Enthusiast II

Answered

Sonos Arc Muddy/Bottoming out Bass

1406 replies
193329 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

R

Redraider3403

Enthusiast I

https://support.sonos.com/s/?language=en_US

Want to email our CEO, Patrick Spence, directly? Click here

Patrick.Spence@sonos.com

Also sent an email. Got to push the urgency in fixing this.

I also sent a note. It would be great if everyone having an issue would let him know how frustrating this is.

A

antm22

Enthusiast I

https://support.sonos.com/s/?language=en_US

Want to email our CEO, Patrick Spence, directly? Click here

Patrick.Spence@sonos.com

Also sent an email. Got to push the urgency in fixing this.

I also sent a note. It would be great if everyone having an issue would let him know how frustrating this is.

I already have as well.

W

wilwong829

Enthusiast II

I have thought of a situation/assumption that if the bass issue can only be resolved by adding a Sub other than firmware update, and Sonos is willing to offer a discount for those Arc owners that are having this issue to buy a Sub… then what about those people that already have the Sub? This become unfair to them…

Of course it’s just an assumption…

H

Highfalutintodd

Prominent Collaborator I

https://support.sonos.com/s/?language=en_US

Want to email our CEO, Patrick Spence, directly? Click here

Patrick.Spence@sonos.com

Also sent an email. Got to push the urgency in fixing this.

I also sent a note. It would be great if everyone having an issue would let him know how frustrating this is.

I already have as well.

Me, too.

Arc + Sub 3 + One SLs = Awesome and Loving It!

A

arpatil1

Enthusiast II

This should never have been, with all those engineers working on it developing this product how does such a thing occur? What about all those professional musicians no doubt demoing and testing. This is Bad bad bad. Extraordinary sound meets elegant design….REALLY

Right? I was thinking the same. Apparently film creators and music directors like farting bass, lacking mid-ranges and over-emphasized trebles.

L

lstncybrspc

Lyricist III

Sonos has acknowledged the issue. They are working on the issue. I am sure it is elevated and the highest priority item on the list. I am also sure that they want to make sure it is absolutely fixed before releasing a change.

I would suggest everyone try setting the volume limit for their Arc to around 60% and test. Mine delivers quality sound at all test tones at this level and I do not need to worry about distortion at this point, or any potential damage to the device (if even an issue).

That way I have great sound and the engineers can get it right.

IMHO, mistakes happen, and in the pandemic I am sure it was much harder to release product. Is it a good excuse? No, it is not, but a little grace can go a long way. I get it, it is a lot of money for a product that is not working correctly. I have had similar, mistakes on new products, with vehicles. Again in the realm of major things you should care about, there are bigger issues in the world. Turn down the volume and let them work on it. If they fail to deliver then you can light up the message boards.

Perspective: I mean we all had the extra cash to spend $800 on a sound bar during a global pandemic when millions are out of work.

W

wilwong829

Enthusiast II

Sonos has acknowledged the issue. They are working on the issue. I am sure it is elevated and the highest priority item on the list. I am also sure that they want to make sure it is absolutely fixed before releasing a change.

I would suggest everyone try setting the volume limit for their Arc to around 60% and test. Mine delivers quality sound at all test tones at this level and I do not need to worry about distortion at this point, or any potential damage to the device (if even an issue).

That way I have great sound and the engineers can get it right.

IMHO, mistakes happen, and in the pandemic I am sure it was much harder to release product. Is it a good excuse? No, it is not, but a little grace can go a long way. I get it, it is a lot of money for a product that is not working correctly. I have had similar, mistakes on new products, with vehicles. Again in the realm of major things you should care about, there are bigger issues in the world. Turn down the volume and let them work on it. If they fail to deliver then you can light up the message boards.

Perspective: I mean we all had the extra cash to spend $800 on a sound bar during a global pandemic when millions are out of work.

Cannot agree more!!

P

PowdeRiver

Lyricist III

I agree to the previous two comments. Worst case, Sonos rushing a fix that doesn’t completely solve the issue or causing another problem and us losing more confidence. I have the time to wait for them to get it right. It’s only been 6 days, with multiple comments from Sonos in this thread. They know what the problem is.

Ryan S

Retired Sonos Staff

We have identified a bug that has potential to cause distortion when playing bass-heavy content at higher volume levels on Arc. Our team is working on the fix now. We expect the software release to be implemented as early as next week. I'll share any additional updates here.

Mark good posts by pressing the like button, and select the best answer on questions you've asked to help others find solutions.

P

Pawl

Lyricist III

We have identified a bug that has potential to cause distortion when playing bass-heavy content at higher volume levels on Arc. Our team is working on the fix now. We expect the software release to be implemented as early as next week. I'll share any additional updates here.

Thank you Ryan! 👍🏻

Show more replies

Sign up

Login to the community