Sonos Arc Muddy/Bottoming out Bass

Feedback after 12.0.1 update 

Playing : 

At volume 25% it’s constant

At volume 35% it starts ‘wobbing’

At volume 50+% this intensifies

I must say it’s already an improvement vs before. Will watch some video content now to test that.

After some more testing:

This is a significant improvement. That must be said. However unfortunately not 100% there yet.

Distortion examples

 - Netflix Stranger Things S03E01 around explosion
 - BluRay Jurassic Park around T-rex scene

 - BluRay Deathly Hallows pt2 Voldemort Fight

Just got my ARC, updated out of the box and really disappointed with the low end. I also have a Beam and have to say it has smoother low end. Put them side by side and listened to a mix of music and movies and across the board, the low end was smoother on the Beam and extended deeper. It is most noticeable on kick drums. Put on 6 Underground on Netflix and you hear it on the plane scene at the beginning. The mids and highs are great, soundfield is so much better on the ARC, but expected low end at least on par with my Beam, which I’m not getting. I guess the big question here is will Sonos be able to address this with a fix or should I box it up and return?

I just updated my Sonos ARC to Version 12.0.1. I don’t know what the magic the Sonos engineers did, but I noticed an enormous improvement. My Sony Bravia and Sonos ARC are playing nice again. 👍🏻

Agreed. Feeling more like 65% of the way but glad I can use it more regularly now 

I have 0 wobbling now at all volumes. I definitely had it before. Are u sure you updated? 

Also, some on the reddit recommended retuning after

Definitely updated. Around 25% the sound is constant (so no issue) higher volumes give a wobbing effect.
 

Re-tuning could help. I’ll check that out, thanks!

Will check the update in a bit, slightly confused as the app updated then checking for updates to Sonos said no update was required and ‘about my system’ also reports it’s on 12.0.1, so not sure what happened but it definitely didn’t update or run the process to the speakers.

To me this sounds like the bass has been throttled vs before. Before under 35% I was very impressed with the bass but now it seems underwhelming.

also this update has just updated the s2 app right? Not updated anything on the speaker at all?

Have you updated to the new 12.0.1 firmware that came out earlier today?

After the update I would say it's better but it still doesn't sound like an £800 soundbar.

I know the play 5 is a dedicated speaker but it cost half the price.  I would at least expect the arc to handle bass as clearly but it cant.  

I'm beginning to think that this is indeed a hardware issue.  Were the reviewers given the same hardware to give such glowing reviews?

At 6 mins onwards in Unbroken the machine guns from inside the aircraft sound bizarre like the speaker is still bottoming out when they fire.  Or when the plane crash lands.

It's so disappointing for a highly rated and expensive product.

I've got a sub being delivered tomorrow but now I'm not sure whether to open it or just return it with the arc

I believe it relates more with the Arc hardware build, if you go into the System-->About My System, what does your Arc build report back with?

Mine is updated from the weekend and we had to make sure we were on build 58178180.  I believe 12.0.1 is the iOS or Android app update but the build/firmware update for the Arc is probably more critical to verify that you are indeed on the updated build/firmware.

Yes. Updated and tuned post 12.0.1

Try playing "I Found u" by Axwell.  At 2 mins when the bass kicks in it's awful at anything over 50 then sounds tinny.  The play 5 handles this much better.

Diagnostics number 75507208

Oh you are right. Yeah the build will relate to the firmware on the Arc. I checked and after the update I am on the same firmware as you. @mattadamsone , @pyro225 , @MerlinNL  confirm your Arc was updated to this new build . Look under the Arc in about my system there will be a build number. My build for the sonos one and a the top of the app is different (58178190) vs the 58178180 i see under Arc

I’m new to Sonos but it seems to update in sequence.  I checked for updates and it updated the app.  The sound never turned off or anything.  Did a sound check and was thinking ehhhhh… but I went back and checked updates again it found something and this is when the speaker firmware updated.  
 

it is better.

Has anyone had an answer as to whether the Arcs currently shipping are identical in hardware to the demo models that were reviewed so well? 

Man the play 5 is tuned for music and only worries about that. The Arc needs to have surround capabilities, atmos capabilities. Mulitple woofers and tweeters etc. Also the volume for the woofers is smaller. Of course the play 5 will have better bass its physics! You are citing the price for the Arc but it is consistent with SONOS pricing. It is high for sure, but delivers good sound for movies and TV. That is what it has to work on, not just low end but clarity, spacious sound, good soundstage, atmos effects, clear crisp voices etc. if you are looking for good low end bass youre probablty better off with any 2.1 soundbars out there with a dedicated sub

Yeah, THERE ARE 2 different updates people one for the app and one for the speaker firmware. Check updates in the app after updating the app

so i’m definitely amongst the group that has had a good number of issues with the arc (paired with a gen 2 sub and 2 ones) since arrival (tinny, tearing, etc.); i updated to 12.0.1 and music playback sounded better, but not as good as any of my other sonos products (playbar, beam, move, five, etc.); i then re-tuned for trueplay again (used an 11 pro max) and goodness it went from sounding passable back to completely horrific. turning trueplay off brought depth back to the voices but still sounds horrible. i’m charging up my old 6s to retune it again (some have suggested the mic array on newer apple products may be a problem) - will report back will hopefully better results

I agree here. Play 5 has got 3 big woofers. You cannot beat Physics with DSP. Play 5 also does not have to worry about movies like @sebas1509 said. I would never compare the Arc with Play 5. Apples and oranges.

Fair point but it's in my living room as my main speaker.  If I was going to have to have a soundbar and a speaker I wouldnt have bought a soundbar that was £800 then the sub for another £700.

If I turn the trueplay off the arc sounds a bit like my £30 transistor radio I use at work.

The above might be the case perhaps, but there are plenty of reviews out there suggesting that the Arc has such good bass that there’s no need for a Sub. All of the recent user reports make a mockery of this. I agree that a Play 5 might have slightly better bass but a £800 Soundbar should be better then this. One of the  most impressive things about even the smallest Sonos speakers is how much decent bass they put out for their size. 

Oh god I was going to stop reading when you said Jews. I really hope you meant reviews for the sake of everyone here… geez

On the other hand it might depend on your room man. I am in a smaller room. And I swear testing this at 50 percent I am already overwhelmed with the bass level coming out of the Arc. It has plenty of punch for movies. Not sure what people were expecting for music listening but I can NEVER push pass 50 percent volume on any content and be comfortable with the level produced by the arc. I actually just capped the max volume at 50%. Now if you are in an open floor plan with super open space you might not feel this bass as much. This is when you just need a sub or a bigger speaker there’s no arguing against that man.

I think people need to understand what the arc is it isn't a party speaker to play EDM music at full volume in an outdoor (or super open environment). Yes it is expensive I understand that. But think about it like comparing an iphone to a DSLR camera. you could say $1500 for an iphone 11 pro MAX! Are you insane? I take pics out of this and doesnt even touch my $600 DSLR. Yeah because the iphone has to do many other things than just take pictures and it physically does not have the sensor size of a DSLR camera. It comes down to that. 

The complaints about bad mids and wobling bass I can understand but people say the arc has no bass i just can’t agree. To me sometimes its even too much. Now thats given my smaller room size and such.

EDIT: Those that say but playbar or playbase had “better bass" I had a playbar not sure I agree with that I felt like it has less bass. But regardless it is also a bigger soundbar the playbar is about 30 percent more in volume I believe and depending on the woofer sizes that could be the explanation. I read somewhere even though the arc has more drivers the woofers are smaller. This is a design decision. They went towards creating a great movie experience and a less than good bass heavy edm music experience.

I tried looking at some of the sources that some of you listed here: ozark, captain america etc. Honestly at 50 percent as I sad I was overwhelmed by the bass thought it was a bit too much for my room. 

Big upvote for the iPhone camera and DSLR analogy @sebas1509 ! Software (night mode, smart HDR) can only do so much. Bigger and quality sensor has no match. Same with the speakers. DSP can only push it so far, but the driver size holds it back.

Arc definitely has plenty of bass. For my living room, I am not even remotely thinking about getting a sub. I just need Sonos to work a bit more on the bass to make it sound clean. Considering this is a new product, they will get it right somewhere down the line.