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ggmogollon
Enthusiast II
June 10, 2020
Answered

Sonos Arc Muddy/Bottoming out Bass

Beyond thrilled to receive the new Sonos Arc. True played my room and I have loudness on as well connected to LG B8 using Tidal and Spotify. Most of the sound range is phenomenal, aside from the bass. At even half volume the woofers are extremely muddy and sound terrible. Not sure if this is because I have under two hours of use but I wasn’t expecting to have to break-in the speaker. I own set of speakers next to it in the same room (KEF LS50W) and the difference is night and day. There have also been posts on Reddit regarding this issue. It is interesting given no reviewers have mentioned this issue but more than a few recipients have. Has anyone else experienced similar issues? Turning loudness off helps but it is disappointing for such a highly anticipated product. 

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    Scott - SonosAnswer
    Sonos Product Management
    July 2, 2020

    Hello everyone. I’m a product manager at Sonos. Thank you for sharing your experiences with Arc. The development team is monitoring this community and listening to your feedback. 

    As we do with all Sonos products, we’ll continue to improve the experience for Arc through numerous software updates into the future. Last week we issued our first update (12.0.1) to fix a bug some customers were experiencing with low-frequency distortion at higher volumes. 

    If you have specific music tracks or timestamps for TV shows and movies that you want to bring to our attention, please use this form. It is helpful if you can submit a diagnostic when you’re listening to the content. Instructions for doing so can be found here.

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    ggmogollonAuthor
    Enthusiast II
    June 11, 2020

    https://drive.google.com/file/d/1yVm7Pc7fqjpm8sGegQKgPvQPyzByZxVH/view?usp=sharing

    Penetrator at 50% volume. True play on and bass at zero. Recorded from 1m away on an ipad pro. Songs without vocals help nail the issue because the sound can get lost in the vocals. 

      Seeky
      Prominent Collaborator II
      June 11, 2020

      https://drive.google.com/file/d/1yVm7Pc7fqjpm8sGegQKgPvQPyzByZxVH/view?usp=sharing

      Penetrator at 50% volume. True play on and bass at zero. Recorded from 1m away


      Damn, that sounds even worse than mine, or your phones mic is much better. I was like 10 centimeters away.

        arpatil1
        Enthusiast II
        June 11, 2020

        https://drive.google.com/file/d/1yVm7Pc7fqjpm8sGegQKgPvQPyzByZxVH/view?usp=sharing

        Penetrator at 50% volume. True play on and bass at zero. Recorded from 1m away

        That’s really really bad !

        arpatil1
        Enthusiast II
        June 11, 2020

        https://drive.google.com/file/d/1yVm7Pc7fqjpm8sGegQKgPvQPyzByZxVH/view?usp=sharing

        Penetrator at 50% volume. True play on and bass at zero. Recorded from 1m away

        That’s really really bad !

        KGT94
        Lyricist III
        June 11, 2020

        https://drive.google.com/file/d/1yVm7Pc7fqjpm8sGegQKgPvQPyzByZxVH/view?usp=sharing

        Penetrator at 50% volume. True play on and bass at zero. Recorded from 1m away


        Yes, that is exactly how mine sounds.

        ggmogollonAuthor
        Enthusiast II
        June 11, 2020

        https://drive.google.com/file/d/1yVm7Pc7fqjpm8sGegQKgPvQPyzByZxVH/view?usp=sharing

        Penetrator at 50% volume. True play on and bass at zero. Recorded from 1m away


        Damn, that sounds even worse than mine, or your phones mic is much better. I was like 10 centimeters away.

        It’s harder to hear when mixed in with vocals, so I chose a song without them. recorded with an ipad pro

        ggmogollonAuthor
        Enthusiast II
        June 11, 2020

        https://drive.google.com/file/d/1yVm7Pc7fqjpm8sGegQKgPvQPyzByZxVH/view?usp=sharing

        Penetrator at 50% volume. True play on and bass at zero. Recorded from 1m away


        Damn, that sounds even worse than mine, or your phones mic is much better. I was like 10 centimeters away.

        It’s harder to hear when mixed in with vocals, so I chose a song without them. recorded with an ipad pro

        arpatil1
        Enthusiast II
        June 11, 2020

        https://drive.google.com/file/d/1yVm7Pc7fqjpm8sGegQKgPvQPyzByZxVH/view?usp=sharing

        Penetrator at 50% volume. True play on and bass at zero. Recorded from 1m away


        Thats terrible. My airpods are far better.

        khaz22
        Avid Contributor III
        June 11, 2020

        Clarification please.  Does this problem go away if a sub is included because the problematic frequencies are directed to the sub?

        Yes there is no issue when paired with the sub

        Although there may not be the same issue when paired with the sub, I am noticing that the sub does not hit anywhere close to where it was when paired with the Beam.  I do have TruePlay tuned, and it is soft when I turn this off as well.  

        Interestingly enough, I just commented to my wife the other day how nice the bass sounded when we were listening to music.  Now that it is paired with the Arc, it is disappointing that it is not as strong.

        bjl
        Trending Lyricist I
        June 11, 2020

        I’ll just throw this out there for consideration.  If this problem does turn out to be hardware and not fixable via software, returning the Arc is certainly one option.  However, I might be willing to accept buying a Sub to address the issue as long as a very steep discount is provided.  I realize that this will not be acceptable to folks who don’t want a Sub for various reasons.

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