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Sonos Arc Muddy/Bottoming out Bass

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M
Userlevel 2
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Got the sub today, easy set up as always.  I can confirm that the sub takes care of the arcs bass issues.  All the films I've watched which had the distorted bass all sound spot on now.  That's with the sub set to -3

we really gotta stop saying “bass issues “ the bass issue was fixed already with yesterday’s firmware.


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if you properly updated and have any issues you might have a defective unit but the widespread bass issue was fixed 


The bass issue most certainly is NOT fixed. My arc is updated and still sounding like crap on the low ends, especially in movie scenes. It’s not a lack of bass, it sounds like something is seriously wrong with the speaker. Maybe I have a lemon here, but it sounds like I’m not the only one!

S
Userlevel 4
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I think the issue now shifts more towards the point of:

 

it doesn’t sound near as good as people claim in reviews. There hardly is any bass (without sub)

I can assure you this is flat out a lie. Barely any bass? There’s plenty of bass sometimes too much. I had a playbar before and the bass here is more prominent.  
 

ofncourse it wont compete with a subwoofer. I don’t see how you claim reviewers had it better many are happy with their arcs.

another thing might be your room if it’s huge and open space you might not hear as strong of a bass compared to a smaller space

A
Userlevel 6
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I think the issue now shifts more towards the point of:

 

it doesn’t sound near as good as people claim in reviews. There hardly is any bass (without sub)

I can assure you this is flat out a lie. Barely any bass? There’s plenty of bass sometimes too much. I had a playbar before and the bass here is more prominent.  
 

ofncourse it wont compete with a subwoofer. I don’t see how you claim reviewers had it better many are happy with their arcs.

another thing might be your room if it’s huge and open space you might not hear as strong of a bass compared to a smaller space

Yeah. There is plenty of bass for sure. It just needs to be much tighter and composed. 

M
Userlevel 2
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I think the issue now shifts more towards the point of:

 

it doesn’t sound near as good as people claim in reviews. There hardly is any bass (without sub)

I can assure you this is flat out a lie. Barely any bass? There’s plenty of bass sometimes too much. I had a playbar before and the bass here is more prominent.  
 

ofncourse it wont compete with a subwoofer. I don’t see how you claim reviewers had it better many are happy with their arcs.

another thing might be your room if it’s huge and open space you might not hear as strong of a bass compared to a smaller space


This is a thread to talk about the issues going on with the arc. I’m glad yours is fixed but many people are still having issues. Maybe different hardware?

C
Userlevel 6
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Anyone with RTINGS early access can see some prelim graphs on THD, Frequency Response etc.

https://www.rtings.com/soundbar/reviews/sonos/arc

Will be updated in a few days.

M
Userlevel 2
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Try playing Dr. Carter by Lil Wayne at a 70% volume. 

M
Userlevel 3
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I think the issue now shifts more to the point of:

 

it doesn’t sound near as good as people claim in reviews. There hardly is any bass (without sub)

LOL. This is never-ending. 

I have the sub haha so I have bass enough :D

A
Userlevel 6
Badge +6

I think the issue now shifts more to the point of:

 

it doesn’t sound near as good as people claim in reviews. There hardly is any bass (without sub)

LOL. This is never-ending. 

I have the sub haha so I have bass enough :D

Your ears are just like the eyes. They calibrate themselves to the sound pretty quick. If you do back to back comparison, Arc’s bass will sound trash as your ears get used to the subwoofer bass. I have Arc without the sub, and the bass is plenty. 

B
Userlevel 3
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So I am starting this by saying I have decided to keep my Arc. I am still not 100% satisfied, but I am getting closer. It has replaced my beam under the TV. 

I have a Sub, Play:1 Surrounds as well. 

With the update it does sound better yet compared to the beam I don’t think bass handing is correct yet. It lacks the ‘oomph’ I was expecting. I will say that compared to the beam the sound is more expansive, details and has more spatial volume (not loudness). Actual loudness does not seem huge compared to beam but again that may be more due to lack of low down grunt. 

I need to do more testing, use trueplay to tune it (oldest apple device in my house is an iPhone XR) etc. But out the gate, the Arc (inc Sub/Surrounds) lack oomph. I would watch a movie with the beam/sub/surrounds and my living room would be a wall of sound, with bass rippling though the experience. Not so much now, sub and all. 

I have also noticed some of my other speakers around the house seem to lack bass precisions/depth but I am not wondering if it is psychosomatic. 

Here is a thought that is off not practical benefit but my Sonos systems just feel little underwhelming since S2. S1 has years and years of refinement and I think some of that has been lost? It’s like I’ve gone from HDR/Dolby Vision back to regular 4K. Still good, but not… ‘wow’

So why am I keeping it….because I feel it can be fixed, and I refuse to believe reviews are so off the mark. And if there is a hardware issue, 100 days or not, Sonos should remedy with a replacement. I have a certain amount of faith in Sonos, let’s see if it is well places. 

Beam. 2x Play:1 - 2x Play One (gen 2) - Sub - 2x Play 5 - Move
R
Userlevel 2
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Utterly ridiculous, the update didn’t fix anything.  The arc still chokes on anything bass heavy and the volume above 35-40%.   

R
Userlevel 3
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I think the issue now shifts more towards the point of:

 

it doesn’t sound near as good as people claim in reviews. There hardly is any bass (without sub)

I can assure you this is flat out a lie. Barely any bass? There’s plenty of bass sometimes too much. I had a playbar before and the bass here is more prominent.  
 

ofncourse it wont compete with a subwoofer. I don’t see how you claim reviewers had it better many are happy with their arcs.

another thing might be your room if it’s huge and open space you might not hear as strong of a bass compared to a smaller space


This is a thread to talk about the issues going on with the arc. I’m glad yours is fixed but many people are still having issues. Maybe different hardware?

Exactly. Some people had no issue with initial firmware. Some still have issue after the firmware release. And presumably Sonos had no issue during development (which is why they released it as is). So it wouldn’t unrealistic to think that there is some hardware issue causing some units to behave differently. It could be a bad batch of components (or slightly different components from good units to bad ones). Usually there is a list of approved components, and a secondary list just in case the preferred component is not available in the market. it could be manufacturing issue or maybe the software requires filler tweaks. 

R
Userlevel 2
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Try playing Dr. Carter by Lil Wayne at a 70% volume. 

The bass in this song sounds horrid at 40%

F
Userlevel 2
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Ftm that being the case is the Arc as amazing as you expected it to be? Did you happen to upgrade from another Sonos Soundbar? 

The arc was really good low down volumes then the bass got muddy as described.  The sound other than that was really good at times .The update partially masked the bass issue.  My house is detached so I often have high volumes this is probably why I noticed it.

It sounds alot better with sub.

F
Userlevel 2
Badge +1

Got the sub today, easy set up as always.  I can confirm that the sub takes care of the arcs bass issues.  All the films I've watched which had the distorted bass all sound spot on now.  That's with the sub set to -3

we really gotta stop saying “bass issues “ the bass issue was fixed already with yesterday’s firmware.

 

if you properly updated and have any issues you might have a defective unit but the widespread bass issue was fixed 

It was partially fixed it wasnt fully fixed at all.  Not on my arc anyway 

D
Userlevel 1

Please have a look at this video:

 

Seems like the initial problem has been fixed BUT there are new issues with the bass at different frequencies.

 

 

S
Userlevel 4
Badge +4

Please have a look at this video:

 

Seems like the initial problem has been fixed BUT there are new issues with the bass at different frequencies.

 

 

@Ryan S please look at this. I confirmed the rattling sound at close to 100% on my arc. The previous issue was fixed but at 100% 40Hz still has this new rattling. Also, on my sonos one I definitely hear some wobbling (less bad than on Arc) at 40Hz at a range of volumes. So seems like there’s still work to be done. Definitely an improvement but bring this up with your team please

M
Userlevel 3
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Try playing Dr. Carter by Lil Wayne at a 70% volume. 

The bass in this song sounds horrid at 40%

Although overall I’m still statisfied with the improvements, I experience exactly this at like 50%. Especially where the heart-beeping goes static. Also try Monate Mpolaye - Dj Sumbody. Deep tones don’t sound that well either.

That being said: For general usage, the Arc is fine now, there were even (movie) scenes where I was: That’s what I’m talking about!

Still, I believe buying an additional sub for crisp low tones shouldn’t be needed. Especially not with a 899 EUR soundbar. I know a soundbar can’t produce as much sound as a full set, however, it should be crisp at all times and never distort (okay, could be acceptable at the 80%+ volume levels). There are still examples where this is the case, unfortunately. I stick to my earlier statement: Great improvement, still not 100%.

I actually tried to record this Dr.Carter track in order to upload an example, however, can’t really hear the rumbling / muddy sound when you record it with an iPhone 7 xD

Also: I see some ppl claiming that the issue is resolved (also some very brand-loyal people claiming Sonos never let them down and they will undoubtedly fix this etc.). Good that you give your opinion, but please also let other people give theirs and ‘complain’ as long as they aren’t satisfied. This still is a premium product that comes with the highest expectations.

M
Userlevel 3
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Anyone with RTINGS early access can see some prelim graphs on THD, Frequency Response etc.

https://www.rtings.com/soundbar/reviews/sonos/arc

Will be updated in a few days.

Very interested in this!

A
Userlevel 6
Badge +6

Please have a look at this video:

 

Seems like the initial problem has been fixed BUT there are new issues with the bass at different frequencies.

 

 

@Ryan S please look at this. I confirmed the rattling sound at close to 100% on my arc. The previous issue was fixed but at 100% 40Hz still has this new rattling. Also, on my sonos one I definitely hear some wobbling (less bad than on Arc) at 40Hz at a range of volumes. So seems like there’s still work to be done. Definitely an improvement but bring this up with your team please

What concerns me the most now is bass behavior between 70 Hz and 90 Hz. Going back to 40 Hz after that was awful. DSP is definitely going crazy here LOL. I tested these tones on my HomePod and they are perfect as they should be. 

S
Userlevel 4
Badge +4

Please have a look at this video:

 

Seems like the initial problem has been fixed BUT there are new issues with the bass at different frequencies.

 

 

@Ryan S please look at this. I confirmed the rattling sound at close to 100% on my arc. The previous issue was fixed but at 100% 40Hz still has this new rattling. Also, on my sonos one I definitely hear some wobbling (less bad than on Arc) at 40Hz at a range of volumes. So seems like there’s still work to be done. Definitely an improvement but bring this up with your team please

What concerns me the most now is bass behavior between 70 Hz and 90 Hz. Going back to 40 Hz after that was awful. DSP is definitely going crazy here LOL. I tested these tones on my HomePod and they are perfect as they should be. 

Yeah definitely they need to work on this. I now think this is a S2 issue because I noticed weirdness on my sonos one. 

M
Userlevel 2
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It sounds like the speaker is being pressed up against something when trying to hit some frequencies. I fear that it might be a hardware issue on some units and we may never hear about it. Sonos will accept returns on those units and fix the production problem. Just a theory.. I will be returning my arc on Friday if there is no additional update to this. 
 

@Ryan S please let us know what is going on from the Sonos side of things! Is it in any way possible a hardware issue?

S
Userlevel 4
Badge +4

Anyone with RTINGS early access can see some prelim graphs on THD, Frequency Response etc.

https://www.rtings.com/soundbar/reviews/sonos/arc

Will be updated in a few days.

Very interested in this!

Do you have this RTINGS preview? I am interesteed but now hope they wait a bit for these issues to be fixed

G
Userlevel 5
Badge +2

Please have a look at this video:

 

Seems like the initial problem has been fixed BUT there are new issues with the bass at different frequencies.

 

 

@Ryan S please look at this. I confirmed the rattling sound at close to 100% on my arc. The previous issue was fixed but at 100% 40Hz still has this new rattling. Also, on my sonos one I definitely hear some wobbling (less bad than on Arc) at 40Hz at a range of volumes. So seems like there’s still work to be done. Definitely an improvement but bring this up with your team please

What concerns me the most now is bass behavior between 70 Hz and 90 Hz. Going back to 40 Hz after that was awful. DSP is definitely going crazy here LOL. I tested these tones on my HomePod and they are perfect as they should be. 

Yeah definitely they need to work on this. I now think this is a S2 issue because I noticed weirdness on my sonos one. 

Can confirm. It is prevalent on higher quality sources such as Dolby Atmos. 

B
Userlevel 5
Badge +4

Can confirm. It is prevalent on higher quality sources such as Dolby Atmos. 


I can confirm this as well.  Also the testing he does in the video,  I get the same responses he did.  I’m glad this is getting attention because I was getting a little tired replying on here just to be told I’m wrong or my content is troublesome.

I’m eager for Sonos to continue working on a solution and hope we can get another beta for testing sooner than later so this can be remedied.

G
Userlevel 5
Badge +2

Can confirm. It is prevalent on higher quality sources such as Dolby Atmos. 


I can confirm this as well.  Also the testing he does in the video,  I get the same responses he did.  I’m glad this is getting attention because I was getting a little tired replying on here just to be told I’m wrong or my content is troublesome.

I’m eager for Sonos to continue working on a solution and hope we can get another beta for testing sooner than later so this can be remedied.

Likewise, additional digging into this issue would be appreciated. 

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