I wanted to revist my Sonos Amp setup vs my Sonos Arc setup, and give you guys a few thoughts. I posted a few days ago comparing some initial thoughts vs the Beam, Playbar and Amp, and I had a few more thoughts on the Amp vs Arc specifically.
Setup 1:
Sonos Amp
Rel Sub
BW 685 Speakers
Sonos Play:1 left and right
Connected via Optical Adapter (HDMI Arc makes the Rel Sub hum)
Setup 2:
Sonos Arc
Sonos Sub
Play One left and Right
A few quick notes on some questions people may have:
1.) Is the Arc worth it over the Beam and Playbar? I think it is, especially considering it will be around for years. It has noticeable improvements vs both. Beam Vs Playbar depends on your room size, but Arc vs everything else is more clear for me because the Arc has in general a better sound, sound stage, and atmos.
2.) Do you need to add a Sub or rear speakers?
a.) If you have to choose, I'd add the rear speakers first, they will get you more of a surround sound experience in movies
b.) The Sub helps to balance your sound, and it removes some of the work from the soundbar so it can do the higher ranges more freely and not worry about the bass as well.
C.) The answer is yes, if you want the full experience, I'd complete the setup. You can get a very nice experience with just the Arc, too, but you're missing some immersion. You can add little by little as your budget allows too, but ultimately I'd recommend the entire setup.
3.) If you're a big music listener, I'd definitely go towards an Amp setup, or the very least get some Play:5s in there, that will do you more justice than just a soundbar for music. (But for home theater the soundbars are great)
For Home theater:
Sonos Amp setup:
1.) The Amp in a home theater setup is surprisingly good, even with the phantom center channel.
2.) Feels closer to a traditional home theater setup with a receiver, here's how I describe this:
a.) Very good separation between the left and right speakers, it has clear, and very punchy sound in action movies. Things like glass breaking are super crisp. Dialog and center channel are very clear as well, does a great job.
3. The Amp setup does much better in a large room vs the Arc. The Arc works best in a room with 4 walls so the sound can bounce. The Amp setup has a wider sound stage so it can handle an open room better, it's not as reliant on the walls as the Arc.
The Arc setup:
1.) Obviously you get Atmos, when the movie has the effect, you do get more of a "from above" and around you feeling vs the Amp setup, but usually this only happens like 2-3 times in a movie. Aside from that, feels slightly less punchy and crisp vs the Amp setup with the BW 685.
2.) In a large open room, Amp is better like I said. But in a room with 4 closer walls, the Arc has some advantages with Atmos.
Which would I choose if I had to keep one?
1.) If i'm a serious music listener, the Amp setup is far superior for musical fidelity and sound stage, and it does a great job at home theater too; surprisingly good. If I only had a large open room, I'd choose this, too.
2.) if I have a room with 4 walls that's more enclosed, and music is secondary, the Arc will be fantastic as it provides a great home theater experience.
3.) Both setups have more than enough power for anything, even the Arc in a large room. (Though I still prefer the Amp in a large room, due to the wider sound stage.) But in terms of power and volume, both setups will satisfy most imo. I generally prefer a full, well rounded sound at a more reasonable volume, especially for night listening though.
For music:
The Amp setup is substantially better for certain music in terms of a clean, tonally pleasant sound. Here are my impressions, basically a 2.1 setup with the rears set to ambient.
1.) Wider sound stage, things like Jazz and Classical Piano music have a beautiful singing and "ring" that is very pleasant, due impart to the BW speakers I'd say. Very open, beautiful sound
2.) Lots of "energy" with punchy music and tight bass
How is the Arc setup for music?
1.) For Dolby Atmos music, i.e via Tidal on Apple TV 4k, you definitely get some great surround effects depending on the track. A nice, full sound. More immersive than the Amp setup, if that's what you want.
2. For regular music listening, still sounds great, but is missing some of that magic the Amp setup has - things like piano music don't sound nearly as wide in terms of sound stage, and doesn't have that crsip and clear tonality like the Amp does - makes sense, we're talking 2 speakers here vs the Soundbar which is more concentrated in one area.