The Sonos ARC was released a year ago, but it wasn’t until now that I got my hands on it to analyze it. I was very eager to do so because Sonos speakers usually sound fabulous, and this Sonos ARC has received very positive reviews despite its cost.
This is the first bar the brand has launched on the market since the Sonos Playbase, and since then the emergence of Dolby Atmos has been swift, not only in cinemas but also in the home environment. People want soundbars to be increasingly immersive, and Sonos has responded to this demand with a bar that, on its own, already offers a very notable immersion capability.
| Specification | Details |
|---|---|
| Format | Soundbar |
| Channels | 5.0.2 |
| Speakers | 11 (8 woofers, 3 tweeters) |
| Power | 110W |
| Decoding | Dolby Atmos, Dolby Digital Plus, PCM |
| Wired connections | HDMI ARC, Optical digital audio |
| Wireless connections | WiFi |
| Remote control | No |
| Virtual assistant compatibility | Alexa |
| Size and weight | 8.7 × 114.1 × 11.5 cm, 6.25 Kg |
| Available colors | Black and white |
Design and controls
One of Sonos’s strengths is the design of its speakers. The Sonos ARC is no exception. It has a minimalist design, with a matte finish and curved shapes that give it a beautiful appearance. The front has a metal grille with holes to protect the 11 transducers inside the bar, with the Sonos logo right in the center and a tiny status LED indicator, which we can deactivate or activate from the app.
It is quite a wide bar, measuring 114 cm, a size that fits perfectly with 55″ and 65″ TVs. I like that it has just the right height, 8.7 cm, so it doesn’t obstruct the screen too much on TVs with a low stand.
On the top are the 3 touch buttons, consisting of one to start and stop playback, and two volume buttons. On the far right is the microphone indicator for virtual assistants.
The Sonos ARC comes without a remote control, relying on the wonderful Sonos app (iOS and Android), which, although it was already great for a long time, is now even better after the recent renovation it underwent, making it even easier to use and with new services, such as Sonos Radio, which saves us from having to use third-party apps like TuneIn to listen to online radio.
After a simple and guided initial setup process, the app shows us the status of the bar, what is currently playing, and the settings available for the bar, with Night modes, to compress the sound and avoid disturbing the neighbors, and Voice mode, to enhance voices and improve dialogue clarity, as well as a simple graphic equalizer for treble and bass.
Connections and audio formats
Behind the bar, we find the connection ports. We have the power cable input and two ports for audio connections: for optical digital audio cable and an HDMI ARC port. Therefore, with the Sonos ARC, we can only use the TV as a connection HUB. The Sonos ARC is compatible with eARC, so we can send Dolby Atmos signal in True-HD through the HDMI ARC as long as our TV also has eARC.
I have been able to play Dolby Atmos without problems, both in Dolby True-HD and Dolby Digital Plus, as well as any sound source in Dolby format. I have also been able to send stereo PCM sound from the TV, and according to one of the latest firmware updates, PCM can also be sent in 5.1.
Unfortunately, Sonos continues its tradition of not offering support for DTS or any of its derivatives. The limited compatibility only with Dolby sources makes the Sonos ARC only recommendable for those who consume all their content through streaming platforms, DTT, or decoders like Movistar’s.
The annoyance about the DTS issue goes away as soon as I connect the bar to WiFi. Sonos has the most complete and easy-to-use multiroom ecosystem, and by far over the competition. In the initial setup, the bar is ready to be used with Spotify Connect, and the compatibility with Airplay is one of the reasons why iOS users have a preference for Sonos. From the app, we can also send any audio from our mobile or any other that is within the DLNA network.
As for virtual assistants, the Sonos ARC can be managed with both Google Assistant and Alexa. Inside the bar, there is a matrix of four microphones that allow voice commands. The process of connecting the bar with the assistants is very simple, and the app guides you through the entire process. From the moment the bar connects with a virtual assistant, the microphone LED indicator on the bar remains on, but to deactivate the microphone, just press the touch button.
Sound
In terms of sound quality, the Sonos ARC is a splendid soundbar. Its sound quality is excellent, and Sonos once again demonstrates the good work of its engineering team when it comes to introducing numerous drivers into a small space and making them sound fabulous.
Inside the Sonos ARC, there are 11 transducers, distributed across up to 7 channels. Two woofers and a tweeter go to the center channel, a woofer and a tweeter for the right and left channels, two projection woofers at the ends of the bar act as rear channels, and two upward-firing woofers handle the Atmos aerial effects.
Sonos never announces the RMS power of the set, but this user on Youtube has measured a power of 110W, which is in line with the approximate power of previous bars from the brand like the Sonos Playbar. Each driver is powered by a class D amplifier, Sonos’s usual recipe with its speakers to provide them with enough power to reach high volumes without distortion.
The Sonos ARC is probably the first product from the company that has been clearly designed with sound quality for watching movies and series in mind rather than music. I noticed this in the first quick comparison I did by playing some reference movies and songs. The sound with multichannel audio in movies and series is fantastic, a very neutral sound with a very accurate reproduction of mids and highs, with a perfect center channel for absolute clarity in dialogues.
However, it is with Dolby Atmos audio, and more specifically when encoded in Dolby True-HD, that this bar shows an absolutely spectacular performance. With Dolby Atmos, this bar has the most immersive sound I have heard to date if we are only talking about the bar itself, excluding rear speakers. The test with Hacksaw Ridge, played with Dolby Atmos through a Nvidia Shield connected via HDMI to the TV, was amazing, with a wonderful display of sound effects, with effects that really gave the sensation of being played from above and behind, which speaks volumes about how incredibly well the sound projection woofers installed at the ends of the bar and on its top work.
Another acid test was with the remastered edition of Blade Runner, which boasts one of the best sound editions I have ever heard. In the sequences where Vangelis’s music plays, the Sonos ARC floods the living room with sound, with an impressive sense of sound width and scale, with moments where it seems like you are right under a waterfall of sound. Really, what this Sonos ARC can achieve with well-mixed Atmos content is amazing.
The only thing missing is more punch in the bass, and this is the most discordant point; and that is the bass of the Sonos ARC is very good for a bar without a subwoofer, but it is evident that it lacks that extra punch that systems with a subwoofer do have. This drawback is solved by buying a Sonos SUB, although it is certainly an expensive product. But whoever buys the Sonos ARC should seriously consider also buying the subwoofer, because the experience this bar must provide with it must be crazy. And while you’re at it, it would be a good idea to buy a pair of Sonos One to use them as rear speakers for a complete surround effect. This whole pack goes for about 2000€, a very, very high price, but it provides a 7.1.2 system of immense quality. Fortunately, the Sonos app makes it easy to buy these extras and integrate them with the bar at any time, so you can buy the bar and leave the decision to buy the rest for later.
With music, that extra bass is also missed, especially in genres that demand it the most, but the strangest thing that happens with the Sonos ARC’s music playback is the mix the bar makes of stereo sources. The bar plays through the three front channels, reinforcing the voices in the center channel as if it were a movie. What it achieves this way is that the stereo separation required by music is somewhat compromised. I’m not saying the music sounds bad, far from it, but it would sound much more natural if the stereo source were left intact. The worst part is that there is no way to remove this sound processing with music, or at least I haven’t managed to, as there is no setting for this in the app.
What we do have is a very basic equalizer to adjust treble and bass, although frankly, I haven’t seen any need to modify it, as the bar already sounds very good at all frequencies with its default values. The other two sound modes work correctly for their respective purposes: the Night mode compresses the sound to balance the louder effects with the quieter ones, and the Voice mode makes the voices sound a bit clearer.
Conclusion and alternatives
The Sonos ARC is another fantastic soundbar from Sonos, but like the previous ones, it presents some virtues and several drawbacks.
Let’s see, first, it must be said that its sound with Dolby Atmos sources is truly spectacular. It is undoubtedly one of the best Dolby Atmos soundbars I have had the chance to try, plain and simple. Moreover, it is damn beautiful, one of those products that are a pleasure to see how well they fit in the living room and under our TV. And it must also be added that the Sonos WiFi system is a delight.
All this falls on the side of its virtues, now let’s go with its drawbacks. The first, the few connections we have, and the second is the incompatibility with any DTS-derived format. The last, the most important, is that setting up a complete set, with a subwoofer and rear speakers, gets out of hand, at a prohibitive price.
The problem is not paying close to 2000€ for having a spectacular sound system like the one formed by the Sonos ARC plus the subwoofer and the rears, but that for much less, Samsung’s top of the range offers sound quality, at least, just as good, and also with HDMI inputs and compatibility with DTS:X and DTS-HD.
Who is this Sonos ARC suitable for? I see it as an ideal bar for those who cannot place either a subwoofer or rears, but refuse to give up the highest possible sound quality. In this aspect, I repeat that if we are only talking about the bar itself, the Sonos ARC offers the best immersive experience with Dolby Atmos sources.
It is also a good purchase if all the content you watch is with VOD platforms like Netflix or Prime Video, since the technical limitations derived from the absence of HDMI inputs and the incompatibility with DTS will not affect you. Still, make sure you meet the requirements to have Dolby Atmos with Netflix and similar platforms.
Obviously, I also see it as a perfect purchase for those who have plenty of money and want to indulge themselves. Considering the limitations mentioned before, and if you can afford it, the Sonos ARC is a fantastic soundbar, which becomes a tremendous product if you accompany it with the subwoofer and the rears. You will pay a high price for a more limited system than others in terms of connections and multichannel audio compatibility, but in terms of sound quality, you will have a thoroughbred in your home.
