As a longtime consumer of the unique Sonos Arc, I approached the brand new Sonos Arc Extremely with pleasure and skepticism.
The unique Arc has been a staple in my dwelling leisure setup. It delivers spectacular Dolby Atmos sound and effortlessly integrates with the Sonos ecosystem.
With the Arc Extremely promising upgrades in sound high quality, design, and connectivity, I used to be desperate to see if it might stay as much as the hype and justify its greater price ticket.
After spending time with the Extremely, it’s clear that Sonos hasn’t simply refined its flagship soundbar; they’ve reimagined what a standalone audio system can provide. However is it sufficient to tempt current Arc customers like me to take the leap? Let’s dive in.
The Sonos Arc Extremely, launched on Oct. 29, is Sonos’ newest flagship soundbar. It’s priced at $999 and obtainable in black or white.
This new launch marks a slight worth improve over its predecessor, the unique Arc, which is discontinued and now being bought at discounted charges as retailers clear remaining inventory.
The Arc Extremely enters a aggressive market, dealing with rivals just like the Sony Bravia Theatre Bar 9 and the Samsung HW-Q990D. Each provide compelling options and, at occasions, important reductions.
Design and Construct
Visually, the Arc Extremely intently resembles the unique Arc, sustaining Sonos’ minimalist aesthetic with a perforated grille encompassing a lot of the chassis. Nevertheless, refined adjustments embrace a ledge on the again housing contact controls — play/pause, skip, quantity slider, and a voice management button — relocated from the principle grille.
The soundbar’s dimensions have been adjusted ever so barely: it’s wider at 118cm (up from 114cm) however shorter in top at 7.5cm (down from 8.7cm), decreasing the chance of obstructing the TV display when positioned in entrance. Weighing roughly 350g lower than its predecessor, the Arc Extremely can also be extra wall-mount pleasant.
The design requires an open placement, as positioning it in a nook or beneath a shelf can impede the upward-firing drivers important for optimum sound dispersion.
Options and Connectivity
The Arc Extremely boasts a 9.1.4-channel configuration, a major improve from the unique Arc’s 5.0.2 setup. It incorporates 14 custom-engineered drivers powered by 15 Class D amplifiers, together with seven tweeters, six midrange woofers, and a novel Sound Movement woofer.
This progressive woofer makes use of 4 smaller, light-weight motors to maneuver the cone, enabling higher air displacement and, in line with Sonos, delivering as much as twice the bass of the unique Arc. The twin-cone design additionally goals to reduce mechanical vibrations, contributing to a extra balanced sound profile.
Regardless of these developments, the Arc Extremely lacks help for DTS audio codecs, focusing solely on Dolby Atmos for spatial audio. Connectivity choices stay restricted, with a single HDMI eARC port and no devoted HDMI inputs, necessitating all exterior sources being linked via the TV. This setup could pose challenges for customers with a number of high-spec gaming gadgets and restricted HDMI 2.1 ports on their TVs.
Sonos Arc Extremely dwelling theater soundbar: entrance view (pictured high) and again view
On the upside, the Arc Extremely introduces Bluetooth connectivity (a primary for Sonos soundbars) and expands Sonos’ glorious Trueplay calibration help to Android gadgets, enhancing consumer accessibility.
Efficiency
By way of audio efficiency, the Arc Extremely delivers a clear, exact, and spacious soundstage with spectacular three-dimensionality. The improved bass is deep and expressive, offering a strong basis with out overwhelming the general sound profile.
Dialogue readability has improved, due to the brand new front-firing speaker array devoted to the middle channel, making certain crisp and intelligible speech copy. The soundbar excels intimately retrieval, capturing refined nuances throughout numerous content material varieties.
Nevertheless, the absence of HDMI passthrough and DTS help could also be limiting for some customers. Moreover, whereas the Sonos app presents strong management and customization choices, some customers have reported occasional points that would have an effect on the general consumer expertise.
How Arc Extremely Stacks Up In opposition to Rivals
In comparison with opponents just like the Sony Bravia Theatre Bar 9 and the Samsung HW-Q990D, the Arc Extremely holds its floor when it comes to sound high quality and design.
Although formally priced greater, the Sony Bravia Theatre Bar 9 usually sees reductions that carry it nearer to the Arc Extremely’s worth level. The Bravia Theatre Bar 9 boasts a complete function set, together with HDMI passthrough and help for each Dolby Atmos and DTS:X codecs, providing higher flexibility for customers with various content material sources.
Whereas costlier, the Samsung HW-Q990D features a wi-fi subwoofer and encompass audio system, delivering a extra immersive encompass sound expertise out of the field. Its connectivity choices are extra in depth, that includes a number of HDMI inputs and help for numerous audio codecs, making it a flexible selection for customers in search of a complete dwelling theater setup.
Is Arc Extremely Well worth the Improve?
To make sure, Sonos has lengthy confronted criticism for its app, which, whereas providing a smooth design and strong management choices, has been affected by occasional connectivity points and restricted flexibility.
Customers usually report frustrations with delayed updates, issue including new gadgets, and issues syncing throughout the ecosystem. These woes are particularly irritating given the premium worth of Sonos merchandise, which units excessive expectations for seamless integration.
Though current updates have aimed to deal with a few of these points, the app expertise nonetheless leaves room for enchancment, notably as opponents proceed to refine their platforms. Whereas I’ve suffered via a few of these points myself (notably with Sonos’ terrific over-the-ears Ace headphones), the app has fortunately matured to the purpose that it didn’t inhibit setup.
Nonetheless, from a pure {hardware} standpoint, the Sonos Arc Extremely represents a major development over its predecessor, providing enhanced bass efficiency, improved dialogue readability, and a extra immersive soundstage.
Its smooth design and expanded connectivity choices, together with Bluetooth and broader Trueplay help, make it a compelling selection for customers in search of a high-quality, all-in-one soundbar resolution. Nevertheless, the shortage of HDMI passthrough and DTS help could also be a consideration for potential consumers.
Total, the Arc Extremely is an excellent soundbar that elevates the house audio expertise, making it a worthy contender within the premium soundbar market.
The Arc Extremely photographs featured on this article are credited to Sonos.
