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Contributor I
November 7, 2024
Question

Arc Ultra + Era 100 Surrounds

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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302 replies

Lyricist I
November 9, 2024

Same issues here. Only using basic Trueplay. Does Sonos have a response?

Lyricist III
November 9, 2024

Same exact issue $1400.00 and only get any noticeable sound from the Arc Ultra.  Era 100’s are just bricks on sticks.

Enthusiast I
November 9, 2024

Hello, I just sign up to say finally I have confirmation that I’m not the only person with this problem.
I dont know why we trust Sonos to release something good during all this App revamp chaos.


Volume of surround sound content is always loud/coming out from the ARC Ultra.
When you up the suround sound volume, the ARC ultra gets louder when playing rear suround content also…….

 

For 5.1 content or Atmos.

Honestly if we could just adjust each “speakers” volume individually (ie side suround front/suround rear) could be addressed super fast.

LM404Author
Contributor I
November 9, 2024

Update (original post author)

After removing the Era 100 surrounds, re-adding them to the Ultra, and running Trueplay (Quick Tuning), the rear surround performance was not initially improved.  
 

I attempted these steps multiple times, rebooted my wireless network, restarted my streaming box (Apple TV 4K) and power cycled my TV several times as well, and after one of these troubleshooting cycles, the rear surround performance with the Arc Ultra seem have improved considerably.  I cannot pinpoint which of these action or actions resolved the issue, but it’s not until now that I feel like the system is operating as it should.

it was not exactly a plug-and-play experience, and its not until now that I can begin forming a true assessment or comparison to the original Arc.  
 

 

Lyricist III
November 9, 2024

Same Problem here…So far I have not been able to solve the problem either. It makes no sense to me that the rear sound from the Arc Ultra is louder than from the two Era 100.... Very annoying.

Lyricist I
November 9, 2024

The work around I’ve found is to not use Advanced TruePlay. With Advanced TruePlay, the Arc Ultra itself sounds like an echo machine with far too much volume from the rears.  Just using the basic/positional TruePlay, it does work fine, but I don’t like not being able to take full advantage of the technology that should work. Sounds like a firnware needs to be figured out by Sonos

Enthusiast I
November 9, 2024

The work around I’ve found is to not use Advanced TruePlay. With Advanced TruePlay, the Arc Ultra itself sounds like an echo machine with far too much volume from the rears.  Just using the basic/positional TruePlay, it does work fine, but I don’t like not being able to take full advantage of the technology that should work. Sounds like a firnware needs to be figured out by Sonos

Hello, im on android so ive never had the advanced trueplay (where you walk around the room).
For myself I feel the issue is there with or without trueplay.

Lyricist III
November 9, 2024

The work around I’ve found is to not use Advanced TruePlay. With Advanced TruePlay, the Arc Ultra itself sounds like an echo machine with far too much volume from the rears.  Just using the basic/positional TruePlay, it does work fine, but I don’t like not being able to take full advantage of the technology that should work. Sounds like a firnware needs to be figured out by Sonos

Hello, im on android so ive never had the advanced trueplay (where you walk around the room).
For myself I feel the issue is there with or without trueplay.

Same here. I am using Android. Never used Advanced Trueplay. 

Enthusiast II
November 9, 2024

Why this post got marked as „answered“? Trueplay isn‘t the solution! Many here have tried without Trueplay, with basic trueplay and advanced trueplay. I tried everything since day one the Arc Ultra got released. The rearspeaker sound still comes from the front with 5.1 content! Trueplay changes nothing in this behaviour.

Lyricist III
November 9, 2024

Good luck making a return as well.  I returned an Arc 0ver 30 days ago.  Tracking shows they have had it for over 30 days.  Still no credit.  Multiple emails and calls all they do is lie to me.  Case number is ********.

Moderator edit: Case number recorded and removed