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About the Sonos Arc Drivers

D

Hey all, 

So maybe this is a stupid question but I'm new to Soundbars.

The arc has 11 drivers, but when listening to music I always only her the center ones and the ones on the sides. 

I basically never hear the front facing ones left and right from the center ones. (Even with movies) With Atmos content I at least also hear the upward facing drivers at specific scenes (I assume they are not supposed to always play)

So of course I can only hear it with my ear right next to the drivers, but I was just curious and I can never seem to hear sound from the Left and right front facing ones, only the center ones. 

What's up with that, is this normal or is my unit damaged?

Thanks in advance!

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Best answer by Audiofn 7 July 2020, 18:45

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21 replies

T
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Hi,

 

Unfortunately I’m not an Arc owner yet, however I intend to buy one soon mainly for Music listening.

I believe what you are describing can be resolved if you switch between ‘Ambient’ listening mode into ‘Full’ listening mode. 

You can read more here: 

https://www.smarthomesounds.co.uk/blog/faqs/6-quick-tips-to-enhance-your-sonos-surround-sound-system#:~:text=Switch%20your%20Sonos%20surround%20speakers%20from%20ambient%20to%20full&text=Ambient%20mode%20means%20when%20you,when%20switching%20to%20Full%20mode.  

 

please let me know if this helps and whether the Arc is now using all 11 drivers/speakers when you listen to music ? (e.g. radio streaming or mp3 playback) 

D

Unfortunately there is no such option in my case. I guess because I don't have any other speakers, which would make it true surround sound. When I go there I just have the option to add surround sound

J

Here is a quote from the otherwise very favourable 5-star review in What Hi-Fi

Our only complaint about the musical performance is that sound isn’t projected forward and towards the listening position as much as you’d expect, given that movie soundtracks are delivered with such three-dimensionality. 

Sonos uses all of the Arc’s drivers during stereo playback, and it might be that the upward- and side-firing speakers are doing too much. Switching the bias to the front-firing drivers might result in a more direct and engaging delivery, and perhaps this is something that Sonos could address in a future software update.

I thought you might find that interesting.

D

Thanks for your post! Well yeah, that's interesting. So they say that all the drivers are playing during Stereo playback, mine is definitely not doing that ( upward is silent ).

That's weird can it be a technical issue? I thought if one driver is not working all of them would stop because they should be somehow connected to each other

J

No Idea tbh.  Of course, WHF may be wrong. And does 'use' mean 'always use'?

A
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I’m so glad you posted this.  I’ve been playing with my Arc, constantly adjusting settings trying to get it to sound more direct.  I have noticed the exact same thing, the concentration of the left and right stereo channels fires directly out the side woofers.  This is what I believe gives it the recessed stereo sound.  Sometimes I think standing on the side of the soundbar music sounds better than standing directly in front.  
 

I really hope they can send the stereo L and R to the front of the soundbar where it belongs. 

D

Thanks for trying to help. What do you mean by 'use'?

J

I meant that the review said that the Arc uses all 11 drivers for stereo music. I was just speculating that it might not use all 11 all of the time, whatever the music. I wouldn't make too much of it though, it was just a bit of a random thought. 

T
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Not sure I understand whether this is a software defect or not?

Some reviews says Arc’s music is exceptional with 11 drivers/speaker works simultaneously, however other reviews/complaints says music sacks due to partial drivers/speakers utilization. 

@Ryan S can you please clarify?

 

Airgetlam

RyanS was part of the layoffs last week.

Bruce
J

RyanS was part of the layoffs last week.

But he would undoubtedly havevclarified the situation if he were still here. 

D

I’m so glad you posted this.  I’ve been playing with my Arc, constantly adjusting settings trying to get it to sound more direct.  I have noticed the exact same thing, the concentration of the left and right stereo channels fires directly out the side woofers.  This is what I believe gives it the recessed stereo sound.  Sometimes I think standing on the side of the soundbar music sounds better than standing directly in front.  
 

I really hope they can send the stereo L and R to the front of the soundbar where it belongs. 

Thats really strange, i thought maybe my unit is just damaged. Maybe this is an first adopters hardware issue?  Do you think this is something that can be fixed through software? 

D

Its a weird spot to be in, as a customer.  I don't know if this is suppose to act this way or if its a first batch thing, especially when there are reviews saying all drivers are being utilized. With mine this is definitely not the case. ( i held my ear right next to those drivers)

Could it be that just these front facing driverd are damaged,  or would the whole soundbar stop working in that case?

A
Userlevel 3
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I have no idea if it’s hardware issue or just the tuning of the speaker.  I think I will return mine as most music sounds way below average.  And it will always sound bad so long as the stereo left and right come out at 180 degrees.

Sound and Vision gave the Arc a Top Pick.  I have been reading that magazine for years and bought tons of products they’ve reviewed.  I just have a hard time believing they heard the same we are. 

Listen to drums/cymbals.  They have zero attack or presence.

 

T
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How can we escalate this issue to SONOS Support ?

T
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Hi everyone, any update on this?

  • How many drivers/speakers are utilized while playing music? (radio steaming or mp3)
  • How is the sound quality for music listening?  
T
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@Keith N @Jeff S @Edward R 

can you tell if this is as-designed or a defect in Sonos Arc music playback?

D

@theprince4u2 sorry for the late reply - I am still experiencing these issues. The quality of streaming is fine - at least for the speakers that sounds comes out from. Its kinda difficult to make out which speakers are excatly being used, but with my ear very close I can say that I hear no sound coming from the speakers I marked yellow in this picture. The upward facing ones are at least playing with atmos content, but kinda inaudibly when playing music.

 

D

Im not sure wich of the 2 front-facingdrivers right next to each other (where the right one is yellow) is not being used, but one of them is doing 90% of the work for the whole soundbar.

T
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Thanks @Dan135 

I still wonder whether this is a software defect or designed to work this way…?

Have you tried to contact SONOS Support for this?

D

@theprince4u2 im wondering that too.. I dont know about software, it behaves like this with trueplay on an off. Dont you think this could be a hardware issue too? But then its strange that @Audiofn has similar issues.

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