Contributor I

Answered

Arc Ultra + Sub Gen 3 : Sub less powerful than before !?

63 replies
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Hi,

I just replaced my Beam (Gen 2) by a Sonos Arc Ultra, in my home theatre system.

But now, the Sub Gen 3 seems to be a lot less powerful.

Before, with the Beam, when I pushed the Sub level adjustment to +2 or +3, i was able to balst the entire room… Now, even if I choose +8 on the Sub level adjustment, I feel it but very light. I can’t have the same “bass blast effect”.

Obviously, I completely reinstalled the system in the App and reseted each element of my home theatre system when I installed the Arc Ultra (included x2 Era 100 at the back).

Does anyone knows why this is happening (maybe someone at Sonos)...?

Thanks a lot.

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Corry PAnswer

Sonos Staff

Hi @Matclane et al

We now consider this issue to have been resolved. Please ensure your Sonos system is up-to-date, and if you still experience this issue, please get in touch with our technical support team to report as much.

I hope this helps.

"Common sense is the collection of prejudices acquired by age eighteen." - Albert Einstein

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iBoyley

Trending Lyricist I

Hi @Corry P

Thank you for taking the time to answer and for the proper consideration of the problem ; but just to be absolutely clear : the problem is not the lack of bass of the Arc ultra itself, but the overall lack of bass WITH a Sub Gen 3 type (and especialy compared than before with a Beam Gen2 for exemple).

Hope you’ll find the source of this malfunction and provide an update when possible. Thanks again and please keep us informed here if possible.

It isn’t just with a Gen 3 sub though, the issue is there on Gen 4 subs too after the advanced Trueplay has been completed.

Corry P

Sonos Staff

Hi @Matclane

Yes, I noticed the difference when I found the documentation on the issue, but the documentation did not mention Subs at all - just that Arc Ultra sounds like it has less bass after TruePlay Tuning, which everyone here mentioned. As the Arc Ultra will tell Subs what to play, the issue seems to fit what was described here. There may be more aspects to the issue that I am not aware of, but it seems to be the right issue to tag here.

"Common sense is the collection of prejudices acquired by age eighteen." - Albert Einstein

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Jonnydrama32

Avid Contributor I

I don’t have this issue with ultra, 300s and g2 sub. The issue I have is that the surrounds are overpowering. The ultra sounds distant because the surrounds are so loud. No way is the true play accurate on this.

Ken_Griffiths

I don’t have this issue with ultra, 300s and g2 sub. The issue I have is that the surrounds are overpowering. The ultra sounds distant because the surrounds are so loud. No way is the true play accurate on this.

Simply adjust the ‘TV Level’ and/or ‘Music Level’ slider controls in the Home Theatre surround settings - it’s why they are there to help you fine tune the levels to suit you and your listening environment.

J

Jonnydrama32

Avid Contributor I

I don’t have this issue with ultra, 300s and g2 sub. The issue I have is that the surrounds are overpowering. The ultra sounds distant because the surrounds are so loud. No way is the true play accurate on this.

Simply adjust the ‘TV Level’ and/or ‘Music Level’ slider controls in the Home Theatre surround settings - it’s why they are there to help you fine tune the levels to suit you and your listening environment.

I did that, but it’s still not balanced. It’ll lower the volume of the surrounds, but in tandem. So it doesn’t sound as good as it should because the left and right surrounds decrease in volume together rather than letting me change the volumes individually. Based on other posts, it seems like Trueplay is the issue.

H

hanyolo44

Lyricist II

@Corry P I am also having this issue.

Arc Ultra with two Era 300s and two Sub Gen 3s. After Advanced Trueplay, sub levels are really low and overall the system sounds thin (a bit sibilant). Subs need to be turned up to +6 to get any response that sounds like there is more than just the Ultra. Overall the sub bass is a lot weaker than my previous setup with the original arc (everything else is the same for the e300s, Subs and Trueplay device).

Quick Trueplay is a bit better, but right now it seems Trueplay off sounds the best whereas in the past, Trueplay substantially helped the entire system sound clearer and balanced.

Using an Apple iPhone 16 Pro for Trueplay.

Ken_Griffiths

I don’t have this issue with ultra, 300s and g2 sub. The issue I have is that the surrounds are overpowering. The ultra sounds distant because the surrounds are so loud. No way is the true play accurate on this.

Simply adjust the ‘TV Level’ and/or ‘Music Level’ slider controls in the Home Theatre surround settings - it’s why they are there to help you fine tune the levels to suit you and your listening environment.

I did that, but it’s still not balanced. It’ll lower the volume of the surrounds, but in tandem. So it doesn’t sound as good as it should because the left and right surrounds decrease in volume together rather than letting me change the volumes individually. Based on other posts, it seems like Trueplay is the issue.

Probably the room environment. You can simply adjust the position of your sweetspot to compensate in the first stage of TruePlay tuning. That’s the easiest thing to do here, together with any adjustments to the two slider bars mentioned earlier (if required).

D

DadMan1978

Contributor I

I'll add my issues here as well. I recently upgraded from an Arc + Sub Gen 2 to the Arc Ultra + Sub 4, but I can barely notice any bass now—it's incredibly frustrating. My system also include 2 x One’s (gen 2) for surrounds. While the setup was seamless, the execution is disappointing. With all the praise they give their app, you'd think they would have resolved these issues by now. Unfortunately, I'm starting to wonder if the hope of them returning to their former standards is just wishful thinking.

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Scientifix

Lyricist I

I had this exact same issue after replacing playbar with the Arc Ultra and replacing Sonos one’s with Era 300s, it was super frustrating! The bass was almost non-existent. I had turned off true play tuning and manually increased the bass levels in the app.
However, I got a Sonos app update couple of days back and now the bass is much better. I still feel my previous setup had a punchier bass (note that I haven’t upgraded my sub from gen 2, still using that one now). I’m wondering if with the Ultra Arc which can handle better bass if some of lower frequencies are being sent to the Ultra Arc and not to the sub. But overall extremely happy with the performance now.

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Spaxx24

Trending Lyricist II

I highly doubt that, I have not had trueplay on since I got the utlra and my 2 subs has been banging like crazy. Im gonna test now with trueplay (android lite version) and see

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