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Sonos Arc Muddy/Bottoming out Bass

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R
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Curious, how many people that are now happy with the low end of the Arc have One’s connected for a 5.1 setup? 

The Arc and a pair of One’s is NOT 5.1 

 

adding a sub makes it 5.1 doesn’t it?

Yes but all that was mentioned was the Arc and One’s

M
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Could someone actually post a video of the issue? I got mine yesterday and doesn’t seem to be having this issue but I am not too sure. Also what is the hardware version for those with the issue, you can find that in the app under System/About My System? Thank you in advance.

 

Did you watch this? It sounds good 90% of the time, but when loud movie scenes or songs hit certain frequencies it sounds like garbage.

 

S
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Could someone actually post a video of the issue? I got mine yesterday and doesn’t seem to be having this issue but I am not too sure. Also what is the hardware version for those with the issue, you can find that in the app under System/About My System? Thank you in advance.

 

Did you watch this? It sounds good 90% of the time, but when loud movie scenes or songs hit certain frequencies it sounds like garbage.

 

Yes I have watched it. I also did a 40hz test on Youtube and it didn’t seem to have the static/crackling sound that he has in the video. I am skeptical though, that’s why I wanted someone to post a video of their unit while having this issue and the hardware version.

A
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Although the new update did fix the bass issue and I was happy for that short period of time assumed all is well, then the more I listen to Arc the more I am realizing something is certainly off. The bass issue certainly gone but now the bass comes out like it is pressed against something so that it won't blow off. It is missing that well-rounded richness it used to have albeit distortions before the update. The more I listen to Arc the more I am appreciating my beam. Sure beam doesn't have that big soundstage, Atmos capabilities like its big brother Arc but it just sounds so good and warm for its size.

Made my mind, packed the Arc ready to go back to store today.

M
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Could someone actually post a video of the issue? I got mine yesterday and doesn’t seem to be having this issue but I am not too sure. Also what is the hardware version for those with the issue, you can find that in the app under System/About My System? Thank you in advance.

 

Did you watch this? It sounds good 90% of the time, but when loud movie scenes or songs hit certain frequencies it sounds like garbage.

 

Yes I have watched it. I also did a 40hz test on Youtube and it didn’t seem to have the static/crackling sound that he has in the video. I am skeptical though, that’s why I wanted someone to post a video of their unit while having this issue and the hardware version.

 Listen to A Milli by Lil Wayne or In My Head by Ariana Grande.. It is present in a lot of music

S
Userlevel 3
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Could someone actually post a video of the issue? I got mine yesterday and doesn’t seem to be having this issue but I am not too sure. Also what is the hardware version for those with the issue, you can find that in the app under System/About My System? Thank you in advance.

 

Did you watch this? It sounds good 90% of the time, but when loud movie scenes or songs hit certain frequencies it sounds like garbage.

 

Yes I have watched it. I also did a 40hz test on Youtube and it didn’t seem to have the static/crackling sound that he has in the video. I am skeptical though, that’s why I wanted someone to post a video of their unit while having this issue and the hardware version.

 Listen to A Milli by Lil Wayne or In My Head by Ariana Grande.. It is present in a lot of music

A Milli sounded like those huge Subs people put in the trunks of their car, In My Head had some kind of of a pop but at volume over 50%. Actually 40hz test did have some wobble but also at over 50% and popping/static at above 70%. I have 45 day return window through Sonos. If this isn’t ironed out it’s going back. Sucks I sold the Beam already but what sucks even more is Sonos is loosing credibility. For an AUDIO company to have AUDIO issues is terrible, they have years of experience. This seems like a rush to market to boost sales to show their shareholders. How can this not be tested is beyond me. Apple should really acquire them.

F
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You mean “You’re holding it wrong” Apple? I mean I really like Apple but even they screw up sometimes. Like any other company. 

S
Userlevel 3
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You mean “You’re holding it wrong” Apple? I mean I really like Apple but even they screw up sometimes. Like any other company. 

You mean “You’re holding it wrong” Apple? I mean I really like Apple but even they screw up sometimes. Like any other company. 

No clue what you mean by “You’re holding it wrong” Apple, I am assuming something they did, but there has been talks of them acquiring Sonos and would be the right move for both companies.

melvimbe

No clue what you mean by “You’re holding it wrong” Apple, I am assuming something they did, but there has been talks of them acquiring Sonos and would be the right move for both companies.

 

Noe of the rumors are originating from Sonos or Apple, so not a lot of reason to put much stock in it.  And not the first time such rumors have floated.

Danny
S
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No clue what you mean by “You’re holding it wrong” Apple, I am assuming something they did, but there has been talks of them acquiring Sonos and would be the right move for both companies.

 

Noe of the rumors are originating from Sonos or Apple, so not a lot of reason to put much stock in it.  And not the first time such rumors have floated.

Sure these are rumors but still would be the right move for both. https://www.whathifi.com/us/news/sonos-to-layoff-12-of-workforce-amid-apple-buyout-rumour

F
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You mean “You’re holding it wrong” Apple? I mean I really like Apple but even they screw up sometimes. Like any other company. 

You mean “You’re holding it wrong” Apple? I mean I really like Apple but even they screw up sometimes. Like any other company. 

No clue what you mean by “You’re holding it wrong” Apple, I am assuming something they did, but there has been talks of them acquiring Sonos and would be the right move for both companies.

Shortly after the iPhone 4 was launched, some consumers reported that signal strength of the phone was reduced when touching the lower left edge of the phone, bridging one of the two locations which separates the two antennas, resulting in dropped calls in some areas with lower signal reception. In response, Apple issued a statement advising that customers should "avoid gripping [the phone] in the lower left corner" when making or receiving a call. Internally, senior antenna expert Ruben Caballero raised concerns to CEO Steve Jobs that the antenna design could lead to dropped calls.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IPhone_4#Antenna

 

 

S
Userlevel 3
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You mean “You’re holding it wrong” Apple? I mean I really like Apple but even they screw up sometimes. Like any other company. 

You mean “You’re holding it wrong” Apple? I mean I really like Apple but even they screw up sometimes. Like any other company. 

No clue what you mean by “You’re holding it wrong” Apple, I am assuming something they did, but there has been talks of them acquiring Sonos and would be the right move for both companies.

Shortly after the iPhone 4 was launched, some consumers reported that signal strength of the phone was reduced when touching the lower left edge of the phone, bridging one of the two locations which separates the two antennas, resulting in dropped calls in some areas with lower signal reception. In response, Apple issued a statement advising that customers should "avoid gripping [the phone] in the lower left corner" when making or receiving a call. Internally, senior antenna expert Ruben Caballero raised concerns to CEO Steve Jobs that the antenna design could lead to dropped calls.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IPhone_4#Antenna

 

 

I remember this actually lol, but that’s 10 years ago. Apple didn’t have audio products then. No airpods, no beats and no homepod. Acquiring Sonos will get them into home theater and give capital to a struggling brand.

K
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I’m starting to theorize it is an actual hardware issue that they try to cover up with a software patch as best as they can because returning all defect ARCs would deal too much damage to the brand, and cost too much for Sonos to repair.

Maybe they will find a way to remove the issue by masking it. In this case, we can expect an Arc (Gen 2) in a few years.

 

But let's stay positive and hope it really is a software-only issue. OR, that if it is hardware related that they offer a 90-100% trade-up for a new (gen 2) one before it is too late.

 

Orrr… Apple comes into play and strikes a deal now that Sonos is ‘hurt’.

 

Which ever direction it goes, I own too much Sonos products to call for a leave so I’m preparing for a bumpy ride.

Game programmer and music enthusiast
B
Userlevel 2
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For those of you planning to return your Arc and/or research other options, the Sennheiser Ambeo seems to be the front-runner if price is no object. And with regard to price, if you can get as good sound from the Ambeo as you can get from an Arc, Sub, and 2 x 1SL combo, you’re approaching the price of the Ambeo.  Full disclosure:  I know nothing about the Ambeo other than what I’ve read.

If any of you do decide to try out the Ambeo, I’d be grateful for your review and comparison to your Arc setup.

R
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This whole debacle is just exhausting. And now that Sonos fired the only person who was seemingly working to fix it and communicate status to those of us that purchased the Arc based on Sonos’ prior reputation, I don’t have much hope of it getting resolved. My arc is going back. 

B
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To date, I have not been able to reproduce the muddy base issue.  I’ve run some, but not all of the test content that’s been posted here. It’s possible that I haven’t turned up the volume enough or that my hearing is not good enough to discern this issue.  So I don’t have as much of a problem with the Arc as some of you. No judgement: if I were hearing what you’ve described, I’d be pretty concerned as well.

One question: I see a lot of you mention that you turned the volume up to some %.  Where do you view the percentage volume level?

I pre-ordered my Arc and it arrived on the June 10th (or was it the 11th?).  So I still have about a month of evaluation time before I decide whether to send it back.  I had been toying with the idea of getting a sub anyway, so I think I’m going to order one to see what difference it makes.  Unfortunately, the subs are back-ordered until July 10, but that would still give me a couple of weeks to evaluate the system.

I’ve been a pretty big fan of Sonos and so I’m going to wait a while to see how this issue progresses. 

 

G
Userlevel 5
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This whole debacle is just exhausting. And now that Sonos fired the only person who was seemingly working to fix it and communicate status to those of us that purchased the Arc based on Sonos’ prior reputation, I don’t have much hope of it getting resolved. My arc is going back. 

Absolutely exhausting, certainly not worth the for an issue that has been mostly resolved. Still on the fence 

B
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I really am baffled here. So many awesome reviews everywhere on the internet and yet there are a handful of you guys wanting to return. It’s gotta be just a “bad batch”. How can you have 100’s of other 5* reviews from several sites and yet there are 5-10 of you on this site that are extremely bummed. Bad batch...hopefully because Ive got my Arc and Sub on order.

C
Userlevel 1

I just returned mine, although i will give Sonos the benefit of the doubt, i will re-purchase it in a few weeks to see if i will still run into the same problem. At this point, i believe it’s more of a bad batch than a software issue. If it were a software issue to begin with, EVERYONE would be running into the same problem. not just the people that posted in here. The 12.0.1 version did not fix my bass problem. it helped but it was still there.

melvimbe

 

Noe of the rumors are originating from Sonos or Apple, so not a lot of reason to put much stock in it.  And not the first time such rumors have floated.

Sure these are rumors but still would be the right move for both. https://www.whathifi.com/us/news/sonos-to-layoff-12-of-workforce-amid-apple-buyout-rumour

 The article you linked actually implies otherwise.

 

Shares in Sonos shot up 22% in the wake of Left's report but Apple has so far remained tight-lipped and it seems a little far-fetched to us.

Danny
R
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I just returned mine, although i will give Sonos the benefit of the doubt, i will re-purchase it in a few weeks to see if i will still run into the same problem. At this point, i believe it’s more of a bad batch than a software issue. If it were a software issue to begin with, EVERYONE would be running into the same problem. not just the people that posted in here. The 12.0.1 version did not fix my bass problem. it helped but it was still there.

Yup. That’s my thinking as well. I had planned on doing the same thing. 

S
Userlevel 4
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Could someone actually post a video of the issue? I got mine yesterday and doesn’t seem to be having this issue but I am not too sure. Also what is the hardware version for those with the issue, you can find that in the app under System/About My System? Thank you in advance.

 

Did you watch this? It sounds good 90% of the time, but when loud movie scenes or songs hit certain frequencies it sounds like garbage.

 

Yes I have watched it. I also did a 40hz test on Youtube and it didn’t seem to have the static/crackling sound that he has in the video. I am skeptical though, that’s why I wanted someone to post a video of their unit while having this issue and the hardware version.

Listen, this is a DSP bug it’s obvious by the fact that the software issue made it change and now show up at 50Hz and when switching tones it acts differently. However, this is not how you’re meant to use the product and I wouldn’t blare low freq tones at full volume for a long time on the soundbar.

 

@Sash A, there are still some issues but it is mostly at higher volumes (mine has the rattle at 40Hz only at close to 100% volume. I will never reach this volume during normal listening.

 

@cowmilkcandy , I won’t be returning mine. Here is my reasoning. If this is a DSP bug, can be fixed in more time and more bug fixes. Remember bug fixes tend to introduce other bugs especially in this high pressure environment (they released a patch in 1 week). If there is a bad batch, SONOS knows it. And once support gets back to normal (come on the pandemic clearly hit them, and all of us, hard) they will no doubt replace your speaker if that is the case. What I see as a remote almost impossible option, is SONOS keeping the arc with bugs, not fixing things and refusing to exchange the “bad batch” that would be asking for a class action lawsuit. So as of now my arc is 90% there. Sounds good at less than 60% volume and sounds excellent in movies and TV so I am a happy customer. However, i definitely want them to iron out all issues and bugs and if mine is defective ( I did get some rattling at hjigh volume test tones) I want it replaced. Does it have to be this week? or this month? I particularly can wait.

 

S
Userlevel 4
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This whole debacle is just exhausting. And now that Sonos fired the only person who was seemingly working to fix it and communicate status to those of us that purchased the Arc based on Sonos’ prior reputation, I don’t have much hope of it getting resolved. My arc is going back. 

Dude they are restructuring the company and laid off 12% of people. This by no means means that the engineering team is gone and no one will the arc. That would be just stupid. It is your decision to return. But I don’t see SONOS not fixing the Arc issues as a remote possibility, look at the improvement we got in 1 week. Come on...

Bumper
Userlevel 6
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Dude they are restructuring the company and laid off 12% of people. This by no means means that the engineering team is gone and no one will the arc. That would be just stupid. It is your decision to return. But I don’t see SONOS not fixing the Arc issues as a remote possibility, look at the improvement we got in 1 week. Come on...

 

Folks have different tolerance to risk. As return windows start to close imo smart money will be returning the Arc and waiting until they fix it.

A
Userlevel 6
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This whole debacle is just exhausting. And now that Sonos fired the only person who was seemingly working to fix it and communicate status to those of us that purchased the Arc based on Sonos’ prior reputation, I don’t have much hope of it getting resolved. My arc is going back. 

Dude they are restructuring the company and laid off 12% of people. This by no means means that the engineering team is gone and no one will the arc. That would be just stupid. It is your decision to return. But I don’t see SONOS not fixing the Arc issues as a remote possibility, look at the improvement we got in 1 week. Come on...

@sebas1509 If we bought the Arc in the US before May 31st, do we get 100 days return window?

 

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