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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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    arpatil1
    Enthusiast II
    June 12, 2020

    Support just reached out to initiate a replacement based upon my initial case from day one. Has anyone else received anything similar? I hate to go though that process if it really is software related but the fact that some people appear to not be affected is strange. 

    Now you’ve got me concerned that they have determined it’s hardware and we are all going to need replacements haha. Hopefully we get an update from Sonos today. 

    I received my Arc today, and don’t have the issue. I did play all the songs listed here and compared them to the recordings people have provided. My Arc sounds different and better. Could be a hardware issue. Who knows!

    Did you have an update after adding it to the Sonos app?

    Yep. Have the truplay on. Bass EQ +3.

    SRMahbubani
    Lyricist I
    June 13, 2020

    Same issue here guys, tried every possible setting

    I get that muddy bass sound like its bottoming out 

    Happens with pretty much all music, movies seem to be mostly ok.  I have a sub + amp setup connected via HDMI arc to a Sony TV.  The Bass / Treble are set to 0 .  Trueplay or Loudness up or down only slightly affect it.

     

    Hope for a resolution, is there a way to submit an official ticket?

      jlvuern
      Lyricist I
      June 13, 2020

      Experiencing the same. Hoping for the software update soon. 

        sebas1509
        Enthusiast II
        June 13, 2020

        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. 

        What is happening is the music set to ambient mode is now affecting the sub too for music playback making the sub much quieter/ I saw someone reached to Sonos support and they confirm it sffects sub too and after changing it many people on reddit said their sub was much better 

        ant0
        ant0
        Trending Lyricist I
        June 13, 2020

        When I see those videos, I am so confused right now

         

        How is this possible? I left a comment to see what they say but My Arc’s bass on it’s own is anything but impressive, I am lucky to have a Sub and it does sound good but still, there is something wrong here...

        sebas1509
        Enthusiast II
        June 13, 2020

        When I see those videos, I am so confused right now

         

        How is this possible? I left a comment to see what they say but My Arc’s bass on it’s own is anything but impressive, I am lucky to have a Sub and it does sound good but still, there is something wrong here...

        Because it’s most likely a bug/ this is not normal performance they’re not gonna talk about a defective software or hardware. They’re gonna talk about the soundbar they designed which is quite good.

         

        i have the issue on mine but only notice it when I’m looking for it or at very high volumes when I’m below 50 percent which is plenty for my space and I’m not playing bass songs I don’t hear any issues/

         

        I tried hip hop and everything it sounds quite good. Tv and movies sound great I’m waiting for my sub to arrive next week. Hope they either fix the software or replace hardware soon 

        TapDatApp
        Enthusiast I
        June 13, 2020

        Same issue for me. Bass is horrific but I have a sub on route in hope of resolving. 
        Also hearing nothing in the way of Atmos but I may only have my shelf to blame, Sean Connery gag and real problem in one…

         


        What’s the name of this media stand? Absolutely gorgeous, although I do wonder how Atmos is affected in this configuration.

        TapDatApp
        Enthusiast I
        June 13, 2020

        Hey @Ryan S, just curious if there’s any updates regarding the team also looking into this issue while paired with a Sub? My Arc and Sub haven’t arrived yet, so can’t contribute a diag, but just hoping the issue is being looked at from all angles since some folks are citing performance issues even when paired.

        DriveP
        Lyricist I
        June 13, 2020

        I had the same issue:

        First i had a Sonos Beam, for that small bar it sounds really good, really good bass, good sound etc.

        Then bought the ARC and the Sub, first i received the ARC and below 50% it sounded good, some wider soundstage the the Beam, BUT: the price of the Beam vs Arc and the quality of sound…. Hmmm the Beam it is. (Room is 5.7 x 10 meter). 

        Now when i turned the volume up the bass where muddy, like cracking or something! And the music sound volume going softer when it happend, so really bad! So i tweaked and listened and tweaked etc.

        >>> When you put the bass level in the app to -2 Then the muddy bass will be alot less. <<<

        Next day my Sub arrived, i truplay the set-up again, and everything is fine now, good sound, good bass etc.

        Only Note: i sold my beam, but how would that sound with the sub, how much better is the Sonos Arc really? I Hope still that they have a fix for the bass on the ARC without the Sub really soon!!

          Jacobjacobi
          Trending Lyricist I
          June 13, 2020

          Unfortunately I have found a really bad example of this phenomenon that brings me back to thinking the arc will have to go back if not fixed. 
           

          listen to “Bats in the Attic” by King Creosote and Jon Hopkins. From 1:43 the bass is just unlistenable. It is awful. Sorry. 

          Edit: sorry my recordings failed.

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