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Jefferson5
Contributor I
November 23, 2024

Arc Ultra no surround

I’ve had a Playbar for a number of years but with the arrival of Arc Ultra decided the time was right to upgrade for a surround experience, I have a sub and plan to add 2 Era 100s later.

I have a brand new LG G4 and connected the Arc via HDMI eARC expecting some great things. I have now tested with several movies, all listed as Dolby Atmos, in Disney and Apple. When watching, the Sonos app confirms they are passing Dolby Atmos.

However, I hear absolutely no sense of surround, no left, right, above or rear sound. The whole experience is little different to my Playbar. 

I understand it wont be the same as when I add dedicated rears, but I expected something at least. Even scenes where it is obvious there should be something, like a drone flying overhead - absolutely nothing. Just one big sound from front.

I have used trueplay (advanced on apple phone) to tune it and it is perfectly situated below and in front of TV with nothing to block it.

Overall, hugely disappointed and considering returning it as I don’t want to waste more money investing in rears, which I planned to do later. Anyone else found this?

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    okaya
    Lyricist II
    December 5, 2024

    I took the leap and brought two Era 300s (used the money saved by my partner leaving me for a Bose owner). Black Friday discount sealed the deal. Plan to set up this weekend so will report back my findings.

    Some great ideas above around setup and I’ll give the Quick Tuning a go (interesting I HAD noticed bass was a little lacking in Arc and increased sub output as a result - maybe a result of that tuning issue??).

    My room is largely standard rectangle except my TV is placed more toward one end. So area to right of it (as I face it) is greater than left and I wasn’t sure if tuning into that area or only the half of the room I’m actually sitting was what I should do, so tried both but did not notice much difference. Welcome any advice on this point as I’m sure many people do not have perfect shaped rooms?

    So in summary, going with the rear speakers sooner than expected. Accepting (because I am pragmatic) that placement not ideal because sofa is nearly against wall. If a moderate revelation is not forthcoming, gonna return them and probably sell Arc 


    I would love to hear back from you, if it helps I might add the 300’s sooner than expected as well. Also my couch is against the wall so I’m wondering how much that will affect the sound.

    melvimbe
    melvimbe
    December 5, 2024

    This might be why it’s not as immersive for me. 
    My ceiling is approximately 8 feet high. I sit about 13 feet away from the Arc. On one side, there’s a glass sliding door with curtains in front of it. On the other side, the space is open toward the kitchen.I’ll probably get the 300’s at some point, although my couch is against the wall. 
    Still don’t get why I’m not hearing any speech enhancement effects though.

     

    How high does your Arc sit from the floor?  Mine is sitting on top of a fireplace mantle, and I found that tilting the Arc slightly forward (and old 1 cm book placed at the back end) directed the front spacing speakers towards my couch better as well as improved the angle on the height speakers.  You may want to experiment that.  Alternatively, you could place a chair around 8-10 feet from the TV and see if you feel the audio is better.  Depending on how you value the aesthetics of the room vs the sound quality, it may be worth rearraigning the furniture.

    As far as the sides, I don’t think there is much help there.  curtains are not reflective for audio, and neither is empty space.  I think you will fine rear surround speakers help out tremendously though.

     

    edit: Wanted to add too that don’t feel like you need to get Era 300s for surrounds.  You certainly can get Era100s  and see a big improvement if cost is an issue.  I’m still using Sonos Ones with no plans to upgrade anytime soon.

    Danny
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