Sonos Arc - Metallic Sound

Yes I saved the box. But I prefer to work with what I got before abandoning ship. If there is a forum such as this where I can voice grievances in hopes of getting them fixed I will go down that route first which is what I’m doing. Thank you for your input.

I paid $1700 and it does not perform as advertised or even reasonably for the price.  I have every right to be upset and complain. I cannot return it and even if I sell it I can’t get anywhere near the money back for it. People settling for a sub par system For such a high price such as the arc Are the reason this crap happens. This is a subpar system at best I have heard $200 LG and Samsung sound bar sound better than this thing. Like I stated I have resorted to using my TV speakers which deliver clearer dialogue. How about you stop putting out false information like this system sounds good... There are people that read these comments and are going to go out and buy the thing like I did. Do you work for sonos? Also this is the correct forum in which one would voice their grievances with the product. 

Come on Sonos! I have the arc 5.1 system and it is by far the worst 5.1 system I have ever owned. I have reverted to just using my TV speakers as the dialogue is clear. I spent $1700 on this system and I’m way outside the return window. I definitely feel like Sonos RAPED me here. before the arc I had the beam and thought that sounded pretty terrible for the price so like an idiot I upgraded to the arc thinking that throwing more money at the system would solve the problem. It did not. I think that Sonos just makes a terrible sound bar altogether i guess. I have been listening to this thing for seven months and I have never hated watching movies more than when I turn on my TV and have to listen to this POS. If this is something fixable by a software update why the hell hasn’t SONOS fixED this yet? Anyone stating the sound is good or even reasonable for the price is either insane, deaf, or working for SONOS. 

No! Do Not Buy!  I have had the arc 5.1 system for 7 months now and it seems like the sound is getting worse with every “update”. It looks like Sonos really screwed us with this one. Its a terrible system at this point it hurts my ears to listen too. I often just use the tv speakers so I can understand what people are saying in movies. huge rip off! 

Oh and, do you perhaps have the link to this video?

Pairing the Arc with surrounds, and the sub will offload many of those frequencies off the Arc.  It is barely talked about in Sonos’s marketing but the change is pretty huge. A guy named Peter Pee on Youtube shows this change using fancy audio testing equipment to map out the crossover and response changes made.

 The Arc by itself is just trying to do too much on its own.  My wife will contest for me, I was an angry new Sonos user when my Arc came in a week before the One Sl’s and Sub. I added the Ones and instantly the difference was crazy. Then the Sub the next day.  I have been a happy camper a few firmware updates after adding the sub. 

If you have a pair of surrounds and a sub to pair with the Arc then you will not be disappointed. The Arc by itself was terrible at launch, both opinion and fact. But things have improved. The bass issue is 95% resolved, it only crops up in the most obscure places at volumes too high when it is unpaired with a sub and surrounds.  The metallic issue is also mostly fixed, but has been narrowed down to an issue with Trueplay on certain iPhone models. I started a thread here about it, with a video link for a deeper explanation.  

TL:DR: As of Jan 2020 the Arc is a great HT purchase IF you are also pairing it with  surrounds and a sub.

I was once a user who wanted to return my Arc that I preorded, as of now I am  90% happy with my Sonos purchase.  (still burned by no DTS, yes I am one of those guys).

The problem is not that it doesn't play music as well as it plays movies/tv, it's that it plays music, just not as well as a play 5 or even a pair of one's play music... Or a playbar for that matter! 

In the end  I might just  have to try it out for myself to see for sure, it's just that my faith in the future of Sonos room quite a hit.

Obviously, every speaker sounds different and everyone experiences sound quality differently, but seeing the amount of post about this issue makes saying "a small amount of people have a problem" a little bit of an understatement. I choose Sonos after listening to playb5 gen 2 and a pair of one's  because of the sound signature (tight and clean, with lots of detail). I would expect a company that advertises getting "the whole Sonos ecosystem" to at least try to unify that sound signature, as they have done with the playbar for example.... Ev

By the way, the arc is promoted as "The premium smart soundbar for TV, movies, music, gaming, and more", not just a TV soundbar...

@MJAhoud It is probably a combination of people just hearing things differently and/or being more sensitive to certain things. When you go shopping for components there are speakers and amps/receivers that can be bright or warm (why a lot of people liked tube amps), my component system had a warm receiver and warm speakers, it took a lot of shopping and some returning (internet was in it’s infancy then). Not every person is the same. There is a well know speaker company where the running joke used to be “No highs, no lows, it must be ****.”
 

The Arc is marketed as a sound bar for movies and part (if you wish) of a home theater system, it does that fairly well. It is not a full blown stereo meant to play a dance party. We have all become used to having a product do everything good (not great) that many become frustrated when something doesn’t do everything great and only does one thing well, in this case movies/tv. I could see the Arc being designed to be brighter in order to do dialog in movies. Also a lot of people just don’t know any better and will live with the hot new thing, you see this with certain brands of automobiles.
 

Either Sonos designed the Arc to be bright/harsh, the Arc sounded fine to them and they don’t see a problem, they realize there is a problem that affects a certain group of people and they don’t know how to fix it, or they just don’t care that a minority are bothered by it. They did however release a product with a bass issue, which they later fixed. A broader EQ may solve the problem for a majority of the minority that are complaining about harsh treble. Only being able to adjust the bass and treble is some pre-2000 car stereo crap.

I bet three 5’s, two 1’s, and a sub would be a outstanding all around 5.1 and music set up, but it’s not really possible or cost effective, and at that point you may as well go wired. 

I drug two of my speakers and sub out to use for music and my gf is annoyed that they are “cluttering up” the room. lol  

I’m not going to throw Sonos under the bus, the Arc (with sub) delivers what it is supposed to with tv/video, I won’t tell someone not to get one, I’m just really sensitive to bright/harsh highs. Heck, it’s probably just fine for music for most people! Look at all, the people running around with the earbuds that come with your phone and those things sound pretty lousy.  It does a lot of things well and is lower profile, better than tv speakers by far, if it is worth the price is subjective. I’ll admit, it IS the best looking soundbar out there and it does work.

So.... The question... Are all arc's affected, and is it just that some people don't mind or hear it (hard to believe) or are there units that simply sound better than other?

I am contemplating whether to get the arc or not, but I am unsure right now…

The fact that there is no more feedback from Sonos is worrisome to say the least, it makes me believe they're letting it be as it is, which means probably no arc for me.… 

This is a problem, I have a beam with sub right now (and two one's as rears, and a five gen2 in the kitchen) but the beam just doesn't really does it for me in the music department. With  the Arc now no longer being an option, there is no real alternative from Sonos right now.... 

This might mean i'd might have to say goodbye to Sonos altogether, I don't think there will be another soundbar added to the product line anytime soon....

I completely agree. The Sonos Arc isn’t broken. The majority of Arc users are VERY happy with the way it sounds. The fact that Sonos can’t keep them in stock proves it. Yes, Sonos will improve the sound gradually over time, but not dramatically. If you don’t like the sound profile of the Arc today, you probably won’t like it years from now even after multiple firmware updates. It’s all about personal preference and how the Arc sounds in your room. If you don’t like the Arc because it sounds too “tinny” or “metallic” to your ears, just return it and find another sound bar that you can enjoy TODAY.