Skip to main content

Hi all, 

quick question. I previously had a Sonos beam and 2 ones’s for about 5 years. I have recently upgraded to an arc ultra and 2x era 300’s as surrounds. 
 

my question is does/ has anyone had a similar experience to what I’m about to describe. 
 

Firstly I stream music through airplay, Xbox series x and sometimes my Samsung 2024 qled tv. 

 

I expected when I upgraded for the sound difference to be night and day, my dad has one era 300 and when I listened to it before purchasing my set up I was blown away with the way the speaker filled a room much bigger than mine with ease, I listened to the arc ultra at an electronic store and again it sounded fantastic. 
 

I then purchased and installed my set up and heavy heartedly must say that it sounds marginally better than my previous beam and Sonos ones. 
 

I have watched every video under the sun, tried everything I can and even spoken to Sonos support who said there was a few things they needed to fix on their end (I can’t remember exactly what) 


they sound is tinny, the base is naff and the era 300’s sound rough at the best of times. 
 

The only way I can describe it is that the ultra seems to draw all the power out of the 300’s to the point that they are useless regardless of the surround sound settings, the power seems to have halved compared to the none surround settings. 
 

other issues I’m experiencing is that sometimes level 15-20 sound on the Sonos app is very loud and fills the room, then next day it’s quiet and needs to be slid up to 50 to be a similar sound level as the day before. 


basically the sound quality appears very inconstant, the bass only comes through the arc ultra and the 300’s are like little tweeters that make the odd noise and are not using any of the power that they have which makes me regret not getting the 100’s instead and saving some cash. It’s all very strange and I feel like I’ve spent a lot of money on a system that is not that much better than my previous. Has anyone else had this experience or am I being too sensitive? 

 

At this point I’m sick of tweaking them and just want to sit down and enjoy the music/ films I’m listening to without thinking “why is the treble so high suddenly”/“why is this music so muffled” etc.

 

(also this is the first time I’ve ever posted to a website before so if my question is infuriating I apologise) 


 

 

It’s a bit difficult to understand your experience as I’m not sure what your expectations are? I have an Arc Ultra with Era 300’s as surrounds and Dual Sub 4’s and the sound is cinematic for movies and awesome for music. I might add that dual subs is not a prerequisite to have decent low-end it’s just another option for improvement according to one’s taste.

There are many factors that determine how speakers sound in your space versus that of your fathers. Walls, flooring, ceiling treatment, height, width, window coverings and furniture to name a few all affect the sound.

So to start…

  • Do you have a sub in your setup? 
  • If so, have you moved it (sub) to different locations in your space to determine the optimum placement to achieve the best low-end?
  • Have you run TruePlay if using an iOS device?
  • For music do you have the Era 300’s set to full stereo and auto switch back to surround for movies which can be done in the app?
  • Last...not to be sarcastic...Have you setup the Arc Ultra and Surrounds as a home theater and not just “Grouping” then together.

Edit: In a home theater setup the surrounds are not putting out low-end. The Arc Ultra is assigned that duty.

Rather than using Airplay, try playing music through the SONOS controller.

It’s a bit difficult to understand your experience as I’m not sure what your expectations are? I have an Arc Ultra with Era 300’s as surrounds and Dual Sub 4’s and the sound is cinematic for movies and awesome for music. I might add that dual subs is not a prerequisite to have decent low-end it’s just another option for improvement according to one’s taste.

There are many factors that determine how speakers sound in your space versus that of your fathers. Walls, flooring, ceiling treatment, height, width, window coverings and furniture to name a few all affect the sound.

So to start…

  • Do you have a sub in your setup? 
  • If so, have you moved it (sub) to different locations in your space to determine the optimum placement to achieve the best low-end?
  • Have you run TruePlay if using an iOS device?
  • For music do you have the Era 300’s set to full stereo and auto switch back to surround for movies which can be done in the app?
  • Last...not to be sarcastic...Have you setup the Arc Ultra and Surrounds as a home theater and not just “Grouping” then together.

Edit: In a home theater setup the surrounds are not putting out low-end. The Arc Ultra is assigned that duty.

 

Talk to me about how you set the 300’s to full stereo  and auto switch back to surround for movies which can be done. How can we do that ? 

Terms & ConditionsCookie settings