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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Sgil

Lyricist II

Here’s how the update works - It’s an adaptive high pass filter. As the volume is raised, the lower frequencies are bypassed. Penatrator by Pleasukraft at 50% extends to about 30hz. At 75% volume it’s high passed closer to 80hz.

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

glad I own the sub.

I just read your comment after posting mine and this sounds like a viable explanation for why the bass sounds great and full at lower volumes but weaker as the volume increases. I’m assuming the sub makes a world of difference?

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Mthfrrthe

Contributor I

Here’s how the update works - It’s an adaptive high pass filter. As the volume is raised, the lower frequencies are bypassed. Penatrator by Pleasukraft at 50% extends to about 30hz. At 75% volume it’s high passed closer to 80hz.

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

glad I own the sub.

I just read your comment after posting mine and this sounds like a viable explanation for why the bass sounds great and full at lower volumes but weaker as the volume increases. I’m assuming the sub makes a world of difference?

Yes the sub makes a world of difference. Think of the Arc as mid / high speaker that can do sub bass at very low volumes.

Sonos did the right thing though. The wrong move would have been to make 55% volume = 100% volume with no sub. Then you’d never notice, and buying the sub would unlock higher volume levels. Technically that’ right for perfect frequency response, but it’s a sound bar, the trade off is less surface area for the drivers, which means less bass, but you get a simplified setup.

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mattadamsone

Enthusiast I

Here’s how the update works - It’s an adaptive high pass filter. As the volume is raised, the lower frequencies are bypassed. Penatrator by Pleasukraft at 50% extends to about 30hz. At 75% volume it’s high passed closer to 80hz.

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

glad I own the sub.

I just read your comment after posting mine and this sounds like a viable explanation for why the bass sounds great and full at lower volumes but weaker as the volume increases. I’m assuming the sub makes a world of difference?

Yes the sub makes a world of difference. Think of the Arc as mid / high speaker that can do sub bass at very low volumes.

Sonos did the right thing though. The wrong move would have been to make 55% volume = 100% volume with no sub. Then you’d never notice, and buying the he sub would unlock higher volume levels. Technically thats right for more perfect frequency response, but it’s a sound bar, the trade off is less surface area for the drivers in turn for a simplified set up.

I understand what you’re saying but it doesn’t explain everything. I have a beam that extends lower and smoother than my Arc. The Beam doesn’t get as loud and definitely less immersive but the bass doesn’t “fart out” like the Arc does. So my question remains- how can I be getting worse low end from the Arc with its larger and additional drivers than the Beam? It’s an entirely different experience

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Mthfrrthe

Contributor I

I understand what you’re saying but it doesn’t explain everything. I have a beam that extends lower and smoother than my Arc. The Beam doesn’t get as loud and definitely less immersive but the bass doesn’t “fart out” like the Arc does. So my question remains- how can I be getting worse low end from the Arc with its larger and additional drivers than the Beam? It’s an entirely different experience

I dont know about the Beam, but the number of drivers says nothing about the amount of bass. The Sub has two drivers. Size and frequency response are what matter.

The beam may have crammed in a few larger drivers, or maybe the Beam is limiting in volume rather than frequency response. Is the Beam at 100% about as loud as the Arc at 60%? That may be your answer.

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Mitchellsx

Renowned Enthusiast II

After the update, I don’t know if I’m going mad, but find my Sonos Beam still has better bass coming from it, I played the same few tracks on both and found the Beam sounded better..

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pyro225

Enthusiast II

Hopefully Ryan S will be along soon to tell us if this is their ‘final’ update or a quick fix with more to come so people can work our where they stand re keeping or returning before windows close

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Londonlad5uk

Lyricist II

Hi just updated mine and can report the sound / bass issue still remains and it just sounds awful , looks like this is going to be returned or replaced.

Source - Netflix sttng intro last part where ship does final fly by sounds awful like the speakers blown . Also noticed on few bass heavy films ie avengers endgame etc

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sebas1509

Enthusiast II

Hi just updated mine and can report the sound / bass issue still remains and it just sounds awful , looks like this is going to be returned or replaced.

Source - Netflix sttng intro last part where ship does final fly by sounds awful like the speakers blown . Also noticed on few bass heavy films ie avengers endgame etc

@zoomzoomz please make sure your firware in your arc updated. The 12.0.1 update is just the app number check the firmware build. Check for updates int he app. There is no farting no cracking after this update. Many complained and then found out they hadnt even updated it

edit: the confusiion stemds because there were 2 updates one for the ap;p the other for the arc

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Watt4

Contributor I

Hi just updated mine and can report the sound / bass issue still remains and it just sounds awful , looks like this is going to be returned or replaced.

Source - Netflix sttng intro last part where ship does final fly by sounds awful like the speakers blown . Also noticed on few bass heavy films ie avengers endgame etc

Check the firmware for the Arc. There is a software update and then a firmware update. The arc firmware ends in 80. If on 80 and still Muddy then obviously an issue.

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ftm

Trending Lyricist I

Got the sub today, easy set up as always. I can confirm that the sub takes care of the arcs bass issues. All the films I've watched which had the distorted bass all sound spot on now. That's with the sub set to -3

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