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Sonos Arc Muddy/Bottoming out Bass

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P
Userlevel 3
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No there is a new app update 12.0.2 came out last night going to test shortly

App update, not firmware update. No change in sound.

But have you tried re trueplaying now as that’s plausible in the update 

Somebody from the Sonos team would have posted here about the update then. I don’t think this app update is for fixing the sound.

I just got the update today, can anyone confirm what it was for? 

M
Userlevel 3
Badge +1

No there is a new app update 12.0.2 came out last night going to test shortly

App update, not firmware update. No change in sound.

But have you tried re trueplaying now as that’s plausible in the update 

Somebody from the Sonos team would have posted here about the update then. I don’t think this app update is for fixing the sound.

I just got the update today, can anyone confirm what it was for? 

No release notes on their site - per App Store “Bug fixes and improved performance”

per Reddit, some are reporting it working faster. Fixed Chrome battery drain. Processor upgraded from quad to hexa core

M
Userlevel 3
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I just updated and retuned. No difference in sound. Did comparison to the Beam again and the low end on the Beam is so much better. If the Arc was minimally that good, I’d be content

P
Userlevel 4
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Yea no difference even mixed it up with iPhone se

M
Userlevel 3
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Yea no difference even mixed it up with iPhone se

not that I expected a difference. I think at this point someone on this thread would be notified that a “fix” was coming

A
Userlevel 2
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Been having a long email conversation with Sonos customer support. A lot of similar questions and actions reported on here. They have said it might. That’s might, be a hardware issue. They are replacing my Arc. It comes on Thursday. 
I hope this fixes things. Will report back. 
 

M
Userlevel 3
Badge +1

Been having a long email conversation with Sonos customer support. A lot of similar questions and actions reported on here. They have said it might. That’s might, be a hardware issue. They are replacing my Arc. It comes on Thursday. 
I hope this fixes things. Will report back. 
 

Definitely keep us posted. That would be best case for most of us with this issue. Will they let you have them side by side for comparison?

A
Userlevel 2
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I’ve not sent the old one back yet so I will try them both

B
Userlevel 5
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I’ve not sent the old one back yet so I will try them both

 

Is it Thursday yet?

 

P
Userlevel 4
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I too am due a replacement this week hoping it’s a newer build date for comparison.

 

this evening I think I have found one of the worst songs for it - star boy - the weeknd, daft punk 
 

not at even 50% it sounds horrid. If you are crazy try putting the bass in the eq at full it starts sound bad about 25-30% then. I know you wouldn’t do that in the real world but every other Sonos product I own I can run at full bass eq at full volume and mostly they sound fine 

P
Userlevel 3
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That song sounds like I was playing it through my vw quantum when I was 17 already had the car for a year and abused the speakers.

P
Userlevel 4
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That song sounds like I was playing it through my vw quantum when I was 17 already had the car for a year and abused the speakers.

:’) that’s a great explanation that’s got to be a winner for one of the worst so far 

B
Userlevel 2
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I too am due a replacement this week hoping it’s a newer build date for comparison.

 

this evening I think I have found one of the worst songs for it - star boy - the weeknd, daft punk 
 

not at even 50% it sounds horrid. If you are crazy try putting the bass in the eq at full it starts sound bad about 25-30% then. I know you wouldn’t do that in the real world but every other Sonos product I own I can run at full bass eq at full volume and mostly they sound fine 

So just to confirm, we’re still talking about an Arc without a sub, correct?

B
Userlevel 2
Badge +2

 

Been having a long email conversation with Sonos customer support. A lot of similar questions and actions reported on here. They have said it might. That’s might, be a hardware issue. They are replacing my Arc. It comes on Thursday. 
I hope this fixes things. Will report back. 
 

Seems to me that once Sonos get one of these Arcs back, they should be able to determine pretty quickly if it’s a hardware issue.

I have until the end of July until my 45 days are up...

S

Been having a long email conversation with Sonos customer support. A lot of similar questions and actions reported on here. They have said it might. That’s might, be a hardware issue. They are replacing my Arc. It comes on Thursday. 
I hope this fixes things. Will report back. 
 

Definitely keep us posted. That would be best case for most of us with this issue. Will they let you have them side by side for comparison?

I received a replacement arc…bad news…. it  sounds the exact same… Same rattles and distorted sounds....I was seriously heartbroken and disappointed…...I’m leaning toward software issue now Unless my new arc was built at the same time as my old one…...can someone tell me how to check build dates? .... I need to send my other arc back very soon...

M
Userlevel 3
Badge +1

Been having a long email conversation with Sonos customer support. A lot of similar questions and actions reported on here. They have said it might. That’s might, be a hardware issue. They are replacing my Arc. It comes on Thursday. 
I hope this fixes things. Will report back. 
 

Definitely keep us posted. That would be best case for most of us with this issue. Will they let you have them side by side for comparison?

I received a replacement arc…bad news…. it  sounds the exact same… Same rattles and distorted sounds....I was seriously heartbroken and disappointed…...I’m leaning toward software issue now Unless my new arc was built at the same time as my old one…...can someone tell me how to check build dates? .... I need to send my other arc back very soon...

Man that stinks. I think we all had hopes that this was the fix. If you look on the thread about metallic sound, I think they had something in there about build dates

I

Hi Guys:
 

New to this forum. I almost pulled the trigger on the Sonos Arc to pair with the LG CX 65 OLED I just purchased as I couldn’t wait to try the Dolby Atmos. But after seeing the bass problem posted here I guess I will wait to see how this issue is resolved. I won’t buy one unless they resolve the bass issue.


In the meantime, I think my TV speakers are good enough to carry me through for a while.

 

 

A
Userlevel 2
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Not sure why my posts have videos attached apologies 

V
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Hi Guys:
 

New to this forum. I almost pulled the trigger on the Sonos Arc to pair with the LG CX 65 OLED I just purchased as I couldn’t wait to try the Dolby Atmos. But after seeing the bass problem posted here I guess I will wait to see how this issue is resolved. I won’t buy one unless they resolve the bass issue.


In the meantime, I think my TV speakers are good enough to carry me through for a while.

 

 

Wise choice. Mine is like everyone else posting here, very poor bass issues. I cannot fathom how so many so called reviewers gave this product such a glowing review, it’s just average at best - if it cost 250EUR, that is no exaggeration. Not sure if its hardware or software related, but bass and sharp sounds make it poor to listen to. I’ll keep it for another few weeks until I see it improves, if not its going back, as simple as that. I’m very disappointed in it, especially as I hoped to use it for music in my sitting room.

B
Badge +3

I did “pull the trigger”, but I also got the subwoofer, so I shouldn’t have the issues people are having.

J
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new to the forums but thank god i found this as soon as i bought the arc. i was losing my mind for the first few days because it was almost as though the sound “hurt” to listen too and the bass was all over the place. I decided to just return it and go back to the beam that i luckily didn’t sell. I have the beam with the 2 ones as surrounds and no sub (little kids at home so i dont blast it anyways). I am much happier with a product that cost less than half the amount for now. If i ever see that the product was fixed in it’s entirety i will definitely upgrade as i have a beautiful LG 65 inch oled that is capable of ARCING out atmos sound. what a shame as i was really looking forward to this product. The beam on the other hand still punches well above its weight, and i bumped up the bass 4 notches on the EQ and it provides a much cleaner listening experience than the arc ever did

E
Userlevel 4
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Interesting video.  He tests various bass tones in the middle. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8VtO4Qc5NaY

P
Userlevel 4
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Another ‘bad song’ for bass over 50% kovacs brothers -world domination - sounds horrible like starboy I posted above and just about anything with a decent bass line… yuck

M
Userlevel 3
Badge +1

new to the forums but thank god i found this as soon as i bought the arc. i was losing my mind for the first few days because it was almost as though the sound “hurt” to listen too and the bass was all over the place. I decided to just return it and go back to the beam that i luckily didn’t sell. I have the beam with the 2 ones as surrounds and no sub (little kids at home so i dont blast it anyways). I am much happier with a product that cost less than half the amount for now. If i ever see that the product was fixed in it’s entirety i will definitely upgrade as i have a beautiful LG 65 inch oled that is capable of ARCING out atmos sound. what a shame as i was really looking forward to this product. The beam on the other hand still punches well above its weight, and i bumped up the bass 4 notches on the EQ and it provides a much cleaner listening experience than the arc ever did

I’ve had a similar experience. The Beam has a much more pleasant sound overall and significantly better low end performance. I’ve put them side by side and in every case the Beam is better. I hope we will see an update soon to address this. I have about 3 more weeks on my return window. 

S
Userlevel 4
Badge +4

Here is a snippet of the Compression graph from RTINGS.com in red it shows the Arc at high volume and on green it shows the Beam at high volume. There is a noticeable dip there for red, this is not what is expected at that range. Note this only happens at high volume. The other green (mostly flat line) is the Arc at 80dB SPL level (not as loud) which is flat as it is ideal. It is normal for speakers to struggle at higher volumes but theres a clear issue for the bass response for the Arc at high volume.

 

Here is the summary with the score, pretty poor score even lower than Beam and Playbar.

 

 

Here is another score that is lower than expected, and it points to the metallic sound/ tinny sound some are experiencing (theres another post for that issue)

 

Find it hard to believe SONOS didnt test these type of things before pushing the Arc out of the door. So it makes me wonder what is going on….

@Scott - Sonos @Jean C. 

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