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Hello everyone! 

I’m new to the community forum, so sincere apologies if this conversation is being repeated.

Jumped on the Sonos band wagon for the Ultra, as in my mind it could only be better than the ARC, even if incremental — so far I’m struggling with the sound, all I’m getting is, very tinny, hollow vocals and lacking any refined mids, they are non existent as far as i’m concerned. It’s all a bit of a incohesive sound combined with Sub Gen3…could this be down to the mini integrated sub robbing some of the lower frequency from the crossover?

I have tried all the required configurations as per Sonos, but it’s still coming up short for a £1000 upgrade.

Solo, it’s okay-ish, but still very bright, hollow and tinny on the vocals (notable with actors that have deep vocals), it’s not a well rounded sound...two words, “no weight”. 

This was the very reason I sort to upgrade, for vocal projection on movies, because if there was one fix for the ARC it would be vocal presence on lower volume, it lacks in that department, especially when using different platforms. It’s a constant battle, of turn up volume for dialogue, and down for action scenes.

There is also the question of where is the spatial audio, or surround?  It is very much one directional and not as pronounced as the ARC, there are brief occasions where it’s like wow! this is what it’s meant to sound like, but then reverts back to a tinny, one directional experience.  It’s not a good surround experience if you know where sound is coming from, it’s distracting!  

I’m gutted about this, I’m also thinking of returning the Ultra and sticking with the ARC.

My question to Sonos is, is there a fix within the software? Or, is this the actual product?  

Sounds unusual, I'd start with a call to support to have them look at the Ultras internals before anything drastic.

Have you done Trueplay, is so what happens when you toggle it on and off? 

Have you tried power cycling the Ultra?

Hi, yes I have carried out Trueplay tuning, but it’s still lacking that weighty sound. 

I have turned the treble down by -5, bass to 0 and sub +2 which sounds a little better, but I’m not jumping with joy.

I haven't rebooted the speaker yet, but I am just about to delink it from the WIFI, both sub and soundbar and run another Trueplay, but this time I will remain still for the second part of the tuning process, as I’ve read other articles on the ARC where they had tinny sound issues when first released, they tried this method and it worked. Not sure if this will work for the Ultra, but it’s worth a try — I’m not an audiophile but I know good sound when I hear it, and at the moment it’s all a bit bright for me.

Maybe the speakers need a little more time for burn-in. The ARC wasn’t that great out of the box either, but currently it out performs the Ultra.

Upgraded to Ultra due to original arc's tinny voice...With Ultra also same issue continues.planning to sell all Sonos gear

You are right..I also upgraded to Ultra to rectify tinny voice issue of original Arc. But  Ultra has same issues too.

Yeh, I’m not jumping with joy like most people who bought the Ultra…I have tweaked it to sound a little better. I did notice an update shortly after writing my comments above, maybe it was just coincidental, but there seemed to be a reduction in tinny sounding vocals, it could be just down to the speakers burning-in (if that’s even a thing or just some marketing jargon), or, dare I say it…I could be just getting used to the sound of the Ultra.

I will be setting up the ARC again to compare, and if the ARC out performs the Ultra, then the Ultra has to go! 
 

I did messed up on my initial title reference “No direction” as it does! but it’s pretty much directed straight toward the listener, rather than being surrounded, or have that immersive bubble experience which my ARC does really well, and it has less speakers! 😕

So, I am confused when Sonos advertised the Ultra as the significant breakthrough in nearly 100yrs…I understand they're talking about the mini-sub integration, but even that sounds all a bit meh, I can’t find anything exciting about it what so ever, in years to come it might develop into something grand for future Gen models, but for now it all sounds a bit muddy and messy in the bass department, it definitely requires a sub for that full undistorted bass kick we all love to hear, but also to add weight to the sound. 
 

I’ve never had issues with the Arc sounding tinny in the vocal department, however I did have issues with dialog being low and not as pronounced, my volume control was always at the ready for action scenes as it can be a bit deafening when it kicks in. 
 

I had high expectations for the Ultra, as on paper it’s really impressive, but in reality I don’t think so. Hopefully there will be updates to boost performance, I also hope this would be soon, as I need to sell either one!  
 

And currently it’s looking like the ULTRA! ☹️

Is it too late to return it? Do so if you can!

Hi all. I have upgraded from the Arc to Arc ultra. Mainly for  a better vocal clarity as never thought the ARc Was good at this. 
I agree with this post that arc ultra has tinny vocals and lack of mid range. I have truplayed, adjusted setttings galore and just not impressed. Would have thought this would have been a big step up from the previous ARC but I’m not wowed by it yet. Keeping an eye on my returns period just in case I’m still not happy and I have to return it. 

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