Enthusiast II

Answered

Sonos Arc Muddy/Bottoming out Bass

1406 replies
193322 views

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.

This topic has been closed for further comments. You can use the search bar to find a similar topic, or create a new one by clicking Create Topic at the top of the page.

S

Scott - SonosAnswer

Sonos Product Management

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.

Show previous replies

J

Jacobjacobi

Trending Lyricist I

Has anyones ARC been shipped after this thing gained attention? Like shipped yesterday, today etc

This is the really interesting question to me. I have tried not to doubt Sonos, but the shipping times seems so far out now.

I really am wondering if they are still shipping. If they are then we can assume that they are confident that it’s not a hardware issue. If they’re not, then maybe I should be concerned.

ordered mine on the 9th June day before launch I'm in the UK this morning my card was charged and the sonos site now says "dispatch acknowledged" and " processing "

thanks. I was pretty sure that this was not a hardware issue and it gives me comfort that they are still shipping.

I asked out of intrigue really.

S

Spoetnic

Lyricist II

I’ve seen some people say with the current issue if you are playing with any loudness, even with the sub, you can damage the arc speakers, is there any truth to this? Is there a need to hold off on using until the update? Thank you.

I’m afraid to play and damage my Sonos ARC right now, until their is a software update. I will be playing my headphones for now.

I don't think this problem can harm the speakers or other hardware. On the contrary the bug is just overprotecting.

M

MikeBurrows92

Trending Lyricist I

40Hz test tone

Anyone tried running this to see how theirs sounds? Mine sounds as is it should

L

lstncybrspc

Lyricist III

40Hz test tone

Anyone tried running this to see how theirs sounds? Mine sounds as is it should

Did you run the volume up high? You need to get up well over 50% and then it should happen.

A

arpatil1

Enthusiast II

40Hz test tone

Anyone tried running this to see how theirs sounds? Mine sounds as is it should

Did you run the volume up high? You need to get up well over 50% and then it should happen.

My Arc crackles/farts after 50% at 40 Hz. I played one particular movie and the bass is coming out of nowhere and crackling below 50% volume. other movies are doing perfectly fine. Now, even I am scared about damaging the speaker pushing me towards returning it.

S

Seeky

Prominent Collaborator II

@Ryan S I've checked all my speakers with the 40 Hz tone. The issue is extreme on the Arc. But it also occurs on my One in the bathroom. I've always felt like it added too much base there after display. I think the limiter is simply not designed properly. It looks like a control system which does not fit the loop it's controlling.

@anyone who thinks he does not have the issue. Please play this tone on the Arc and let us know what happens. Latest at 70% volume u will hear something weird.

Edit: Also happens on another One. There it sounds like a heartbeat.

Anyway of my other speakers the arc has like 30% of the volume of the one and 10% of the play:5 on that sound

Smilja

40Hz test tone

Anyone tried running this to see how theirs sounds? Mine sounds as is it should

Did you run the volume up high? You need to get up well over 50% and then it should happen.

My Arc crackles/farts after 50% at 40 Hz. I played one particular movie and the bass is coming out of nowhere and crackling below 50% volume. other movies are doing perfectly fine. Now, even I am scared about damaging the speaker pushing me towards returning it.

If it only happen with a particular movie, probably the soundtrack is not encoded resp. mastered correctly or embedded properly within the movie. Nothing Sonos can do about it.

»And the world is like an apple whirling silently in space, Like the circles that you find in the windmills of your mind.« (›Windmills Of Your Mind‹ [1967]. Music by Michel Legrand ; English lyrics written by Alan & Marilyn Bergman)

A

arpatil1

Enthusiast II

40Hz test tone

Anyone tried running this to see how theirs sounds? Mine sounds as is it should

Did you run the volume up high? You need to get up well over 50% and then it should happen.

My Arc crackles/farts after 50% at 40 Hz. I played one particular movie and the bass is coming out of nowhere and crackling below 50% volume. other movies are doing perfectly fine. Now, even I am scared about damaging the speaker pushing me towards returning it.

If it only happen with a particular movie, probably the soundtrack is not encoded resp. mastered correctly or embedded properly within the movie. Nothing Sonos can do about it.

Well, my HomePod and tv speakers do not crackle when playing the same movie. What’s up with that.? Crackling is the same noise I get after playing 40 Hz above 50% volume.

V

vtince

Trending Lyricist I

Same here, played the 40Hz test tone and bass is all good until volume is 50% and above, then the Arc farts loudly…..

Diagnostic confirmation number: 437538094

A

arpatil1

Enthusiast II

Same here, played the 40Hz test tone and bass is all good until volume is 50% and above, then the Arc farts loudly…..

Diagnostic confirmation number: 437538094

Same thing. Bass farts loudly like the speaker is blown. I abosultely cant believe what we are getting from such an expensive soundbar.

Diagnostic number: 1497785928