sonos arc ultra loudness and overall presence within a home cinema set up

Can try that but not really sure where the 14 speakers in the bar are.  I wonder would true play tuning flag up is a single driver were not working?

Sonos should be able to see if you call them.

Hmmm seriously considering returning the system

I wouldn’t worry too much about the volume levels on 0-X style volumes being different between brands. Even within the same brand they can be different levels across different products. Some manufacturers have linear 0-100, some don’t because buyers want more control and gradual changes at lower volumes than higher.

If they were -dB volumes then they could be comparable. 

You don’t mention what size your room is vs your friends.

It does feel a little like comparing apples to oranges to strawberries trying to compare the Sonos, Samsung and your B&W based system.

The Sonos and Samsung have a different number of speakers, on board amps, speaker arrangement, power output and sound processing. If you were running the Sonos at near max volume then I’d be concerned.

If the 804 floor standers are the ones I’m thinking of, then they are high end HiFi. If the rest of your surround system is a similar level, then I am not surprised if you find a soundbar is lacking. 24 years ago Nautilus 804 floor standers were ~$3,500 a pair, current 804s make them look like a bargain. You can buy a lot of soundbars for the price of just the 804s nevermind the remaining speakers and surrounds for a full system.

It is possible there is an issue or fault with your Arc and realistically you probably need to wait for support to help identify it from what you have already tried.

Part of me feels compared to what you are used to with the 804s any soundbar based system will sound lacking and very different until you adjust and get used to it. A pair of 804s with suitable separation are likely to have a far better LR + Phantom Centre than any £1,000 sound bar can manage to produce. They are products aimed at very different levels of the consumer market imo.

The sales page and owner’s manual can help you locate the speakers, so can a flashlight held up to the grill.

Give Support a chance, they will do what they can to prevent a return request being made.

How did you get on with this? ​@Bigtim 

finding the same issue as you centre stage is not blowing me away. Still finding I’m turning it up to hear vocals and then  everything else is too loud, tried all settings, truplay but just not wowed about the ARC ultra. 

Following up

I agree. As below I did keep the ultra setup as I think it's an easier listen than the samsung but I do still wish the ultra had a bit more oomph to it

I’m combing threads and came across this one. There are several of us in other threads that are experiencing that FL/FR sound is 6-8db quieter than the Center and Surround channels, which makes DIALOG SOUND LIKE THIS but not getting much Left to Right pan effects, missing background music, ambient sounds, etc etc...whatever would be in L/R channel is diminished.

Are you experiencing something similar?