I could never imagine calling it great. Wow. Are you honestly saying your bass doesn’t sound like someone pounding a yogurt container?

100 percent I’m saying this. I would agree it isn’t the punchiest bass. But music is enjoyable good enough. If you love music speakers I wouldn’t use this as my main music speaker. For me it’s good but yeah it doesn’t compare to the five. But for me it’s good enough. Especially if you add one surrounds they complement the music very much adding the bass from the ones.

 Why would you not return the arc or ask for a replacement if the speaker doesn’t work properly 

I came from a Playbar and this I find much better - I love the wide soundstage and Atmos - used judiciously by the content creator- works well. 

Love the term baffled when discussing sound.

Some of us are baffled, some have speakers that are baffled, some both 

verb

past tense: baffled; past participle: baffled

1.

totally bewilder or perplex.

2.

restrain or regulate a fluid or sound

I decided to do a blind test. I played https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M0eWawTdt_w , I’m definitely hearing the yogurt sound now.

I only have the Sonos Arc, no sub… but I am really disappointed in the total sound of it all. The bass is terrible and I checked and have the latest firmware installed 12.0.5. Any suggestions on treble & bass settings to make it sound more like a $800 sound bar?

I agree with you that the sound quality with music is not spectacular, but with movies and series I really gonna love it more and more. It also depends a lot on the type of music you are playing. I usually set my bass to 0 or +1, +2 and combine it with 2 rear speakers (Play: 3's). It will never be a fat bass speaker for sure but given the shape and dimensions you can not expect more from it I guess. Maybe someday I'll buy me a sub, but I think my neighbours will shoot me.

As much as it pains me to say it I got fed up of waiting for an update and I am too invested to return it now so I moved my sub in from my other room where it was connected to an amp. That room has now lost bass but doesn’t sound as nasty as the arc without the sub. As expected the bass is now fine. The mids still seem a bit lacking but the metallic treble is still there argh - we are running -3 to make it sound decent but that’s another thread. Still unhappy but have it bearable for now

I had to move the sub from my other room as well.  Being in a condo the room I had the sub in before was above the garage so I could have it turned up a little bit but now I have the sub turned way down to not annoy my neighbors and the Arc sounds a lot better with it, even with the lower setting for bass on the sub. 

I am beyond my return date and already had a replacement which didn’t solve anything… so I’m with you, just a waiting game at this point.  Overall bummed out though.

I hate it when people say this is a perception thing - not everyone is affected but this certainly isn’t a matter of “perception’.

For those that are affected- without the sub the bass sounds like crap at volumes over 50%. I’m not talking about the amount of bass (it’s a sound bar after all)…..we’re talking about the fact that the bass still sounds muddy and flubby like it’s still being over driven at certain frequencies.

Yes it’s better than release …..no, it’s not near 100% fixed.

I’d LOVE to get a sub - but it irks me to have to buy something to fix something else….

Trinkets Season 1, episode 6, starting at 24:10 and on when she sings and the bass kicks in. 
 

Horribly muddy bass. I’m only at 40% volume. UGH.

I have done a test with this audio clip and I have to admit that it sounds awful indeed. So much so that I analyzed it with a different speaker and with headphones to compare. It's as if the Sonos Arc is playing a wrong sound here, because when I listen to it with another speaker, the bass doesn't sound that intense at all. this seems like a very good example to present to Sonos, because if they listen to this for themselves, they cannot deny that it sounds very strange!

I have new Sonos ARC, software version 12.0.5. I can confirm, that above 50% the bass is not acceptable. It sounds like something is wrong with the speaker, bass is distorted, and I’m not even listen to some bass-oriented music. I know, that it is soundbar, but I would like to be able to listen to music in 60-70% percent of volume… 

The true tone doesn’t change anything. I’m not using equalizer.

I own the Arc and have had the same bass problem, with andwithout trueplay. I did an RMA and now the problem is gone. However with trueplay it comes back, with the new Arc also. I suggest you do a full reset of the Arc and try without trueplay. 

How do you do a reset?

Google my friend:

For the Sonos One, Five, Sonos Arc, Play:5 (gen-2), Beam, Boost, Bridge, Sub, Playbase, Port or Amp, do the following:

1. Unplug the Sonos speaker from the outlet.
2. Hold down the Connect button while plugging the speaker back into the outlet.
3. Keep holding the Connect button – after a few seconds it will start flashing amber and white.
4. Once the speaker has reset, the light will flash green.

Thanks!

I did a reset but the muddy bass is still heard when playing Trinkets s01e06 @24:10 mark.

Just an update, chatted with sonos online and told them that I had already reset the arc, and did not have trueplay and still had muddy bass issues. They also asked for a recording of the muddy bass. They determined that I have a defective unit and gave me a RMA to replace. 

I asked them if it was a known problem with the Arc, and if the new unit will fix this problem. They assured me that there are no know problems with the Arc and that their engineers tests all their products…

hopefully the replacement I get will have better bass than the one I have currently. I got my Arc during preorder and got it on release date, build number A100 2004 WC.

Is it possible for you to post the recording in a place where we can listen to it?

Good luck.  I had 2004 (April) build from preorder and had it RMA’d back for a 2007 (July) build and ran into the same issue with the new.  I’ve tried to bring this to the beta community attention but I just get referred to the ‘care team.’ 

After emailing back and forth with the ‘care team’, I told them the issue is still happening with the new RMA’d Arc, they said they will pass my information along and get back to me as soon as they can.

The last reply to my 2 email chains is from August 18th for one and August 26th for the other.  I haven’t gotten a response since then and don’t anticipate I will. 

The only solution I’ve found is moving my sub from the other room in and pairing it with the Arc.  It really bums me out but I have to hope Sonos figures it out and doesn’t continue to ignore us all complaining about this. 

Got Arc replaced with same build numbers - that's my situation exactly. At least I'm going back and forth with Tier 2 and trying: TruePlay on/off, Surrounds Ambient/Full etc etc, pretty much trying to see what sticks. I don't think they really know what is the problem here still. Unbelievable! 

12.0.6 (app version) and a trueplay after that install fixed the bass issue for me. With all the songs on which I had the issues the bass now finally sounds like a bass (arc with two fives for rear). I’ve run the trueplay using a  iPhone 11pro.

Just to point out, I have heard the woubling sound very good after 50% and up since the release of the arc. With the update and new tuning applied it sounds like a whole different system (from a bass side). Tested it out with a couple of songs from Martin Garrix (YouTube Martin Garrix - 538 kingsday, Davina Michelle (torn apart) and specifically: Free from Emilie Sande with rudimental , and even at 70% Volume sound stays clear and bass sounds as good as you would expect from a soundbar. Not tested any louder - what a sound! 

Anyone else experiencing the different bass after applying the app update and tuning? 

Darn it, I think you are right. I updated, and IT does sound better here. Then run True Play and it sounds even better now. I hope it's not just my imagination.  

Good to hear that its not only me that notices the big differences. It’s like a subwoofer was virtually installed on the system. So far I’m quite happy with this 12.0.6 update. No complains from me what so ever on the bass. Keep on with the good works Sonos. 

It is strange how the update improved the bass (without Trueplay) if the update was only at the App level (without sending any firmware to the soundbar).

I think it's incredible how Sonos doesn't publish recent release notes so we can understand what happened behind the scenes.