Contributor I

Question

Arc Ultra + Era 100 Surrounds

302 replies
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Arc Ultra and Era 100’s

Anyone else have this setup and noticing that the Era 100’s as rears are doing less work with the Arc Ultra when compared to the standard Arc? I’m barely noticing any audio coming from the rears even with the surround volume turned up to maximum. I swapped my original Arc back with the Era 100 surrounds and tested the same Atmos movies on the Arc and the Arc Ultra, and there is a significant difference/reduction in the signals being sent to the Era 100’s in the rear channels with the Arc Ultra. Increasing the “TV Level” setting for Surround Audio in the Sonos app increases the front surround volume coming from the Arc Ultra but the signals coming out of the ERA 100 rears are almost non existent.

Is this behavior the result of how the Arc Ultra processes surround channels, and should be considered normal operation?

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Patriekvg

Enthusiast I

To be fair, I have to say I am finally impressed with the surround effects of my Arc Ultra + Era 100 speakers. Since the updates in March and now in April the sound placement has improved significantly and I am finally happy with my purchase. Ofcourse this should have been the case from release, but I am glad it has been improved. I do have to say I did not test this properly with test samples, but I am happy with the content I viewed recently.

Yesterday another system update was released. Too bad your change logs are vague… “Bug fixes and improved performance” doesn’t say much. This is something you should really improve.

Airgetlam

Odd. My iOS update showed the same information as here. Granted, it isn’t a bunch more, but I was pleased to see at least more than a single line.

Bruce

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Patriekvg

Enthusiast I

Odd. My iOS update showed the same information as here. Granted, it isn’t a bunch more, but I was pleased to see at least more than a single line.

Not odd. You are looking at the “App updates”, where I was referring to “System updates”.

Airgetlam

Ah, I see.

Where would you put this data in the Sonos controller? I can see some value in that, just don’t see where it would go.

Bruce

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Peter_254

Prodigy II

Ah, I see.

Where would you put this data in the Sonos controller? I can see some value in that, just don’t see where it would go.

Do you mean where you can see the system version (speaker update) ?
Settings-general settings-about your system.
Under each speaker you can see the version.
Latest update: 16.8 (build 84.1-64070)

AjTrek1

I think the obsession with (IMO) overly detailed information about updates is not always critical to the end user.

Some updates to any software may be “bug” fixes that only affect a few but are globally distributed to prevent problems for other users in the future. Unless an update is target toward an overwhelming majority for a specific issue like Spotify for example the specifics may be vague as “fixes” other….???

As long as my OS for any product is performing as it should the specifics of most updates for “bug fixes” and “overall general use ability” are inconsequential to me.

Furthermore with the infinite number of devices from any generation using an OS and let’s muddy the waters even more given the plethora of home network configurations providing detailed specifics to the “Nth” degree would most likely make for dull reading for most. Not to mention all the head scratching to fully understand.

Once again, JMHO.

Together Everyone Achieves More = T.E.A.M.

M

Minhlong

Enthusiast I

To be fair, I have to say I am finally impressed with the surround effects of my Arc Ultra + Era 100 speakers. Since the updates in March and now in April the sound placement has improved significantly and I am finally happy with my purchase. Ofcourse this should have been the case from release, but I am glad it has been improved. I do have to say I did not test this properly with test samples, but I am happy with the content I viewed recently.

Yesterday another system update was released. Too bad your change logs are vague… “Bug fixes and improved performance” doesn’t say much. This is something you should really improve.

For me, sound placement isn't accurate , especially for 5.1 content ( atmos is fine)

You can now increase rear channel indeed , but there is still a problem

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Patriekvg

Enthusiast I

….

For me, sound placement isn't accurate , especially for 5.1 content ( atmos is fine)

You can now increase rear channel indeed , but there is still a problem

This matches what @Zorro88 and others described before. Seems like DD5.1 still needs to be optimized.

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LOUDandCLEAR

Lyricist I

With a Sonos ARC (not Ultra) and a pair of 100’s, in combination with a sub, I’ve noticed some issues. As an installer, I did not do the initial installation, but on the troubleshooting did discover the company that did and assumed they had adjusted the audio settings in the TV (my bad). I recommended the 100’s and returned to install them at a later date. When finished, we Trueplay tuned the system and tested after adjusted TV output to max for surrounds. They were impressed with the output. I then double checked the TV settings and enabled eARC, as it had not been by the previous company. This dropped the volume to imperceivable levels, even with the adjustment of TV levels. This is with all updates to the apps on both phones and all devices. I was forced to disable the eARC. Any feedback on this issue, as it seems to relate to this thread? I should note that I was testing Dolby Atmos content from Netflix in action sequences with both gun battles and car chases.

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Rhonny

Prodigy III

I know you’re an installer but what audio format is the TV set to output? Dolby Digital, Atmos enabled etc?

Is it Bitstream or PCM?

What brand/model of TV?
What device is used for streaming - is it from the TV’s apps or external like Apple TV, Firestick etc?

If external device, is the TV set to passthrough?

Are all HDMI cables high speed?

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Arc Ultra and Era 100’s

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