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WernerK
Contributor I
November 21, 2020

Poor music quality Arc

Hi, I just bought an Arc and a Sub3, but to be honest the sound quality of the Arc is really poor! 
When performing the Trueplay settings, the ‘beeps’ sound great and they fill the entire room. 
But as soon I play music (or tv audio) through the Arc, it sounds flat and lifeless. When I place a JBL Flip4 (€75!) next to it, it fills the room with a more pleasant sound. 

Dolby Atmos content (Netflix) sounds a lot better, although it still doesn’t feel like sitting in a ‘sound bubbel’  
I can’t believe that the Arc isn’t capable to create a way better sound than it does now. 
Is this a software issue? I really consider (with reluctance) to return this set and move to another brand.

 

 


 

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    Bernado
    Trending Lyricist III
    January 30, 2021

    Yes there is no doubt using bonded surround speakers in full mode rather than ambient will create a more pleasing musical projection because less of the sound focus is coming from the Arc, helping to mask it's deficiencies for music playback.

     

    Of course this does bring a potentially unwanted side effect of music coming from behind the listener rather than front facing, which some will find an unnatural way of listening to music.

     

    This is how I have my Beam configured and I was hoping the Arc would give me an upgrade solution with a wider soundstage but it wasn't for me for the reasons stated in this thread (and elsewhere in the forum).

    I'm still enjoying the Beam but as I said previously I sadly had to look elsewhere for a 2 channel music system.

    Wbzipf
    Lyricist III
    January 30, 2021

    I think this thread highlights that the while the arc does very well what it was designed to do (sound bar for home theater), it’s not what you would get for music listening.  
     

    I have a play 5 (second Gen), same form factor as Sonos 5, so I assume the sound is the same. Now that maybe the finest single speak Sonos produces. I love how it plays music. 

    Bernado
    Trending Lyricist III
    January 30, 2021

    Yes I agree though you can't blame people for being disappointed when they discover this, after all Sonos themselves sell it as a multi application device as described in the opening paragraph in its product page -

    'The premium smart soundbar for TV, films, music, gaming, and more'.

    Wbzipf
    Lyricist III
    January 30, 2021

    Yes I agree though you can't blame people for being disappointed when they discover this, after all Sonos themselves sell it as a multi application device as described in the opening paragraph in its product page -

    'The premium smart soundbar for TV, films, music, gaming, and more'.

     

    That is true, and not only that, it sounds like the play-Bar, did a much better job with music. So based on both the claims and customers past experience, the Arc didn’t meet expectations in the area of music play.

     

    But, it is an awesome sound bar/ theater experience

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