differences between them side-by-side at normal listening levels depending on content (stereo, 5.1, Atmos, spatial audio). I would only upgrade if you are having issues with dialogue with Arc.

[@ישראלאבייב-ק9כ]

If I have to choose a first Sonos system, what is better for me: beam 2+sub mini+era 100 or just arc ultra?

[@that_biker_boy5550]

If it helps… I listened to everything in person (at other stores) then always choose to purchase from @smart home sounds… Their customer service is great, reviews are brilliant, price and warranty is excellent and staff are the real deal! ✨👌 I’d visit them in person if they weren’t 300 miles away! 😂 Anyway… After hearing the original Arc, I still choose a Beam Gen2, It sounded warmer and just ‘better’ in the store I heard it in! The original Arc sounded cold, a little too treble focused, and just not as rich and wholesome when I compared the sound bars (alone) in person… Although Arc Ultra wasn’t out then and I dare say if it had… That would have been my single stand alone purchase! With such a big price difference, between Beam Gen2 and Arc at the time, The smart money was on the Beam Gen2! … Testing It at home, it was great! although if It had to be criticised, then the overhead sounds weren’t quite as impressive as I’d hoped (still pretty ok though considering!) I then purchased 2x Era100 (which was a game changer and took everything to a new level) followed shortly by a sub mini, which I didn’t really feel I needed… Until I got it anyway, and was then blown away by how much value it offered to enrich the already impressive sound setup! Having had this setup for a year now… It’s ridiculously good and the best value for money setup! Honestly, it’s insanely good sound with great adjustability and for the complete price point… It’s a winner against a single soundbar! This setup easily beats a single Arc or Arc Ultra on its own!!! No contest! ✋ Personally I think this setup is hugely underrated with a lot of people are overlooking it purely as they chase spending the most amount of money possible, to try and persuade themselves that they are having the perfect sound or optimum ‘cinema’ experience. I’d take just the Beam Gen2 and 2x Era 100 (rears) over an Arc or Arc Ultra (on their own) any day of the week! However… With my bank balance now fully recovered from the initial investment… Would I now swap out the Beam Gen2 for the Arc or Arc Ultra with my current setup? Yeah probably! I wouldn’t mind the ‘tinny’ treble focused Arc anymore as the rest of my system would carry it in rich sound quality. I’d do this only in hope of a better overhead sound in my Atmos setup… Once I’d done that and recovered from the spend… Would I then swap out the Era100’s for the Era 300’s… Yep! Again for the overhead Atmos improvements. This is how the Sonos ecosystem gets you though! 😂 Luckily the Sub mini is MORE than enough for my large room. But it’s that chase of the finer improvements that makes you upgrade and spend more! Ultimately, if you have the budget… Ultra, 2x Era 300, Sub of your choice and call it a day! If you have a tighter budget… Go the route I did and swap out bits when you can afford to! Obviously you technically spend more money In the long run going this route… But it’s easier financially for me and you can sell your replaced items fairly well to recoup some money too. I will say mind you… Sonos bangs on about their upgrade programme… Which IS a great concept! However… None of the equipment I own is currently qualified for this programme… I figure because the items are all too new maybe? Great if you have OLD Sonos gear, but not great for Newer Sonos clients that genuinely want to upgrade new tech to reach higher levels of performance from other new tech! Which surely is the point of an upgrade programme!? 🤷‍♂️ Anyway… Hope this essay helps someone at some point! 🤓

[@musicvideos4536]

I couldn’t agree more with your comment on turning up and down the sound on the original arc. I had to do that all the time and now can keep the sound the same with the Ultra due to the better dialog. I upgraded from Arc to Ultra and have two 300s and G3 Sub. Ultra is much better in that setup.

[@drewsmillie5485]

Can I ask what you did with your original Arc? I have an Arc and it really does my head in with the volume issues relating to dialogue vs other noises (to the point that we just put on subtitles). I am tempted to upgrade, and Sonos have given me upgrade discount.

[@musicvideos4536]

I had the same issue where turning sound up to 50 and down to 40 during movies. With the Ultra, I am very comfortable with a movie like experience at 33 and can hear dialog cleary while still getting punch of action scenes. I also used Sonos upgrade credit for purchase and picked up at local Best Buy same day. I’m Putting the old Arc with old SL Ones in another room that we don’t use as often.

[@beeflorn]

Can this be used with older sub or do you need to upgrade to the latest gen?

[@westview9917]

According to Sonos, any generation of the sub works with the Ultra

[@paulallan9819]

My gen2 sub has suffered about a 90% drop off since upgrading to Ultra 😢

[@Nightcall411]

If you're using an individual sub any of the Gen 1, 2, 3, 4 will be able to connect to the Arc ultra. However, if you're doing dual subs you can only use a Gen 3 or Gen 4.

[@mattjames8991]

Can you reach out to Sonos ask when / if the Ace sound swap feature will be extended to a 2nd / 3rd pair of headphones?

[@handanarts]

I love my arc ultra so much. Movies and music are so immersive

[@AndrewB23]

It's a sound bar I doubt that very much, you could buy an entry level surround setup for cheaper

[@handanarts]

@@AndrewB23 You sound bitter because your poor

[@umano.teodori]

I still think that the Era 300 are overkill as surrounds, at least for a medium-sized room. But they are amazing nonetheless. I am Eager to feel how improved the arc ultra and the new sub are. I really hope the soundstage will be a lot bigger than the arc. Beautiful review, by the way, it made me drool about my upgrade. Let's hope the review isn't too enthusiastic :)

[@Mr_Latte_UK]

Are their any new wall mounts from supporting companies, for ULTRA coming that are extendable? I will be using my setup with Sim Rig and Samsungs 57" 32:9 monitor. Also, anyone else having crackle type distortion via the ULTRA - ACE mode?

[@Beer_Dad1975]

Sonos already have an official Ultra mount available that fits properly - he's just pointing out you can use the original arc mount if you want, even though it sticks out a bit. Apparently there were bugs in the update before the most recent one (which just dropped a day or so ago) - so make sure you update your firmware & it should fix your crackle.

[@beeflorn]

Would this work well with era 100s as rears if cost is an option?

[@chillywill95831]

I would argue the era 100s are better than the 300s because the ultra pulls so much weight in the surround channels.

[@Aoelx]

Was really interested in the new Arc but I’m going for a traditional 5.1 AVR solution instead. Getting the full Sonos package will be more expensive with a couple of hundred bucks compared to the package I’m looking at. 😱

[@AndrewB23]

Yep it literally makes no sense to not buy an actual entry surround set-up

[@shimonleonov]

Hi , i have a old sonos playbase + 2 rear sonos play 1 for Surround . the arc ultra dosent work with rear play 1, so is it worth to buy sonos ultra arc and And give up with the rear speakers for now and buy only the ultra arc at this moment or to stay with the old Surround system ?

[@smarthomesounds]

Thanks for the question, the playbase was a good product with great bass response, but I think I would now go with the standalone Arc. You will get a wide immersive soundstage with more detail especially on Atmos content and a also a better bass response with both movies & music. Let us know how you go 👍

[@shimonleonov]

can you please answer the question 🙏 ?

[@shimonleonov]

@@smarthomesounds thank you for your help !!!

[@shimonleonov]

@@smarthomesounds 🙏🙏🙏

[@Seier5000]

Would you discuss the concerns (or not) consumers should have when (if) buying from Sonos? Given their practice of forced generational upgrades through their management app... I'm trying to decide between the Sont Bravia Theatre Quad and a similarly priced Sonos setup with Era 300's and a Sub gen. 4.

[@theochua]

Curious if Sonos Arc Ultra works well with Sub Gen 3.

[@mrgold3591]

Yes, I swapped out my v1 Arc with the Arc Ultra and I had dual Gen 3 subs and Fives. I didn't have any issues with dialogue with v1 Arc+LG OLED 77C1 and noticed dialogue comes in even better with the Arc Ultra. Not 100% sure is the Arc Ultra bass module frequency responses are reduced with the sub(s)?

[@rayleighh_]

does it work with the ps5?

[@cedtech2089]

Great review ! Thx a lot for this one. 💯. I dont have any sonos devices but i just keep an eye on it . Maybe i will start with some era 100 x2 or Era 300 and after add the arc Ultra.

[@stylesbitchly9931]

I would encourage you to purchase era 300’s over the 100’s. I have the 100’s. Good speaker upgrade over the SL’s. But the 300’s from a lot reviews. They seem to be the real deal. And they should be, $200-$250 more, per speaker!

[@lorenzospecchiarelli2977]

Bose Smart ultra or Sonos Arc ultra? I've always had Bose and I like how it sounds but I would like to try Sonos with Era 300 for Atmos (the Bose 700 surround s are poor). The only doubt is the dialogues

[@czar4you]

Thats my debate as well. Only issue with bose it also lacks low. I live in appartment so playing loud is a no, no but clarity which i seek. So im leaning towards bose

[@bcrerste]

How is it compared to BOSE 900 at music listening in terms of bass?

[@smarthomesounds]

The Ultra wins this one easily for us.

[@KishorTwist]

Bose 900: _Bass has good impact, goes fairly deep, is slightly boomy and the dynamic range may sound compressed with some program material._

[@lisaweller94]

Sonos Arc Ultra or Bose Smart Ultra (i can get this for just 509 €) ? Which one is better from the Sound, for movies as well as for music?

[@lorenzospecchiarelli2977]

Same question …

[@cliffinkaemurd1320]

Beautiful review as always. Also i miss the guy who reviewed the arc

[@deonh9303]

Has anyone using the Sonos Ace with a Beam Gen 2 had to switch the Beam to use Wifi instead of Ethernet to get the ACE to work? My Audio swap would not work until I unplugged the ethernet from my Beam. Thx

[@ALKALINE75]

Great Review!! I own a sonos beam gen 2 , sub mini and two sonos ones. does the ultra sound better than my setup standalone?

[@sackk94]

Just change the beam for the ultra but there’s no replacement for surround speakers

[@mrgold3591]

I would just upgrade the Arc Ultra if you have a med-large TV area, your TV is +55 inches, and has eArc HDMI (the Arc Ultra might look too big and be wider than the TV if 50 inches or less). The Beam Gen 2 can be moved to the master bedroom or spare room. You can later upgrade the One SL to Era 100/300, move the extra One SLs to the Beam, or use the One SLs stand alone in other rooms.

[@Geekosification]

@@ALKALINE75 I would definitely upgrade something else instead (Like your TV). Unpopular opinion, but maybe I would rather have the so os arc ultra with a sub vs your setup.

[@Beer_Dad1975]

I doubt it - I have the same setup on my smaller TV in the living room, and it's really great in that space. I actually prefer it to my Arc + 2 Era300's + 2 Sub Gen 3's in the media room for some types of content.

[@WBAMWBAM]

Sonos arc + Sub (gen 3) or arc Ultra?

[@williamcanada6195]

Thank you for your review. At this time I have an « old school « Sony SA ST 5000 set up ( more than 4 years ). Which seems more feasible : Arc Ultra or Samsung ?!?!

[@gregduncan342]

I replaced my Arc with an Arc Ultra. I moved my Arc to another room. I’ve noticed the audio decoding on Netflix does not work properly. 5.1 on several shows has decoding issues where the music on a show is very low or missing. For example, the music is Derry Girls in many scenes is missing or very low. I don’t get this issue on Arc. The only way to work around the problem on Netflix is change audio to stereo. All the other streaming services seem to work fine. Lord of the rings on Prime for example sounds amazing. Sonos support could not help, telling me to contact Netflix. Not great. My setup is Arc Ultra, sub 4, sub 3, 2x Era300

[@jeremycorwen7852]

I have the same problem

[@gregduncan342]

@@jeremycorwen7852 Did you have any luck with Sonos Support?

[@johntilsley9111]

They still haven't sorted all the problems created by the system upgrade. Why would I want to buy another piece of Sonos gear that I can't use all the features that I originally bought into?

[@GOLFADDICT65]

you make a good point but i am confident they will fix things up sooner than later... heres hoping cheers

[@AndrewB23]

Buy an actual surround sound for the same price or cheaper and upgrade as you go, sound bars are a waste of money

[@GOLFADDICT65]

@@AndrewB23 i don't want any wires at all a good friend has a ton of Sonos speakers for the last 10 years and has never had an issue he says i will chance it i think thx thought i appreciate your response

[@stuartmills7481]

Hey Louie , Ive been waiting for this review & as usual you do not disappoint , However I have a question or 2 , First do you have 1 on demo in your awesome showroom ? you know I love to come for a demo , second I have 2 x subs 1 Gen 2 & the second which I purchased from you guys a Gen 3 I think im right in thinking my Gen 2 would NOT be compatible with the ULTRA ? so it means for me I would also have to purchase a Gen 4 - As I do love my twin sub set up ! Last question .... the biggest issue I have purchasing this ULTRA is the app , other you tube videos have said it takes over 2.5 hours to fully get the whole system up & running as a home theatre system with the ERA300's as rears which you know I have [ again purchased from you ] In an ideal word I'd like you to come & set the whole system up for me then I would come & purchase the Ultra & Gen 4 sub in a heart beat ! - Thanks again for another great video , look forward to all the others you have coming .

[@smarthomesounds]

Hi Stuart, thanks for the comment! We do have the Arc Ultra on demo in our showroom 😀 Sadly a dual Sub setup requires Sub 4 and/or Sub (Gen 3). When testing the Arc Ultra full home cinema setup out, we didn't find any major delays in getting it all connected - definitely nowhere near 2.5 hours. Though it can depend on your WiFi / how up to date the rest of your system is etc. Unfortunately we don't offer an installation service, we'll be sure to let you know if that changes 👍🏻

[@Adrianek81]

I stop using soundbars years ago,just not anough sound for me so i got avr with 5.0 Dali opticon 2mk2 🔊

[@chillywill95831]

Why comment? I don't understand! What is your actual point?

[@ionutbadea4241]

Very nice! Liked from the start your video (no, not a bot). I still think the samsung has the best soundbar of all time..q990D

[@oscarolivares9950]

Best Buy has the arc at 699 right now. Do you think the ultra is worth the extra $300?

[@todddammit4628]

I'd love a head to head with the Sennheiser

[@OuterSpaceMindOSM]

Can you use two Sonos Ace's with one Arc Ultra? Would be useful to watch a movie with someone else.

[@robbievengence]

Yes

[@OuterSpaceMindOSM]

@ source?

[@robbievengence]

@@OuterSpaceMindOSM Sonos sells the arc ultra and two pairs together on their website.

[@dawidszyszko]

@@OuterSpaceMindOSM common sense and Sonos website. It would be stupid for new soundbar to not work with their brand new headphones.

[@JakeySte]

5.1.4 all the way for me. Arc has been shifted to the bedroom. Incomparable

[@Dondonsifi]

the best sonos Arc ultra review amount How it compare to q990d?

[@smarthomesounds]

Video coming soon, but the 990D is a very good product.

[@darrylbrian]

I was ready to pull the trigger until I realized it doesn't support Google Assistant. I have Google Homes in each of my two bedrooms, a Roam in my office, a Beam 2 in my basement, and a Beam 1 in my living room which is what I would replace if I were to get the Arc Ultra, all of which are using Google Assistant but now I'm second guessing the Arc Ultra purchase simply because I don't want to introduce a different home assistant.

[@smarthomesounds]

Yes that is frustrating as a Google assistant user. While Sonos Voice is getting better it's no match currently.

[@robertwright6067]

Why is it 25% more expensive in the UK than US?

[@d1nicoya]

For a standalone sound bar, Sennheiser ambeo plus is the best.

[@remco3819]

Don't know if that one is better plus they (still) don't sell surround speakers

[@AndrewB23]

The best waste of money, buy a real surround for the same price or cheaper bud 😂

[@4Kmichelinstarmovies]

I want one soooo bad.

[@CDPA7]

Then get one! 🤷‍♂️

[@AndrewB23]

Buy a real surround