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. 

Received mine yesterday and I’m also disappointed. I believe it’s a step up from the Arc in how it reproduces Dolby Atmos, but a sizable step down from the Arc when listening to music. 

Hi NeutronLizard, I am currently listen to music and I agree, it does not have the same drive as the Arc. 

I have the volume at 60 which would be deafening on the Arc. On the Ultra it’s the level where I can get a decent sound out of it - I am working in another room, although the sound is clear and bass response is decent from the gen3 sub, I still think that the Arc performs better and works better with the G3 sub, for me it did not struggle in the music department, especially considering it’s a soundbar mostly gear toward movies or TV. 

I am considering returning but the it’s a catch 22 situation where the Arc’s inner tech( i.e the WIFI and no Bluetooth connectivity) will be dated very soon, and with Sonos updates, will they even bother with performance tweaks for the Arc? as they are, or will be discontinuing that model soon.  

I think they will focus more on the Ultra, just wished they would’ve worked on tweaking the original Arc, rather than build a completely new soundbar which no one asked for really.

The Arc is a great soundbar when pair with the gen3 sub, especially for the price. My mantra is “if it’s not broke don’t fix it” just tweak it! 

My advice for people considering of buying the Arc or the Ultra, I would recommend the Arc with G3 sub…even more so now with the pice drop, that’s only if you are not bother about WIFI or Bluetooth upgrade - and hope they don’t forget about the Arc firmware updates, which I think should be fine. 

Hi KeplarA1, I too have the gen 3 sub as well as Era 300 surrounds. When I get home today, I intend to play a bit with the settings, and if I’m not able to improve performance, I’ll call Sonos to see if they have any suggestions. I’ll report back 

This is day 5 with Arc Ultra and I’m much more satisfied with the performance. The most significant change I made was slightly relocating the Arc Ultra deeper on the console. This provided some much needed resonance. I slightly repositioned the 300 Era’a and retuned Trueplay. I gave a slight bump to the bass on the surround EQ and it profoundly increased bass across the entire soundstage. As a matter of fact, the effect of my Gen 3 Sub now seems almost redundant. The original Arc seemed to need the sub to produce richness to the overall sound. That’s no longer the case and the sub is now relegated to its normal cinematic intensity and intention. 

I don’t have an oscilloscope, and I can’t provide any objective measurements. I can only say that the Ultra is much closer to the performance I anticipated after reading all the reviews. Before I make a final decision to keep or return it, I’ll be putting the original Arc back in service and compare it to the Ultra.