Arc Ultra and Era 100’s 

Add me to the list… Went from Arc, Sub Gen 3 and Era 100s to Arc Utlra.  Atmos is amazing, but any 5.1 content sends the surround content to the Ultra outside surround speakers, with hardly any content to the rear Era 100s. I used DB meters, test files etc.

While this may work OK in a small room with a low ceiling, it fails miserably in my large living with a vaulted ceiling.  I would think it could be fixed with application logic or a firmware fix, but for now I sent my UItra back and will stay with the Arc. If it is ever reported here that it is fixed, I will revisit, but I cant see losing surround experience for $1000, especially when the actual sound quality is so close between the Arc and the Arc Ultra.

I have the same problem here with the Arc Ultra and the Era 100 as the rear speaker. With Dolby Atmos content, everything sounds great, but with Dolby 5.1, the Era 100 does produce sound, but not specifically for the sound source.

Is there a statement from Sonos as to when a solution to this problem can be expected? It can't be that they throw their “flagship” onto the market and that it doesn't even work with their own products! Embarrassing!

In the meantime, I'm really annoyed. Nobody believed us at the beginning, I spent days testing afterwards to narrow down the error. It was only a few weeks after the product was released that the problem was finally confirmed, before that they tried everything to blame the problem on our side. That makes me sick. This kind of testing should take place BEFORE the PRODUCT RELEASE by Sonos. Now we are being stalled again and have no idea how long it will take to fix this serious problem: Days, weeks or even months? After all these days of wasted time, Sonos should simply replace the Era 100 rearspeakers with properly functioning Era 300s for real surround sound. That's how much my days of testing would be worth and would be a nice gesture of compensation. At the moment I'm really annoyed that my old cheap Beam Gen 2 had much better surround sound with the Era 100 rearspeakers. I mainly stream series with 5.1 sound 99% of the time. The return period for the Arc Ultra has already expired. I was a big Sonos fan and was really proud to be one of the first to own the Arc Ultra. Now I'm just disappointed.

Hi Zorro88, 

I’ve just registered to make this comment.

I’ve been in contact with ‘support’ and they originally said they would look at this and hope to implement a fix before the end of this year. They have just been fobbing me off saying this will be looked at with no promise of a resolution timeline…

Sonos promised us products would be tested before they go on sale but it looks like this was missed intentionally.

I hope the fix comes soon as my era 300’s are only using the outer channels (side rears), not both the side rears and rear, rears if that makes sense?. The Ultra side drivers are playing at the same time as the rears as well.

Both front and rear heights play regardless, it’s just a mess.

Shame on Sonos…

Anyone tried the new update yet? Does not seem the DSP is altered. Maybe we can notice any difference after applying Trueplay again?

https://support.sonos.com/en-gb/article/release-notes-sonos-system-updates
Current system version: 82.2-59204

I have just tested it, no change regarding the 5.1 soundtrack issue. Channel 4 and 5 still playing at the front.

Let's hope they fix the issue Q1 2025…. don't expect another update this year.

Same here. No change. I understand the real beta test is when a product hits the streets, but timely resolve would go a long way to repairing their damaged reputation, especially from the app side…. of course, the suspicious side of me is almost expecting the “Ultra Era Surround” line that you will need to buy for a correct surround experience with the Ultra Arc… but that’s just me

Same here no change 

But does anybody care?

No improvements with the latest update. Sonos are fully aware of this and chose to release the product regardless.

My old Arc worked much better with channel separation. When it’s sorted, the arc ultra will be better than the arc. It’s just a shame they released their flagship product and blatantly when back on their promise as they thought people wouldn’t notice.

Wow so glad I found this thread. I have already purchased the arc ultra to replace my beam gen 2 and was just about to purchase the era 100’s as rears as my play 1’s are not supported with the ultra. Looks like I'll return the ultra and by an original arc that will work with my play 1’s. On a side note I am impressed with how the ultra sounds with the sub mini but not at the expense of having no rear surrounds. 

I posted this question in the Office Hours on the Sonos reddit today and got a highly concerning response.

I’ll quote what ShaunFromSonos responded here:

The Arc Ultra does do a lot of heavy lifting with the sound. This is something which has sparked a lot of internal conversation around how the Room uses each driver on each speaker. I didn't know that this was happening on my system until it was pointed out here and on our community. I was initially upset too. But my ADD kicked in and while I was testing, I started watching the movie and eventually realized I was still getting the Atmos experience, even if it wasn't the way I was expecting the sound to be played.

I'm not sure if this needs a fix but it it something we are talking about. If something changes, we'll definitely let everyone know.

This makes it sound like he believes this is the intended behaviour. I’m really hopeful that this is just one Sonos employee being unfamiliar with the issue and not their actual position on the problem. 

We have the same general issue with the surround Era 100s as everyone.  I’ve also noticed that if I start watching a 5.1 show often the voices come from my right rear Era 100 with very little (if any) voice coming from the Arc Ultra.  If I stop the show, go to a completely different app/source and then return to the original app/source and resume the show voices suddenly come from the Arc Ultra.  I use Apple TV 4K connected to an LG G4 for all my sources.  
POSTED 12/19/2024 

Hi all, glad I came across this thread as I’m not too savvy when it comes to sound systems or soundbars. I’ve been in the market for a new system and was leaning towards an Arc Ultra, a pair of 100’s and a either a mini or gen 3 sub, but this is making me rethink that and just get the regular Arc as I would not want the headache of trouble shooting any issues as someone who isn’t too knowledgeable about how to even address any problems.

That said, is there that big of a difference between the Ultra and regular? I’m completely deaf in my left ear and reading that the dialogue sound was great on the Ultra was what was pushing me to get it.

jOLED - If it were me, I would not let these early comments steer me away from the Arc Ultra!  We have absolutely enjoyed this new Sonos product.  Don’t get me wrong the original Arc is still available and is selling at about a $200 savings vs the new Arc Ultra.  To us the Arc Ultra is well worth the difference and we are confident that future software/firmware releases will resolve the issues.  When we watch and listen to a Dolby Atmos program everything is great.  You will love the new Arc Ultra should you decide to acquire one.

This is offoptic. The thread is not about buyer advice, it’s about a problem with channel separation / soundstage.

I think there is a multitude of problems discussed in this thread…….. most is about suround sound not coming from the rears…. but from the front (from the ultra). Atmos or 5.1, so for us only stereo is “working”

I dont think we should recommend a product that doesnt work well day one. I cant imagine we have to treat this like a first generation product or kickstarter and wait for things to be fixed after release…..
Worse is this not something they really acknowledge, beyond (we found the problem and we will fix it, have they really found the problem or its just customer service scripted response??)

​@Corry P Any update here? Thanks!

Hi ​@cmathis91 

Yes - this was addressed (explained) while I was off on holiday, mostly on the Reddit Office Hours event:

My apologies that it was not posted here too.

I hope this helps.

So, this is " by design" ?

And how do you explain atmos tracks are perfect but dd 5.1 are awful?

And trueplay doesn't set distance properly, it has been said several times....

Hi Corry,

thank you for your reply, but this statement feels like a joke to us. Apparently some experts at Sonos have not understood the problem at all and are trying to present the issue as normal. Sorry, but this makes me angry inside. How can it be that with 5.1 surround the rear channels are mixed to the front? This fact is completely ignored. It seems that I will have to sell the Arc Ultra and install my old Beam Gen 2. Luckily I still have it in storage. I'm so disappointed at the moment from Sonos.

Hi ​@Minhlong & ​@Zorro88 

Honestly, I have wondered about that myself. Most of the explanations of what is happening appear to be related to Atmos. I have asked for clarification on this matter, but I am unlikely to receive any this year. 

​@Corry P Thanks for the update! Like the other posters, I’m frustrated that “5.1” seems to be getting lost communicating across teams but will wait to hear what they come back with.

The best way for me to summarize the Arc Ultra + Era 100: It's an equation where the result is less than the sum of its parts.

I came from a Beam Gen 2 with Era 100s. I could very easily tweak the 100s to be louder and had a fantastic surround experience with it.

Bought the Arc Ultra as an upgrade. The soundbar by itself is phenomenal. Truly. Completely different league than the Beam Gen 2.

However, paired with the 100s, the Beam was better. Fullstop. I could adjust the surround level and that would make the 100s louder or quieter. Super simple and exactly how it should be.

Setting them up as rears for the Arc Ultra was an incredibly underwhelming experience. Increasing the surround sound increases the Arc Ultra MORE than it does the 100s. There is effectively no way for me to control the volume of my 100s relative to that of the Arc Ultra. And that's very disappointing.

I do understand what Sonos was/is trying to achieve, since the Arc Ultra is fantastic and supposed to help with surround.

What I don't understand is why the REAR channel sound from a soundbar in FRONT of me gets priority over the REAR speaker BEHIND me. Just typing this out feels wrong.

Being completely unable to adjust this to my liking is unfortunately making me enjoy this system much less than I expected.

Why don't you just give us the option to increase the Era 100 volume separately from the Arc Ultra? This is a standard feature for surround systems for many many years. We are talking about a 1.500 bucks system here... I want to love your products, Sonos, but you are making it a bit difficult recently.

Hi,

My issues with the Arc Ultra and the 300’s are as follows…

Front width play the Arc Ultra side channels and outside 300 channels.

Side channels play the same as above, I.e the Arc Ultra side channels and the 300 outside channels.

The rear channels, you guessed it! Play from the Ultra side channel and the SAME side channels on the 300’s (not the rears).

Atmos front height channels play on the Ultra and the 300’s heights channels. The rear height channels also play on the Ultra’s height channels and the 300’s rear channels.

it should all be independent, I.e. the ultras side channels play front width channels.

The side channels should play the era 300 side channels.

the rear channels should play the era 300 rear channels.

The atmos height channels front and back should play separately.

The OG Arc did 7.2.4 perfectly. The Arc Ultra does 5.2.2 and it’s a mess!

Sonos was meant to develop fully functioning products before release, LOL to that!

Sonos said they were looking to have this fixed this year, which I really doubt.

I only had the OG Arc for a few months, but should have kept my Beosound Stage. It was faultless…