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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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    Tylertron21
    September 18, 2020

    I still find there to be a lack of bass, comparing to my stereo pair of Symfonisk lamps, it really does sound like there is more bass in the symfonisk’s than the Arc. Anyways, picked up a sub which will come to me on monday so I won’t be affected much longer.

     

    I did also view Peter Pee’s video and he does amazing Sonos related videos, however, I still find there to be no difference in audio quality. Testing with some bass heavy songs I still find there to be a lack of bass, especially at the 30-40 hz mark. I will retune a few more times and see if I can manage to get a different result.

    From watching Peter Pee’s video, he has Arc Hardware version: 1.27.1.8-2.2
    Mine is 1.27.1.8-2.1

    What exactly does the hardware version go on? Is it the color of the Arc? Could a white Arc have a different hardware version than the black one?

    What outcome can this have on the result? @Scott - Sonos  

    Color.  Do you have the white one? 

    The update fixed the issue 100% on both of my Arcs.  Like a totally new speaker.  Great work!!

    I have tested a few songs on my Arc with the surrounds and sub off. The Arc bass is night and day for me, and in a good way.

    I have the white Arc. Version ends in 8-1.1.  interesting some end in 8-2.x. I knows the last number has been the color variety iirc. Or maybe also where it was assembled as they have 2 factories building these bars. I would like people to post their October and November Arc deliveries, maybe in a separate thread just out of my curiosity. 

      sebas1509
      Enthusiast II
      September 18, 2020

      I still find there to be a lack of bass, comparing to my stereo pair of Symfonisk lamps, it really does sound like there is more bass in the symfonisk’s than the Arc. Anyways, picked up a sub which will come to me on monday so I won’t be affected much longer.

       

      I did also view Peter Pee’s video and he does amazing Sonos related videos, however, I still find there to be no difference in audio quality. Testing with some bass heavy songs I still find there to be a lack of bass, especially at the 30-40 hz mark. I will retune a few more times and see if I can manage to get a different result.

      From watching Peter Pee’s video, he has Arc Hardware version: 1.27.1.8-2.2
      Mine is 1.27.1.8-2.1

      What exactly does the hardware version go on? Is it the color of the Arc? Could a white Arc have a different hardware version than the black one?

      What outcome can this have on the result? @Scott - Sonos  

      Color.  Do you have the white one? 

      The update fixed the issue 100% on both of my Arcs.  Like a totally new speaker.  Great work!!

      Let me start by saying that I dont usually noticed any wobbliness to the bass. But someone had pointed to a Trinkets episode on netflix where a band is playing. After the update I played this once again and initially with Trueplay on I could hear the weirdness on the bass. When i turned it off this weirdness was gone. After retuning it is now fixed I dont hear any weirdness even at +2 bass with 60 percent volume. This is with my sub and rears turned off as I always tested it.

       

      So I believe the tuning has been improved and together with the firmware update tackled this issue.

      magony
      magony
      Contributor I
      September 18, 2020

      I still find there to be a lack of bass, comparing to my stereo pair of Symfonisk lamps, it really does sound like there is more bass in the symfonisk’s than the Arc. Anyways, picked up a sub which will come to me on monday so I won’t be affected much longer.

       

      I did also view Peter Pee’s video and he does amazing Sonos related videos, however, I still find there to be no difference in audio quality. Testing with some bass heavy songs I still find there to be a lack of bass, especially at the 30-40 hz mark. I will retune a few more times and see if I can manage to get a different result.

      From watching Peter Pee’s video, he has Arc Hardware version: 1.27.1.8-2.2
      Mine is 1.27.1.8-2.1

      What exactly does the hardware version go on? Is it the color of the Arc? Could a white Arc have a different hardware version than the black one?

      What outcome can this have on the result? @Scott - Sonos  

      Color.  Do you have the white one? 

      The update fixed the issue 100% on both of my Arcs.  Like a totally new speaker.  Great work!!

      White Arc, ordered at the end of June.

      For some reason, symfonisk products aren't listed on the forum as a Sonos product that you own.
      tdifonzo
      Contributor II
      September 18, 2020

      Definitely sounds 10x better after the latest update. :pray_tone2:

        sebas1509
        Enthusiast II
        September 18, 2020

        I still find there to be a lack of bass, comparing to my stereo pair of Symfonisk lamps, it really does sound like there is more bass in the symfonisk’s than the Arc. Anyways, picked up a sub which will come to me on monday so I won’t be affected much longer.

         

        I did also view Peter Pee’s video and he does amazing Sonos related videos, however, I still find there to be no difference in audio quality. Testing with some bass heavy songs I still find there to be a lack of bass, especially at the 30-40 hz mark. I will retune a few more times and see if I can manage to get a different result.

        From watching Peter Pee’s video, he has Arc Hardware version: 1.27.1.8-2.2
        Mine is 1.27.1.8-2.1

        What exactly does the hardware version go on? Is it the color of the Arc? Could a white Arc have a different hardware version than the black one?

        What outcome can this have on the result? @Scott - Sonos  

        Color.  Do you have the white one? 

        The update fixed the issue 100% on both of my Arcs.  Like a totally new speaker.  Great work!!

        White Arc, ordered at the end of June.

        The Arc might not get as punchy bass as a sonos one or symfonisk this is because of smaller drivers. But that wasnt quite the issue the issue was uncontrolled wobbly weird sounding bass at higher volumes some users even reported at lower volume. That has been addressed on the update

         

        Perceived bass also depends on tuning, on location, is your symfonisk next to the wall or  a corner etc? Is your arc mounted? Maybe the magnetic sensors are reducing bass to prevent vibrations etc. Theres a lot at play including your room dimensions and furniture carpeting etc. But the issue was different and it has been fixed. Reported by many users. Make sure to retruplay

        bbalz
        Renowned Enthusiast I
        September 18, 2020

        I received my arcana today from preordering in June.

        I can confidently say my bass issues are gone.  I don't even understand how or why... But the bass is good now.  I'm assuming somehow the audio is handled but no idea.  Just sharing my experience and I'm glad I can stop checking this thread for updates or waiting for beta updates.

        I'm sad it took a $135 product to do this on an already $800 product but it is fixed for me because of it.  I also get TrueHD/Atmos now to boot!

         

          monkeycat
          Lyricist II
          September 18, 2020

          I received my arcana today from preordering in June.

          I can confidently say my bass issues are gone.  I don't even understand how or why... But the bass is good now.  I'm assuming somehow the audio is handled but no idea.  Just sharing my experience and I'm glad I can stop checking this thread for updates or waiting for beta updates.

          I'm sad it took a $135 product to do this on an already $800 product but it is fixed for me because of it.  I also get TrueHD/Atmos now to boot!

           

          Arcana didn’t fix the wobbly bass, todays firmware update fixed it.

            Tylertron21
            September 18, 2020

            I received my arcana today from preordering in June.

            I can confidently say my bass issues are gone.  I don't even understand how or why... But the bass is good now.  I'm assuming somehow the audio is handled but no idea.  Just sharing my experience and I'm glad I can stop checking this thread for updates or waiting for beta updates.

            I'm sad it took a $135 product to do this on an already $800 product but it is fixed for me because of it.  I also get TrueHD/Atmos now to boot!

             

            Arcana didn’t fix the wobbly bass, todays firmware update fixed it.

            It was Edit *not* an  update today. Peter posted the video on YouTube (which I linked at the end of page 51 of this thread) today showing last week's software update to 12.0.6 along with the past 12.0.5 firmware update that fixed the bass issue.   No update came out today.

            bbalz
            Renowned Enthusiast I
            September 18, 2020

            I didn't get any firmware update.  I'm part of a beta so my firmware is different since last week.

             

            I unplugged my arcana and it sounded bad and plugged it in and it sounds good.  Not going to argue online but just stating my experience.  Good luck to everyone though.  Things are good for me now so no need to follow the thread anymore.

              Butcher
              Lyricist III
              September 19, 2020

              I received my arcana today from preordering in June.

              I can confidently say my bass issues are gone.  I don't even understand how or why... But the bass is good now.  I'm assuming somehow the audio is handled but no idea.  Just sharing my experience and I'm glad I can stop checking this thread for updates or waiting for beta updates.

              I'm sad it took a $135 product to do this on an already $800 product but it is fixed for me because of it.  I also get TrueHD/Atmos now to boot!

               

              Sorry, but whats an Arcane?

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