Enthusiast II

Answered

Sonos Arc Muddy/Bottoming out Bass

1406 replies
193263 views

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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S

Scott - SonosAnswer

Sonos Product Management

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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D

deels1

Lyricist III

Same issue here. The bass response is terrible. My beam at about 50% volume has a smoother And cleaner response. This is terribly disappointing and so glad I read this thread. I thought it was me.

The Highs and mids are incredibly detailed and crisp though. It is a LOT louder when compared to the beam.

The bass for me was poor while listening to music (Spotify and Apple Music), watching inception on Netflix was great until the bass kicked in and same muddled response. Plugged in the PS4 Pro to play some call of duty and yet again same experience. My sub has yet to be delivered, but thinking of cancelling both and sticking with the beam (much better value for money).

I have the arc placed on my wooden tv unit with the tv behind it. This is the same location I had the beam with no issues at all. All running through HDMI Arc. Not using optical.

Hope a software update fixes the issue otherwise, bye bye Sonos Arc.

Once you have the sub, you will not have any issues...

Great! A $700 solution for an $800 problem.

E

ewolkoff

Enthusiast II

Same issue here. The bass response is terrible. My beam at about 50% volume has a smoother And cleaner response. This is terribly disappointing and so glad I read this thread. I thought it was me.

The Highs and mids are incredibly detailed and crisp though. It is a LOT louder when compared to the beam.

The bass for me was poor while listening to music (Spotify and Apple Music), watching inception on Netflix was great until the bass kicked in and same muddled response. Plugged in the PS4 Pro to play some call of duty and yet again same experience. My sub has yet to be delivered, but thinking of cancelling both and sticking with the beam (much better value for money).

I have the arc placed on my wooden tv unit with the tv behind it. This is the same location I had the beam with no issues at all. All running through HDMI Arc. Not using optical.

Hope a software update fixes the issue otherwise, bye bye Sonos Arc.

Once you have the sub, you will not have any issues...

Great! A $700 solution for an $800 problem.

He said he already bought the sub before he knew of the problem. The point is that given that he already wanted the sub, and having a sub means there is no problem, he will have no problem after it arrives. He won’t have to wait for the software fix.

D

deels1

Lyricist III

Same issue here. The bass response is terrible. My beam at about 50% volume has a smoother And cleaner response. This is terribly disappointing and so glad I read this thread. I thought it was me.

The Highs and mids are incredibly detailed and crisp though. It is a LOT louder when compared to the beam.

The bass for me was poor while listening to music (Spotify and Apple Music), watching inception on Netflix was great until the bass kicked in and same muddled response. Plugged in the PS4 Pro to play some call of duty and yet again same experience. My sub has yet to be delivered, but thinking of cancelling both and sticking with the beam (much better value for money).

I have the arc placed on my wooden tv unit with the tv behind it. This is the same location I had the beam with no issues at all. All running through HDMI Arc. Not using optical.

Hope a software update fixes the issue otherwise, bye bye Sonos Arc.

Once you have the sub, you will not have any issues...

Great! A $700 solution for an $800 problem.

He said he already bought the sub before he knew of the problem. The point is that given that he already wanted the sub, and having a sub means there is no problem, he will have no problem after it arrives. He won’t have to wait for the software fix.

Or will he? The context of my reply included other posts in this and other threads experiencing issues WITH the Sub when compared to prior performance with Beam’s and Playbar’s. A Sub may mitigate the mud, but the truth is we (customers) don’t have any idea what kind of problem this is (firmware for the Arc, S2 issues, both, hardware….) and how it will be solved, yet.

E

ewolkoff

Enthusiast II

Same issue here. The bass response is terrible. My beam at about 50% volume has a smoother And cleaner response. This is terribly disappointing and so glad I read this thread. I thought it was me.

The Highs and mids are incredibly detailed and crisp though. It is a LOT louder when compared to the beam.

The bass for me was poor while listening to music (Spotify and Apple Music), watching inception on Netflix was great until the bass kicked in and same muddled response. Plugged in the PS4 Pro to play some call of duty and yet again same experience. My sub has yet to be delivered, but thinking of cancelling both and sticking with the beam (much better value for money).

I have the arc placed on my wooden tv unit with the tv behind it. This is the same location I had the beam with no issues at all. All running through HDMI Arc. Not using optical.

Hope a software update fixes the issue otherwise, bye bye Sonos Arc.

Once you have the sub, you will not have any issues...

Great! A $700 solution for an $800 problem.

He said he already bought the sub before he knew of the problem. The point is that given that he already wanted the sub, and having a sub means there is no problem, he will have no problem after it arrives. He won’t have to wait for the software fix.

Or will he? The context of my reply included other posts in this and other threads experiencing issues WITH the Sub when compared to prior performance with Beam’s and Playbar’s. A Sub may mitigate the mud, but the truth is we (customers) don’t have any idea what kind of problem this is (firmware for the Arc, S2 issues, both, hardware….) and how it will be solved, yet.

What are the issues with a sub?

D

deels1

Lyricist III

Same issue here. The bass response is terrible. My beam at about 50% volume has a smoother And cleaner response. This is terribly disappointing and so glad I read this thread. I thought it was me.

The Highs and mids are incredibly detailed and crisp though. It is a LOT louder when compared to the beam.

The bass for me was poor while listening to music (Spotify and Apple Music), watching inception on Netflix was great until the bass kicked in and same muddled response. Plugged in the PS4 Pro to play some call of duty and yet again same experience. My sub has yet to be delivered, but thinking of cancelling both and sticking with the beam (much better value for money).

I have the arc placed on my wooden tv unit with the tv behind it. This is the same location I had the beam with no issues at all. All running through HDMI Arc. Not using optical.

Hope a software update fixes the issue otherwise, bye bye Sonos Arc.

Once you have the sub, you will not have any issues...

Great! A $700 solution for an $800 problem.

He said he already bought the sub before he knew of the problem. The point is that given that he already wanted the sub, and having a sub means there is no problem, he will have no problem after it arrives. He won’t have to wait for the software fix.

Or will he? The context of my reply included other posts in this and other threads experiencing issues WITH the Sub when compared to prior performance with Beam’s and Playbar’s. A Sub may mitigate the mud, but the truth is we (customers) don’t have any idea what kind of problem this is (firmware for the Arc, S2 issues, both, hardware….) and how it will be solved, yet.

What are the issues with a sub?

You can learn of these issues if you read all of the posts here and venture into other threads in the troubleshooting forum.

For some, performance with the Sub and Arc isn’t as good their previous Sub with Beam and Playbar setups even if the mud is reduced.

And the real issue is regardless of having a Sub or not.. the Arc isn’t ready for prime time for some reason. Combine that with almost universal reviewer approval it makes you wonder if reviewers were testing a version of the Arc that is different from what we are currently able to purchase.

ant0

Trending Lyricist I

Hi there, I just got my Arc 20 minutes ago in Melbourne - Australia, sadly I have to report the same issue, I knew the song to try, Daft Punk - Loose Yourself To Dance. I had it at 50% volume with the Bass at +5 and the rumble it makes is not a normal sound, I would describe it as if one of the driver received to much gain or something, it actually crackles (not sure if this word make sense).

I also have a Beam to compare, the Arc sound much better in every other regard but even if I increase the Bass to +10 on the Beam does not do what is happening with the Arc.

What are you watching or playing that you’re hearing this on? I just tried this with Music for now with Daft Punk - Loose Yourself To Dance
What volume do you experience this at? 50% and Bass EQ increased to +5
Is your Arc wall-mounted? No
Are you using Trueplay, and does it go away if you turn Trueplay off? I am using Trueplay, it is less discernible without it but if I increase the Bass EQ it is still there
Do you have the Bass EQ setting flat or adjusted in some way? Adjusted
If it’s possible, can you share an image of the setup? Tv and Arc are on a regular TV Bench, not wall mounted
Please submit a diagnostic from the system with it happening and let us know the number. 1386646161

Cheers

K

kelly206

Lyricist II

I purchased 2 Arcs, subs and have a few other sonos products. I was playing music on groups today after setup of the 2nd Arc and one of the Subs wasn't connected for some reason but hell it sounded bad for a moment.

I immediately got the sub that wasn't connected for some reason but my subs were definitely masking the issue others have experienced with the bass issues.

I’ll be keeping an eye on this one for sure.

S

sdeboy

Contributor II

Mine is ok. I played Toy Story 3 at 2:58 at 75%, connected to my c9. Arc sounds fine. I don't have iOS to true play though. No sub.

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ftm

Trending Lyricist I

Mine is ok. I played Toy Story 3 at 2:58 at 75%, connected to my c9. Arc sounds fine. I don't have iOS to true play though. No sub.

Mine seems to have a mid volume band where the bass sounds bad. At low volumes it's ok then bad at mid then better when high volume as it drowns out the bass.

I was watching Fury on Netflix last night in 5.1 dd. Where the Sherman's have a battle with the Tiger tank the sound starts off great then is muffled then whe the rumbling of the Tiget tank started. I just got the same awful popping sound out of the arc. As describes by others it's like the speakers are blowing and seems more prevalent from the middle speakers. It sounds like the sound of a car tyre when you have a blow out or the wind hits a microphone.

I've sent a diagnostic 462880529

M

mdreiager

Lyricist III

Help me understand how it can be a software problem, if only some users are seeing this problem.

It’s not like we’re on different software here?

And wouldn’t all employees at Sonos be on that exact software and have discovered this before it being reported by the community? ...almost as they themself, ofcourse, have a previous production batch.

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