Sonos Arc Muddy/Bottoming out Bass

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

Or just posted something?

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.

@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.

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).

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.

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.  

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 

@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.

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

Eminem - without me 

starboy - weeknd - not as bad but not right

I’m confused though your email support are saying they are aware of the issue still and to sit tight for a fix but you are saying otherwise- so the email guys are wrong? 

I’m from the Netherlands and bought my Sonos Arc two weeks ago and experience the same issues are mentioned in this thread. Especially with the musical part in de the movie ‘Drive’ on Netflix at 35:00min. The bass is making a sort of ‘plop’ sound just at 35-40% volume. The bass is set to ‘0’ in EQ. When i turn up the volume above 50% the limiter turns the bass down automatically to prevent the bass speaker s to blow up. I my opinion it depends on the sort of music i play but i must say thay de bass is not very good over all. 

Can you check your builddate? It’s the first digits of the s/n on the Arc

Serial Number begins with: A100 2005WC is this what you mean?

48-A6-B8-00-..-..-.

May 2020 that is - I had a march 2020 and it was RMA’d now have a May 2020 and both are equal piles of cr*p

My advanced replacement is arriving on Thursday. I'll report then. Tier 2 recommended to swap it out. Promised a direct email to report the difference but never received one.

My replacement arrives tomorrow.  I’m not banking on any difference but was also recommended after numerous support calls/emails that we swap it out.

Already made a test? 

Out for delivery.  Once it arrives I’ll plug it in and test it out right away and update here.

Good! Give us your build version also. 

My replacement is due next week, will also test and let you all know. I had build 2003 last time