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.

Hello everyone.I’m a product manager at Sonos.Thank you forsharing 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 usethis form. It is helpful if you can submit a diagnostic when you’re listening to the content. Instructions for doing so can be foundhere.

Sonos Arc Muddy/Bottoming out Bass

S

Userlevel 7

+15

sjw
Local Superstar
1498 replies
3 years ago
15 August 2020

@Krishma M , you feel you've answered the questions and concerns raised above?

Or just posted something?

P

Userlevel 3

+2

PowdeRiver
Lyricist III
59 replies
3 years ago
15 August 2020

bbalz keep us posted, and pyro I would get another rma, I’m going to, im waiting, want to make sure I get a later build date. I haven’t seen many new people reporting similar issue it’s mostly those of us from the release date leading me to believe it’s date specific. I have the sub but eventually I’m going to want to sell the unit so I want to get it fixed. I probably wouldn’t mind as much if I didn’t pay retail so wanna get what I paid for.

M

Userlevel 3

+3

maurice.pothoven
Trending Lyricist II
66 replies
3 years ago
15 August 2020

@Krishma M can you provide us with some info regarding the newer build Arcs? Are there changes to the hardware? As @PowdeRiver is mentioning, you don’t see new reports from people who recently bought a Arc.

if so I want to swap my March build for the newest build.

O

Userlevel 4

+6

oriboaz
Prodigy I
157 replies
3 years ago
15 August 2020

I can confirm that the muddy bass issue still exists on 12.0.4. I just played the movie Drive on Netflix at the 35 minute mark, as others have suggested. With the sub on, it sounds great. The bass is nice and clean. With the sub turned off, the bass sounds “broken”: it’s a bit more stretched out, and with a slight ripple to it. Having heard what it is supposed to sound like, the Arc alone sounds wrong. I played at about 45% volume. I then tried the same part on the Beam, and the bass sounded much cleaner. In fact, the Beam alone sounded better than the Arc alone on this sample, which is very strange (and should not happen).

So, definitely the bass issue still persists. @Krishma M , whatever information you had was WRONG. Please relay back to the team that the bass issues are not fixed, unfortunately. I hope they keep working on it, and fix this soon. (I still hope it’s a DSP issue).

Userlevel 5

+13

Krishma M
Retired Sonos Staff
750 replies
3 years ago
15 August 2020

Hi folks. The issue with the muddy or bottoming out bass from the Arc in a stand-alone configuration (no satellites or Sub) is no longer occurring. If your system is up to date and still the same issue we need to troubleshoot as normal. I’d suggest checking with the content (TV, Music in Sonos app) if it’s the same. If wall-mounted, does removing the speaker from the wall bracket and setting it on a credenza or table improve the issue? Is Trueplay configured on the Arc? Try to disable Trueplay, if there would be any different. Is the Bass EQ setting flat or adjusted in some way? If it’s all the same, try to reboot the Arc or reset to its factory settings.

If the issue still persists, call 800-680-2345 from Monday to Friday from 10 am to 9 pm EST for further steps and resolution. We’re always here to help. Thanks for the patience!

Hi folks. If you’ve done and followed the steps above, reach out to our phone support team for further testing and resolution. Thanks!

B

Userlevel 5

+4

bbalz
Enthusiast I
70 replies
3 years ago
15 August 2020

Hi folks. The issue with the muddy or bottoming out bass from the Arc in a stand-alone configuration (no satellites or Sub) is no longer occurring. If your system is up to date and still the same issue we need to troubleshoot as normal. I’d suggest checking with the content (TV, Music in Sonos app) if it’s the same. If wall-mounted, does removing the speaker from the wall bracket and setting it on a credenza or table improve the issue? Is Trueplay configured on the Arc? Try to disable Trueplay, if there would be any different. Is the Bass EQ setting flat or adjusted in some way? If it’s all the same, try to reboot the Arc or reset to its factory settings.

If the issue still persists, call 800-680-2345 from Monday to Friday from 10 am to 9 pm EST for further steps and resolution. We’re always here to help. Thanks for the patience!

Hi folks. If you’ve done and followed the steps above, reach out to our phone support team for further testing and resolution. Thanks!

If this is the type of support/response that Sonos is now going to supply, then you may want to remove the Advanced & troubleshooting section on your forums entirely...

This response is disheartening and makes me feel like Sonos would rather shut people up than listen to the issues people are clearly still having.

I guess the new Sonos Support since staffing cuts have happened is to simply ask people to NOT be vocal about it in a community forum and to just call in for help which will just result in RMA units being shipped out.

I personally would encourage those who are still having issues to continue to be vocal here to Sonos about it, so others are aware they might not be alone with their problematic Arc.

O

Userlevel 4

+6

oriboaz
Prodigy I
157 replies
3 years ago
15 August 2020

Hi folks. The issue with the muddy or bottoming out bass from the Arc in a stand-alone configuration (no satellites or Sub) is no longer occurring. If your system is up to date and still the same issue we need to troubleshoot as normal. I’d suggest checking with the content (TV, Music in Sonos app) if it’s the same. If wall-mounted, does removing the speaker from the wall bracket and setting it on a credenza or table improve the issue? Is Trueplay configured on the Arc? Try to disable Trueplay, if there would be any different. Is the Bass EQ setting flat or adjusted in some way? If it’s all the same, try to reboot the Arc or reset to its factory settings.

If the issue still persists, call 800-680-2345 from Monday to Friday from 10 am to 9 pm EST for further steps and resolution. We’re always here to help. Thanks for the patience!

Hi folks. If you’ve done and followed the steps above, reach out to our phone support team for further testing and resolution. Thanks!

To do my due diligence, I’ll say that I decided to run trueplay again (while I have done it many times in previous software versions, I hadn’t yet in 12.0.4, until today). I concentrated on my listening area as I trueplayed. To be honest, the bass is now improved compared to before. It’s definitely not nearly as good as what I can get with the sub, but it does sound less distorted than before. However, the bass without the sub sounds weaker (i.e., it’s as if someone had reduced the volume on the bass frequencies). When I turn the sub on, the bass becomes more pronounced and much nicer to listen to.

So, my suggestion to folks here is to run trueplay with 12.0.4, and see if it makes a difference.

To be sure, I still think that the Arc’s sonic signature needs work (its sibilance needs some toning down). I hope that Sonos engineers are working on improvements.

M

Userlevel 3

+3

maurice.pothoven
Trending Lyricist II
66 replies
3 years ago
15 August 2020

I tried the song which had very distorted bass and it does sound a bit better, but it’s like when the bass is getting heavier, the bass volume gets turned down.

(disabled the sub and surrounds for this test)

S

Userlevel 4

+4

sebas1509
Enthusiast II
143 replies
3 years ago
16 August 2020

I tried the song which had very distorted bass and it does sound a bit better, but it’s like when the bass is getting heavier, the bass volume gets turned down.

(disabled the sub and surrounds for this test)

You mean after the 12.0.4 retuning? Or you didn’t retune?

if the bass level dropped a bit it’s because it’s doing what it’s supposed to do control the bass to not overdo it. The woofer size of the arc can’t produce huge bass. That’s just a fact it should be good enough for movies! Might not cut it for the songs with heavy bass. For certain people that like heavy bass.

this is intended and should happen rather than having wobbly bass or distorted bass

P

Userlevel 4

+4

pyro225
Enthusiast II
105 replies
3 years ago
16 August 2020

@Krishma M

Can you tell me if there was a hardware fault as the newer people don’t seem to get the fault?

o can assure you with and without satellites just follow this post you will see the problem is the same.

i have gone to your support by email and they have said they are aware of the issue still and to hold fire… so do you guys not talk to one another now? As you are saying it’s great and all working and they are not.

Userlevel 5

+13

Krishma M
Retired Sonos Staff
750 replies
3 years ago
16 August 2020

Hi folks. The issue with the muddy or bottoming out bass from the Arc in a stand-alone configuration (no satellites or Sub) is no longer occurring. If your system is up to date and still the same issue we need to troubleshoot as normal. I’d suggest checking with the content (TV, Music in Sonos app) if it’s the same. If wall-mounted, does removing the speaker from the wall bracket and setting it on a credenza or table improve the issue? Is Trueplay configured on the Arc? Try to enable/disable Trueplay, if there would be any different. Is the Bass EQ setting flat or adjusted in some way? If it’s all the same after playing around, try to reboot the Arc or reset to its factory settings.

If the issue still persists, call 800-680-2345 from Monday to Friday from 10 am to 9 pm EST for further steps and resolution. We’re always here to help. Thanks for the patience!

Hi, @pyro225! Yes, with or without satellites and Sub should work flawlessly with the Arc.

If you all are still having a problem provided with the steps outlined above, it would be best to reach out to our phone support team to check and proceed with a replacement if needed.

I can imagine how inconvenient it is to all of you and I really appreciate your patience. We’re always here to help.

V

Vkeshav
Contributor I
4 replies
3 years ago
16 August 2020

Hi folks. The issue with the muddy or bottoming out bass from the Arc in a stand-alone configuration (no satellites or Sub) is no longer occurring. If your system is up to date and still the same issue we need to troubleshoot as normal. I’d suggest checking with the content (TV, Music in Sonos app) if it’s the same. If wall-mounted, does removing the speaker from the wall bracket and setting it on a credenza or table improve the issue? Is Trueplay configured on the Arc? Try to enable/disable Trueplay, if there would be any different. Is the Bass EQ setting flat or adjusted in some way? If it’s all the same after playing around, try to reboot the Arc or reset to its factory settings.

If the issue still persists, call 800-680-2345 from Monday to Friday from 10 am to 9 pm EST for further steps and resolution. We’re always here to help. Thanks for the patience!

Hi, @pyro225! Yes, with or without satellites and Sub should work flawlessly with the Arc.

If you all are still having a problem provided with the steps outlined above, it would be best to reach out to our phone support team to check and proceed with a replacement if needed.

I can imagine how inconvenient it is to all of you and I really appreciate your patience. We’re always here to help.

Interesting. Does anyone have suggestions on what songs to test for this? My Arc definitely bottoms out on the Drive (Netflix Indian Bollywood movie) at 35:00 at volumes greater than 50%. Was wondering if anyone had any other suggestions on which songs on Tidal or Spotify I could test to see if it happens in other places.

I honestly haven't noticed it in everyday use because I rarely go above 50% volume, but would want this addressed with new hardware if I do have a hardware issue.

Thanks

P

Userlevel 4

+4

pyro225
Enthusiast II
105 replies
3 years ago
17 August 2020