Sonos Arc Ultra center channel too loud

So I think I found your scene. I’m at the 1 hour 20 minute mark. The scene has bullets flying through the air. Those are just moderately audible. However, bullets hitting cars are very audible. If we’re talking bullets striking the shield, EXTREMELY audible. There is an increase in pitch toward the end of the scene you specifically mention. I found it to be a very satisfying listen. I’m on Disney plus watching in Dolby Atmos. Hopefully you find the same experience and don’t find unboxing and reconnecting to be a waste of time. 

Do the bullets hitting the shield shift left to right? Or just centered in front of you? Should be expansive movement  

Today i listened scene from the winter soldier. Zero l/r effects. As you say it’s sound like “telephone booth directly in front of the screen”.

true hd atmos

Unfortunately I have not seen this movie in theaters. Nor did I hear it on my other high end soundbar which I’m still waiting to be returned from its repair. So I have no means of comparison. 
 

I have done trueplays after each update because the sound profile was definitely weird each update. Including the recent one. I can definitively say I’ve heard certain improvements in ambient sound. 
 

Now to the movie. The bullets fly off the shield and the sound is enveloping throughout the room. But as one who has not seen this movie before now, the bullets deflecting do not have an ambient sound of deflecting right to left back toward the gunman. That sound is very faint like as in I had to put my ear next to the bar to hear it. I would trust the previous posters judgment regarding the movie. D700, my feeling, again without data to back it up, is that sound intended for the L or R channels is now more increasingly being mixed into the center speaker array than it was previously. Which would account for certain ambient sounds that I know for a fact I’m hearing now that I did not hear before. But to support yours and the previous poster’s point, if there’s definitive L—> R sound that the Arc Ultra is not accurately outputting then more work needs to be done. 

Of note, I have two arc ultras. One in the living room with sub 4 and 300s as surrounds. In the bedroom I have sub mini and 100s. The living room one has experienced changes in sound with each of the last three updates, each of which for me had required trueplay to balance it back. The latest one I went from about volume 15 to volume 25 to get a similar volume level. After trueplay it reverted back to normal. It feels like something is happening. But whether that something accounts for all the issues is another matter. I can say I went from extremely dissatisfied with the arc ultra to at least pretty pleased with how it handles sports, which is what I mostly watch. I just don’t know if that difference accounts for complete mix accuracy, which I feel my other soundbar had. Still waiting for its return via UPS. Not sure if I’ll set it up or not. I hated the bass on it. Loud, boomy. My fav thing about Sonos is the rich levels of bass you get with Trueplay. 
 

Finally, I don’t know if you’d find it worth unboxing and trying again based on my info. I don’t really want to be the reason you unbox and feel like it was a waste of time. But I’m also curious if you’ll detect any change in effect. 

So, hey, Sonos, forget about the Atmos test files. Focus on delivering cinema sound. Here’s a great example for you to work on.

I’m listening on Disney plus. For me the effects are all over the room. Including this specific scene. Like I said idk if I’m missing the L-R separation to which you refer but it definitely does not sound like it’s in a closet to me. I can also distinctly hear bullets strike two of the gunmen if that helps. 

How big is your room? How wide is your front wall?

New to Sonos and had a soundbar with sub and rear speaker from another brand before.

Sound of the arc ultra is great. But I have the same issue with front left and right channel. Sounds very strange for me. I thought I have problems with my ears at first. The soundbar I had before (still having it in another room) had very good seperation.

I have 30 days to return the Sonos system. Is there a workaround or anything I can do to get better left and right sound? Any updates from Sonos yet?

So. I’ve mentioned that I went from a high-end competitor’s soundbar system. It bricked in the spring. I had it repaired and moved it to my girlfriend’s house and just recently set it up. Watching football on it. Including same exact source and device I’ve used on the Arc Ultra for months. I’m watching Monday Night Football. Rarely, on ESPN NFL football (or other NFL games) has any ambient noise (e.g. QB calling signals) been louder than the broadcasters when watching with the Arc ultra. Not sure if I have ever had it happen and I measure decibel levels with some regularity. Not true with the competitor’s system. 
 

Do I think the Arc Ultra has improved since its inception? I do. Some mixes sound great. Which explains my posts above. But, the competitor’s system maps test tones at equal decibel levels to every channel. I don’t think it’s a coincidence that the dialogue isn’t overpowering as it is on the Arc Ultra for certain mixes. We can go around in circles about test tones and how the Arc Ultra maps sound. I’m no expert on that. But I still strongly believe the mapping is simply not accurate compared to the intended sound mix. 
 

Here’s the ultimate thing. Why couldn’t the current default have been the “low” speech enhancement and the “off” position be authentic? Everyone could be happy then. Why have 4 speech enhancements on a system that is designed this way? 
 

As a sports fan, I really feel this. In movies the L-R channels impact at times, but you get most of your dynamics through the surround channels. In sports, the L-R channels have impact throughout. 
 

One year of this? Come on Sonos. 3,000 dollars should get you an accurate sound mix. 

Not to repetitive. But I buy this sort of thing primarily for sports. And for my affordability level this is such a large investment. Even a bad sports mix on the competitor’s bar sounds ok. Not so on the Arc Ultra. Certain sounds are muffled, probably those designed for the R-L channels if I had to guess. I’ll try increasing treble and toning down bass. Though I thought trueplay already handles that with accuracy. 
 

I see that D700 already reached L3 support. As such, I’m not going to attempt that route. I’m going to email Sonos directly with links to this info and hope that helps. 
 

I’m so frustrated and disappointed. Never suspected that this purchase would result in an inaccurate sound mix at its default level. Everything else is so good. Bass, tonality and clarity. One fix from dominating the competition. 

I had same experience with the few sports programs I've watched. 

I still hold out hope they’ll officially integrate support for front separates but they seem to be moving on from us and consider this a dead issue.

I don’t recommend Sonos to friends any more and I’ve got a house full of their stuff.

D700, you had written in another post that the L-C-R channel balance levels out at higher volumes. Say I lower max volume to 25% and raise the volume to 80. Would that alter the L-C-R balance more favorably as opposed to using Max volume and raising the TV volume to 20? It’s still the same volume in relative terms but wondering if the balance would somehow change by doing the former and increasing the volume slider higher. I hope this makes sense. 

I never got satisfactory sound for actual viewing….end up trying 5s for front left and right with Sonos sequencer , which solves the problems here but it’s not well integrated, other issues introduced.

Ran into this thread regarding use of Trueplayed speakers prior to Sonos sequencr integration. Maybe it would be of help to you. 
 

https://www.reddit.com/r/sonos/comments/1o94884/you_can_use_trueplay_with_sonossequencer_front/

One year later and the issue still isn't fixed. I recently went from an Arc to an Arc Ultra and the center channel is so loud. Playing games, the background noise will be normal volume, but the characters speaking will sound like they're yelling, it's that loud. I have to turn the volume down much lower than I did with my Arc, but then the background noises are now too quiet. Watching the Super Bowl today, the announcers were so much louder than the rest of the game. I have 30 days to return and go back to my Arc, thankfully.

Hey ​@Corry P has there been any progress on this please? It’s been almost 18 months and the front left and right channels are super quiet still.

I know this was ‘being looked into’ but I feel almost 18months time is plenty to look into this?

I’ve been playing Ghost of T and can barely hear the characters left and right when speaking.

I was hoping this would be picked up after Spence left and ​@tconrad took control as Tom has done a lot of good work so far!

I really hope this is fixed soon. I have the same issues and have done for the last 18months. Sonos know about this, tech know about this, but apparently it’s difficult to fix, so they won’t fix.

it puts people of buying the Arc Ultra, which is a shame, as it’s a great product apart from that.

 I’ll stick with my Arc.  Would not want the Arc Ultra ruining Atmos music listening.

I agree with MoPac above.  I have the original arc and I was just about ready to purchase an arc ultra when it hits on sale. But now I will rethink this until an update has been released to correct this issue. Unfortunately, it’s been a year and still nothing. I have no hopes of Sonos getting this right.

my original arc is doing just fine with my sub GEN 4 . Spending another thousand is problematic for me since Issues still ongoing. Good luck everybody.

Am I right in thinking this problem almost exclusively presents itself when playing games? 

Hi,

it’s all content, not just games.

Hi ​@Gavalar 

At this point, the audio team has moved onto other products, so I would not expect this to be addressed - at least on the Arc Ultra product level.

However, as we have recently introduced ProTune with Amp Multi, it is distinctly possible that solutions will come in time that will allow individual users to control things at a level sufficient to address this criticism.

Please also be aware that the perceived boost given to the centre channel on Arc Ultra only exists at lower volume levels - above volume 60%, it does not exist.

I hope this helps.

I really appreciate the response here. It is a shame the team have moved on without rectifying the issue. The main problem is the left and right channels being so quiet compared to the other channels and especially the centre.

It sounds like dynamic volume control is in place here, but would it not be easier to set left and right to +3dB or so.

However, the pro tune does sound like what we are looking for. Hopefully sooner rather than later as it frustrates me every time I use my arc ultra, to the point I wish I kept my OG Arc. 

Hi ​@Gavalar 

I’m a Arc Ultra owner myself, and have been hoping for the same too!

Made me giggle! I am surprised you have not been pushing it harder your side!

Can this be escalated as it really is killing sales, especially as the company is still on relatively thin ice and I was hoping Sonos would listen to customers more now? (Not you personally, but the company in general). 

Many thanks