New tech powers a giant audio improve

2024 has been a tough yr for Sonos. The corporate’s would-be triumphant entry into the crowded headphones market was overshadowed by a disastrous app redesign. In the fallout of the botched software program replace, the corporate determined to delay merchandise that had been able to be shipped to provide itself extra time to proper the course. Shopper belief eroded, and individuals who already owned Sonos gear had been dwelling in a cycle of fixed frustration.

Due to plenty of rumors, we already knew that one of many pending product releases was the Arc Extremely ($999). A number of weeks in the past the corporate determined to not wait any longer to disclose it. Whereas the design is generally unchanged from the Arc that debuted in 2020, there are a number of key modifications on the within that make this a greater all-in-one answer for individuals who don’t wish to add extra audio system to their lounge setup. Sonos is promising higher bass efficiency because of new speaker tech that’s debuting within the Arc Extremely, however simply how good can or not it’s?

Design

The refined design of the unique Arc was an enormous improve from that of the Playbar, and confirmed a development from Sonos’ compact Beam soundbar. Truthfully, the aesthetic is fairly timeless, for my part, and it’s a glance that ought to age nicely for years to come back. That mentioned, it is smart that Sonos would preserve the design for the Arc Extremely, solely making some minor modifications to the outside.

The Arc Extremely nonetheless is available in each black and white choices, permitting you to decide on what seems greatest in your lounge or house theater. Sonos up to date the controls to reflect what’s accessible on the newer Period 100 and Period 300 audio system, transferring them to a top-facing bar on the again. There’s a quantity slider on the suitable with play/pause and skip controls within the middle. On the left facet, Sonos provides you a microphone management so you may mute the built-in mics as wanted.

And that’s actually it when it comes to design modifications that you may see. The Arc Extremely is barely shorter height-wise than the Arc, and it’s a bit of wider than its predecessor. Neither of which make an enormous distinction, and so they gained’t drastically change the way you place the speaker beneath your TV.

Inside, Sonos has re-engineered the Arc Extremely to enhance audio efficiency. The largest piece of this overhaul is the brand new Sound Movement woofer that allows higher bass efficiency earlier than you add a standalone wi-fi sub. The achievement right here, because of the acquisition of audio firm Mayht, is that the brand new element lays flat, taking over much less room than a conventional cone-shaped woofer. The Sound Movement driver additionally helps ship elevated readability and depth, on high of doubling the bass output of the unique Arc.

Sonos redesigned all the acoustic structure of the Arc Extremely in the course of the means of including the Sound Movement woofer. The soundbar now homes three extra drivers than the arc, a listing that features seven tweeters (two of that are upfiring), six mid-range drivers (midwoofers, as Sonos calls them) and the aforementioned woofer for a complete of 14. The corporate additionally employs 15 Class-D digital amplifiers together with far-field mics for tuning and voice management.

There’s nonetheless solely a single HDMI (eARC) port, which permits most fashionable TVs the flexibility to manage the soundbar’s quantity and mute choices out of your TV distant. Furthermore, the Arc Extremely is appropriate with Wi-Fi 6 and newly-added Bluetooth 5.3 connectivity lets you stream from any gadget. And naturally, AirPlay 2 remains to be on the spec sheet. One final thing I’ll point out right here is that the Arc Extremely doesn’t ship with an optical adapter should you favor that connection. The corporate will promote you one for $25.

Software program and options

Because the Arc Extremely is a Sonos product, there are quite a lot of core options which can be the identical as they’re on the corporate’s different gadgets. You should use the soundbar as a part of a multiroom setup and Trueplay tuning is right here to regulate the audio to the acoustics of the room. There’s nonetheless an adjustable EQ with choices for bass, treble and loudness and a Evening Sound mode makes issues much less boomy when somebody in your own home could also be making an attempt to work or sleep.

Whereas Trueplay will provide you with one of the best sound customization for the sonic traits of your lounge, Sonos is enabling a Fast Tune characteristic for the primary time on the Arc Extremely. Right here, the soundbar will use its inner mics, versus your cellphone, to supply a sure diploma of enchancment. The corporate says it needed to provide folks the choice of one thing faster than Trueplay, though the full-fledged tuning course of doesn’t take very lengthy in any respect.

Speech Enhancement has been a useful characteristic on Sonos soundbars for some time, providing you with the flexibility to enhance dialog readability as wanted. Prior to now, it was an all-or-nothing characteristic, however on the Arc Extremely, the corporate launched three ranges of speech enhance to provide you extra choices to raised fit your wants. This implies the soundbar might help you hear clearly over background noise or just comply with alongside higher by elevating dialog above the remainder of the soundtrack combine.

The trademark characteristic of Sonos’ Ace headphones is the flexibility to beam the audio from a appropriate soundbar to the cans for a personal house theater. That TV Audio Swap device is offered on the Arc Extremely, so you may immediately ship the sound to the headphones with the press of a button. In truth, Sonos bundles the Arc Extremely and Ace headphones in a $1,373 set. What’s extra, the Ace helps spatial audio with dynamic head monitoring, so you may depend on immersive sound even once you’re using it on a person foundation.

Regardless of the entire issues that Sonos has had with its app, a few of which it is nonetheless working to resolve, I did not encounter any points throughout my testing. The software program crashed on me as soon as when the Trueplay tuning course of accomplished, however all the pieces had already run its course and I didn’t must repeat it. Aside from that, the app has labored reliably during the last week whereas I’ve been placing the Arc Extremely by way of its paces. Most significantly, the software program is secure and the total suite of controls for the brand new soundbar is offered at launch.

Sound efficiency

The unique Arc already sounded nice, so Sonos actually had its work minimize out for it to additional enhance the audio high quality for the Arc Extremely. Due to the improved bass of the Sound Movement tech, a change that additionally takes up much less house, the corporate says it had the flexibility to then overhaul the mid-range and high-frequency elements as nicely. By utilizing a number of sizes of mid-range drivers and tweeters, Sonos was in a position to tweak the speaker positioning within the soundbar for improved projection and extra immersive sound.

Along with the improved bass efficiency, the second factor that was instantly obvious on the Arc Extremely was these enhancements to the dimensional sound. Whether or not it was a quidditch match in a Harry Potter film or zooming F1 vehicles in Drive to Survive, the soundbar now has higher directional, immersive sound than its predecessor. Sonos says the Arc Extremely now renders Dolby Atmos content material in a 9.1.4-channel setup, versus 5.0.2 with the Arc, which additional contributes to the enveloping audio. Curiously, I haven’t seen any of the competitors declare 4 up-firing channels from the soundbar like Sonos does right here (people who do are often accounting for up-firing drivers within the rear audio system). You’ll be able to actually hear the distinction from the second you fireplace up the Arc Extremely, and the impact is constant throughout content material sources.

The elevated bass efficiency makes the Arc Extremely a a lot better speaker for music with no separate subwoofer. You gained’t get the bombastic low-end tone the newly up to date Sonos Sub 4 can produce, however there’s sufficient from the soundbar to provide Kaytranada’s Timeless, Phantogram’s Reminiscence of a Day and Bilmuri’s American Motor Sports activities loads of booming spine when a observe calls for it. There’s additionally nonetheless the trademark Sonos readability I’ve come to anticipate over time, which implies finer particulars like the feel of synths, layered guitars and the nuance of acoustic devices minimize by way of the combination cleanly.

And talking of readability, the corporate’s new Speech Enhancement settings are additionally a giant enchancment. Having the ability to choose how a lot of a lift this characteristic supplied relying on both my wants proper then or based mostly on the general tuning of the content material is very nice. It allowed me to max out the dialog when watching films after my toddler was asleep in order that speech didn’t endure when sound results had been louder throughout intense scenes of The Hobbit: An Sudden Journey.

The competitors

There’s little doubt the Arc Extremely packs in deeper, extra immersive sound than its predecessor, however some folks will nonetheless desire a extra sturdy setup to wring each ounce of audio out of a Sonos lounge setup. The high-end alternative for that is what Sonos calls the Final Immersive Set, which incorporates the Arc Extremely, two Period 300s and the Sub 4. Proper now, that can value you $2,561. For one thing inexpensive, you will get the Arc Extremely and the brand new Sub 4 (usually $799) for $1,708 (Premium Leisure Set). And therein lies the most important downside with Sonos soundbars: increasing your lounge setup to get probably the most immersive expertise will get very dear in a short time when the centerpiece is already $999.

If you happen to can reside with out all of the conveniences of Sonos merchandise, you will get an all-in-one package deal from Samsung for $1,500. With the Q990D, you’ll get the soundbar, two rear audio system and a wi-fi subwoofer in the identical field. The setup gives 11.1.4 audio for wonderful Atmos sound, thanks partially to up-firing drivers within the rear audio system. Samsung gives a number of useful options, from Q-Symphony audio with TV audio system, SpaceFit Sound Professional room calibration, Adaptive Sound audio enhancement, a devoted gaming mode and extra. The Q990D stays my high decide for one of the best soundbars for lots of causes, a key one being all the pieces you can want is available in one all-inclusive package deal.

Wrap-up

The Arc Extremely is an apparent enchancment over the Arc within the sonic division. New know-how delivers on its promise to spice up bass, readability and immersive earlier than you begin including further elements. Expanded options like Speech Enhancements and a quick-tune possibility supply new instruments for dialing within the sound, whereas the inventory Sonos expertise stays intact. And fortunately, that features an app that’s extra secure than it was a number of months in the past. The Arc Extremely remains to be dear at $999, however it displays much more sonic prowess than its predecessor for under $100 extra.