Enthusiast II

Answered

Sonos Arc Muddy/Bottoming out Bass

1406 replies
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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.

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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.

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Reefy

Enthusiast I

I honestly don’t know what to make of this update. I see a lot of ppl are happy. I still find my playbar sounds better with a pair of Sonos one connect in surround. That was my first impression when I tried it last week and is still the case after the latest update.

The arc isn’t terrible but it’s not impressive. I have the same configuration and setup at the playbar arc+ 2 ones in surround. I am still inclined to return the arc and maybe rebuying down the line.

it just doesn’t sound like a $1k soundbar.

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zoomzoomz

Lyricist II

Unfortunately I performed the update just now and tested 40hz and various songs and the bass is doing the same exact thing as before, sounds likes speakers are beyond capacity and broken when above 70% volume level (previously 50%)

@ RYAN.S I’ve already contacted Sonos support regarding this issue last week. Do you suggest I exchange this unit or wait for another update? I don’t want be stuck with this problem when the return window closes. Thank you

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chillaban

Trending Lyricist I

I honestly don’t know what to make of this update. I see a lot of ppl are happy. I still find my playbar sounds better with a pair of Sonos one connect in surround. That was my first impression when I tried it last week and is still the case after the latest update.

The arc isn’t terrible but it’s not impressive. I have the same configuration and setup at the playbar arc+ 2 ones in surround. I am still inclined to return the arc and maybe rebuying down the line.

it just doesn’t sound like a $1k soundbar.

What kind of content are you comparing with?

FWIW with a pair of Play1’s and Sub, I’m finding the Arc is much better for TV and movies than the Playbar but the Playbar’s tonal quality on music is still much better, while the Arc has too much of an artificial surround effect on music that borders on distasteful.

With that said, turning off the Sub, I’m stunned that the Arc itself has very little bass, even compared to the PlayBar. It’s got about the bass punch of a Beam, no more than that, so perhaps if you’re not adding a Sub, your observation is on point about being disappointed in the Arc.

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Masterpopper

Lyricist III

Hi everyone,

We released a software update today to address a bug that resulted in audio distortion for some customers listening to bass-heavy content at higher volumes on Arc.

Make sure you’re updated to 12.0.1 to get the latest release.

@Ryan S , thanks for the update. Unfortunately the bass is still sounding really bad.. I tried multiple movie scenes (opening 2 min of Captain Marvel), and music (Dr Carter by Lil Wayne) and it does not sound good at all, it really sounds defective and like the speakers are blown. What is the next step here? It seems like some of us have different units because this is incredibly obvious to hear.

I have to return by Saturday and it looks like that’s what’s going to happen.. I guess I’m going to buy the beam.. which is so weird because it’s half the price and sounds better.

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Reefy

Enthusiast I

I honestly don’t know what to make of this update. I see a lot of ppl are happy. I still find my playbar sounds better with a pair of Sonos one connect in surround. That was my first impression when I tried it last week and is still the case after the latest update.

The arc isn’t terrible but it’s not impressive. I have the same configuration and setup at the playbar arc+ 2 ones in surround. I am still inclined to return the arc and maybe rebuying down the line.

it just doesn’t sound like a $1k soundbar.

What kind of content are you comparing with?

FWIW with a pair of Play1’s and Sub, I’m finding the Arc is much better for TV and movies than the Playbar but the Playbar’s tonal quality on music is still much better, while the Arc has too much of an artificial surround effect on music that borders on distasteful.

With that said, turning off the Sub, I’m stunned that the Arc itself has very little bass, even compared to the PlayBar. It’s got about the bass punch of a Beam, no more than that, so perhaps if you’re not adding a Sub, your observation is on point about being disappointed in the Arc.

I agree to a degree. The difference is more noticeable for music than TV. The bass is lacking on the arc. Maybe it’s just the physical limitation of the device. I was happy with the playbar without sub.

for tv and movies I’d say it’s close compared to the playbar. I guess I didn’t appreciate just how good the playbar was until I compared it to the Arc.
I didn’t realize that upgrading to the arc would involve sacrifice in sound quality while gaining in future proofing

I guess what I really want is a playbar with a new chip and ram for the future

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Nle17

Lyricist I

After updating the app then going back and updating the arc itself, definitely notice a positive change in sound. I’m starting to be more satisfied with my purchase after the update.

👍 Sonos.

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tdifonzo

Contributor II

Unfortunately I performed the update just now and tested 40hz and various songs and the bass is doing the same exact thing as before, sounds likes speakers are beyond capacity and broken when above 70% volume level (previously 50%)

@ RYAN.S I’ve already contacted Sonos support regarding this issue last week. Do you suggest I exchange this unit or wait for another update? I don’t want be stuck with this problem when the return window closes. Thank you

Thats unfortunate. I played the 40 hz test tone all the way up to 80-85% volume with no problems.

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zoomzoomz

Lyricist II

I made sure the ARC was updated to 12.0.1 in about system/firmware. The bass still makes a overexte/muddy sound above 70% for music and the 40hz test the bass is substantially muted at higher volumes and pops when changing volume increments at high levels.

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Mthfrrthe

Contributor I

Here’s how the update works - It’s an adaptive limiter and high pass filter. As the volume is raised, the lower frequencies are bypassed. Penatrator by Pleasukraft at 55% extends to about 30hz. At 75% volume it’s high passed closer to 80hz and seems to be limited in volume as well. Sweeping a 65hz tone shows what I mean. Abov 55% volume and it doesn’t get any louder, just strange.

Basically the mids and highs on the arc can outrun the bass above 50% volume, so they have to calm it down.

glad I own the sub.

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Sgil

Lyricist II

I ran the update and I too am feeling better about the sound. What I am noticing is that the bass sounds very full at about 25-40% but dissipates as the volume increases beyond that. Is anyone else experiencing this?

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