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Sonos Arc Muddy/Bottoming out Bass

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1406 replies

S
Userlevel 1

The bass got a lot better after I turned off trueplay and increased bass in the eq to compensate!

 

It seems like when trueplay tries to increase bass it also does bleed into the midrange a lot and the hardware of the arc can’t handle that, so the sound hardens up. 
 

 

K

Regarding bass and overall sound quality- for $800, color me extremely disappointed. It’s going right back to Costco. Even at half that price, I’d probably still return it to be honest. My single Gen2 Play:5 in the corner of the room handily blows the Arc out of the water. I’m so unimpressed, I’m not even willing to grab the Beam as a cheaper or comparable replacement. Definitely not hanging around for them to figure a better DSP for the Arc if that’s the current development plan for this product. A cheapo 2.1 soundbar from Vizio is better than this.

 

I’d be an instant buyer if we can get basically two “bookshelf” 5’s specifically for TV. HDMI and/or optical would be great. IMO, that wouldn’t even require a sub. Though, adding the sub would make it a killer 2.1 setup. Could do double duty as music streaming and TV. Seriously, take.my.money.

Xander P
Userlevel 6
Badge +15

Hi @MooseheadPG, thanks for reaching out to the Sonos Community!

I’d recommend reaching out to our Support Team via live chat or phone call regarding this, as they’ll be able to take a closer look at what’s going on with the Arc.

Hope this helps :)

M

Hi, I’d also like to report the terrible bass on my new arc. It’s so bad. I have a 5, two one sl’s and an arc with two one sl’s as surrounds. The bass is UNLISTENABLE on netflix. It’s so muddy and distorted. I had it first on my dresser under my tv and then wall mounted it. I cannot believe that an 800 dollar speaker can have bass this bad. Watching ragnarok on netflix, is so distracting with the bad bass. Not even at high levels! I’ve tried trueplay on or off but why am I having to turn trueplay off in the first place. This thing is straight up going back if the issue isn’t fixed and I’ll have nothing good to say about the arc to anyone interested. It has some good qualities, but to be honest for 8 bills this thing is a massive disappointment. Sonos feel free to contact me at my registered email. I hope you do. 
 

Patrick

S
Userlevel 1

I think you are both missing the point - the issue isn’t an inherent lack of bass (this is to be expected -and if I want more base I’ll get the sub)

The PROBLEM is the bass that is there sounds terrible - like a cheap bluetooth speaker that is pushed past its limits. They released one update and claimed the problem is fixed - it’s slightly better BUT STILL THERE. Doesn’t matter if it is music (any service) or a movie. YES I’ve tried trueplay. Same on or off.

I SHOULD be able to listen at extended volumes without the bass sounding like garbage - it’s loose, it pops, it’s muddy, it’s uncontrolled. It isnt as good as the Beam.

They still need additional work on the DSP and Crossover frequesncies. THATS THE PROBLEM (not a sheer lack of bass).

The only reason I haven’t exchanged my bar yet is b/c there are others that have - and the result is still the same.

I should only have to buy a sub if I want MORE bass - not to FIX bass that sounds like garbage.

 

FACTS! You’ve read my mind. That’s exactly my experience and opinion. 

S
Userlevel 1

I unfortunately share all your guys experiences. The bass on the Sonos arc is blatantly terrible and it is quite outrageous for a company like Sonos to release such a flawed product at this price. 
 

What I mean by blatantly terrible is that all bass notes on the Sonos Arc sound the same. It is always the same muddy thump without any texture no matter what Song is played. Our Play 5 gen 2 has actual texture and definition in the bass, not so the arc. 
 

The bass is so bad that it always grabs you attention and ruins the whole listening experience.

 

I expect Sonos to come up with a fast and effective solution for this misstep!

 

On a good note: this did bother me to a slightly lesser extent when watching movies. 

L

All I can say is, scroll up and look at how disappointed I was on day 1. I was going to send the Arc back to the store.  In fact I was really angry.

But it really is worth persevering with the Truplay thing.  I wasn't suggesting that it you use your other speaker as a permanent surround speaker.  Just hook it up to see if you get a better result when calibrating your room.  After that disconnect it if you need it elsewhere.

I got a pair of those Ikea Sonos speakers £100 each, and they work very nicely.

But I completely agree with you that a sound bar at this price point should sound better straight out of the box.

A

Alvin Kyen

Don't give up. Keep at it.  Keep on doing Trueplay in the way shown in the YouTube demo.

I had different results each time  but incrementally better.  If you've got a One SL you can use then maybe try attaching it as a surround. I get the impression that Trueplay works better if the are more point sources in the room.  You could remove it again afterwards.

 

I'm on day 4 now and the differences from my first attempt is quite dramatic.

That sounds like lots of work for something so expensive 😅 I only have 1 unit of the One SL so i cant use it as a surround. How come i have this feeling that the Arc isn’t meant to be a standalone device?  

L

Alvin Kyen

Don't give up. Keep at it.  Keep on doing Trueplay in the way shown in the YouTube demo.

I had different results each time  but incrementally better.  If you've got a One SL you can use then maybe try attaching it as a surround. I get the impression that Trueplay works better if the are more point sources in the room.  You could remove it again afterwards.

 

I'm on day 4 now and the differences from my first attempt is quite dramatic.

A

I just bought my Arc a few days ago thinking that the bass issue has been resolved but I’m surprised to hear a similar issue. The bass is just bad and I’ve dialed down the bass level to just 2. True Play on or off doesn’t make a difference. The sound from my One SL is so much better than the Arc now. What else can i do?

L

I'm going to delete my original post, if I can.

One of my surrounds had a momentary 'seizure' and had to be reset to factory, so I lost my Truplay settings.

Now I've done them again the difference is extraordinary 👌

I don't know if the drivers in the bar maybe needed a bit of a run-in to loosen up, or perhaps the microphones provide some sort of ongoing feedback to the system to allow the DSP to continue to adjust the profile over time.

Either way the subjective sound quality now is a huge improvement over my initial experience.

I guess the life-lesson is, don't launch into print immediately.

W
Userlevel 5
Badge +9

Well here's a strange thing. I hooked up some rear surrounds and then did Trueplay again, with an iPad Air this time.  And I got a completely different, and much better result.

I'm having to dial in quite a lot of bass and wind down some treble to get the mid band to sound like normal speech. And of course this means that the actual low bass is a bit over emphasised.  It's a shame there aren't a few more bands in the EQ section. Just a 7 band EQ would make a  huge difference.

 

But overall its sounding much better now.

Are you running the sub in your set-up?

You'll love your system a lot if you add the SUB, or even dual subs.😊

G
Userlevel 7

@Layback Glad you were able to improve the sound with the iPad.

Yes, I am using the Sub and two Play:1s as surrounds. The Sub makes a pretty big difference. I believe it allows the Arc to focus more on the mid range and higher frequencies while allowing the Sub to take care of the bass.

"Receive with simplicity everything that happens to you." - Rashi
L

Well here's a strange thing. I hooked up some rear surrounds and then did Trueplay again, with an iPad Air this time.  And I got a completely different, and much better result.

I'm having to dial in quite a lot of bass and wind down some treble to get the mid band to sound like normal speech. And of course this means that the actual low bass is a bit over emphasised.  It's a shame there aren't a few more bands in the EQ section. Just a 7 band EQ would make a  huge difference.

 

But overall its sounding much better now.

Are you running the sub in your set-up?

G
Userlevel 7

Hi and thanks.

Yes I have run Trueplay several times on multiple IOS devices.  I have tried with the doors open / closed / halfway.

I'm getting Dolby Digital Plus via ARC and a good 5.1 signal.  I have tried night mode and that dialogue boost setting both on and off.

Are you saying the your system has a nice warm, natural sound? Because if yours does then I wonder if my system is actually faulty.

I am very pleased with the way my Arc setup sounds. When I watch Blu-ray discs with a Dolby TrueHD/Dolby Atmos soundtrack, it always blows me away.

It may just be that you don’t personally like the sound profile of the Arc.

"Receive with simplicity everything that happens to you." - Rashi
L

Hi and thanks.

Yes I have run Trueplay several times on multiple IOS devices.  I have tried with the doors open / closed / halfway.

I'm getting Dolby Digital Plus via ARC and a good 5.1 signal.  I have tried night mode and that dialogue boost setting both on and off.

Are you saying the your system has a nice warm, natural sound? Because if yours does then I wonder if my system is actually faulty.

G
Userlevel 7

I just got my ARC out of the box this afternoon and have been trying to set it up for about 2 hours.

It still sounds thinner than the actual internal speakers in my Bravia TV, and they sound really dreadful.

I'm going to try it for the weekend and if no good send it back.  I am so incredibly disappointed at the way the arc sounds in the balance of low mids to hf.

 

One scene, on a show I mixed for Netflix myself (so I know exactly how it's supposed to sound) the dialogue was so thin that there was virtually no difference cutting between an actor on the phone and present in the scene.

In fact the low bass is fine, about right I would say, even without the sub.  But the overall sound quality in the octaves above that is terrible.

 

How can this possibly still be so bad in a speaker that has been in production for over a year?

 

How did it ever get to market?

Have you performed Trueplay tuning and adjusted the EQ settings in the Sonos app? Have you turned off Night Sound and Speech Enhancement? Are you getting Dolby Digital Plus audio from Netflix or just stereo PCM?

"Receive with simplicity everything that happens to you." - Rashi
L

I just got my ARC out of the box this afternoon and have been trying to set it up for about 2 hours.

It still sounds thinner than the actual internal speakers in my Bravia TV, and they sound really dreadful.

I'm going to try it for the weekend and if no good send it back.  I am so incredibly disappointed at the way the arc sounds in the balance of low mids to hf.

 

One scene, on a show I mixed for Netflix myself (so I know exactly how it's supposed to sound) the dialogue was so thin that there was virtually no difference cutting between an actor on the phone and present in the scene.

In fact the low bass is fine, about right I would say, even without the sub.  But the overall sound quality in the octaves above that is terrible.

 

How can this possibly still be so bad in a speaker that has been in production for over a year?

 

How did it ever get to market?

magony
Badge

Same problem - did everyone here upgrade from the beam? No reviews had this issue 

Sonos did in fact sort out the muddy bass, at least I am not experiencing anything since months back. Peter Pee has an excellent video on the best settings to use https://youtu.be/icKD2LRfzK4

For some reason, symfonisk products aren't listed on the forum as a Sonos product that you own.
M

Same problem - did everyone here upgrade from the beam? No reviews had this issue 

M

I’ve got 2 IKEA Symfonisk lamps, which are apparently based on the Sonos One. These relatively low-end speakers (in terms of price point) sound significantly better when playing music vs the Arc and Sub. With the Arc and Sub, when there’s a low amount of bass in a track, the audio sounds incredibly thin and lacking. It’s like you have the fullness of bass from the sub which fills the room perfectly, but then the Arc seems very “directional”, like a laptop speaker at the front of the room that is easily picked out.

I’m no audiophile and I’m not sure exactly what is missing, it just doesn’t sound right, especially given how fantastic the Symfonisk lamps and sub sound together.

I’ve added the Symfonisk lamps to the the Arc and Sub which has transformed the sound completely. Before this I tolerated the sound whilst watching TV or listening to music, now I’m listening to music just to enjoy the sound from the system. It’s quite a contrast.

M

I’ve got 2 IKEA Symfonisk lamps, which are apparently based on the Sonos One. These relatively low-end speakers (in terms of price point) sound significantly better when playing music vs the Arc and Sub. With the Arc and Sub, when there’s a low amount of bass in a track, the audio sounds incredibly thin and lacking. It’s like you have the fullness of bass from the sub which fills the room perfectly, but then the Arc seems very “directional”, like a laptop speaker at the front of the room that is easily picked out.

I’m no audiophile and I’m not sure exactly what is missing, it just doesn’t sound right, especially given how fantastic the Symfonisk lamps and sub sound together.

L
Badge +1

Making me feel I should switch back to the beam

D
Userlevel 2
Badge

If you have the sub whatever you do, don't try without it!! 

L
Badge +1

Did this problem ever get solved?

ive just purchased the arc but I do also have the sub 

but strangely I’m having the turn the bass up to around 10 to feel happy with the bass

i haven’t yet tried without the sub 

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