Sonos Arc Ultra feedback

Hi ​@BigHazard 

Welcome to the Sonos Community!

I am glad to hear that you are more than happy with your Sonos Arc Ultra! Thanks for sharing!

​@BigHazard, I completely agree with you. It is getting to the point where I honestly cannot watch television without the Sonos system turned on now.

However, unlike you, I find myself constantly tweaking the sound settings, especially when I am switching between different types of content like films and music. I have also had a very similar experience with the overall quality, though I am still trying to get the best out of Dolby Atmos. At the moment, I am not quite getting those immersive 3D sound effects, and I suspect the reason might be that my system is still missing a second Subwoofer to really balance out the room.

About the only tweaks I do (normally) is to fiddle speech enhancement and night sound.

-- Not normally, if my hearing aids batteries are dead I boost the treble.

With my room a single Sub is more than adequate but for difficult rooms, or wanting a lot of impact from video, a second one can be nice.

You have hit the nail on the head there, ​@Stanley_4. I am currently running my system with just a single Sub, but I used to have a dual setup previously. In my experience, if you are after that true, room-shaking cinematic rumble, having two units is unmatched.

It is fascinating just how responsive the hardware is to any minor tweaks we make in the app. A slight adjustment to the sub levels or the crossover totally transforms the entire soundstage. That flexibility and responsiveness is exactly what makes the system feel like a proper premium setup, as you can really tailor it to the room.

I can attest that room size is a key component as to how a Sonos HT setup sounds. I think my 25 x 18 x 8 room is perfect for my ArcUltra, Era 300 surrounds with Sub 4 x2. Dolby Atmos is cinematic especially on disc.

On the other hand I have the same setup in an open concept space with a single Sub 4. In that room the Sub 4 is located behind the sofa backed up to a wall. The low-end is great as I can feel it which IMO approximates the same experience in the smaller space above.

Bottom-line is that without tweaking the low-end proper placement of the sub can make a world of difference when trying to get the right balance in any space.

Finally if the space is cathedral like it will be challenging to get an immersive feel. Therefore, can’t blame Sonos as some spaces just don’t lend themselves to an immersive experience.

I'm fond of placing Subs in corners at a 45° angle for maximum coupling to the room. 

I have a smaller room with two Rooms, an HT and a 300 Atmos setup. The HT corner Sub is a lot more impressive than the mid-wall 300 sub even though it sits a few inches from my toes at my desk. Both together are fun but the imaging is pretty much destroyed, just really loud mono. 

That is an excellent point about room acoustics and placement, ​@AjTrek1. It sounds like you have the absolute ideal setup in that dedicated room, and getting that full cinematic experience from a physical disc is exactly what this hardware was built for.

I am currently running a single Sub with my Arc Ultra and Era 300s, and I am fairly certain that missing second unit is the final piece of the jigsaw for my room.

Your mention of placing the Sub 4 behind the sofa is very interesting. I am curious about your experience with that kind of proximity. Have you ever tried placing a Sub directly under the sofa, or right up against the frame? I am wondering if that direct, tactile vibration through the furniture gives a better physical impact for low-end effects, or if it risks becoming a bit overwhelming compared to a more traditional corner placement.

Am I unusual for never watching TV without the Sonos..? I don’t quite get why you’d connect Sonos for TV but not use it in certain circumstances. Surely turning it on and off is far more trouble than it’s worth?

I’ve heard of people who don’t use their soundbar system for things like the news or sitcoms; only using it for movie nights and the like, but I just don’t get it.  I’ve personally never sat there and said “Gee, this audio is so plain, I think I’ll listen to it on the crappy speakers that are in the TV.”  It makes no sense to me.  It also flies in the face of other things you hear, like “I paid for all these speakers, I better be hearing all of them all the time!”. 

Then again, I have a relative who once said “I can’t hear the TV, the volume is too loud”, so what do I know?  

​@jgatie 

I really like your last statement above. 😂😂😂