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Sonos Arc Ultra Sound Issue

  • December 2, 2025
  • 12 replies
  • 310 views
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I wanted to gauge from the community as to whether or not people are experiencing bad sound quality through their arc ultra speakers as I have had two units and both have produced a slightly distorted/fuzzy sound specifically from the right side of the speaker. I don’t know if it’s bad luck or not but wanted to check with others to see if they’re also experiencing this and what they did to fix it?

 

My arc ultra is connected to my Samsung tv through the eARC port with the cable provided and use my Apple TV 4K Gen 1 to watch content. The fuzzy noise is present when watching any kind of media through the Apple TV as well as when I’m streaming music through the Sonos app and even when adding the product to my system through the chime it plays as well as during the trueplay tuning. 

I have even changed the settings on the Samsung tv such that sound is output via pass through rather than automatic

Any help would be much appreciated, I will try get the product replaced but wanted to see if this is a common issue. 

Best answer by User117655

I had exactly this issue from the right hand channel of an Arc Ultra too. It was specifically noticeable on the male voice and lower frequency sounds, at lower volumes. It was quite subtle but definitely present.

Support suggested it could be the source and asked for a recording. They listened to it and authorised a replacement.

Using sources that had triggered it to check (radio stream/local NAS) it was not present on the replacement so my conclusion is that it was a fault. I have not noticed the issue since.

Out of interest, a specific source was the BBC's Ed Reardon's Week... Ed's voice seemed to consistently hit the issue for me - not limited to but the start of s16, ep1 for example 🤓.

 

12 replies

Stanley_4
  • Stanley_4
  • Lead Maestro
  • December 2, 2025

Can’t help on common, but my Arc Ultra is not having issues.

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  • PH17
  • Author
  • Contributor I
  • December 2, 2025

Can’t help on common, but my Arc Ultra is not having issues.

Thanks for responding. Can I ask if you experience any fuzzy/cracking noise from the right side of your speaker when you play any content or is the audio output the same from both sides of the speaker?

Stanley_4
  • Stanley_4
  • Lead Maestro
  • December 2, 2025

No issues, left, right and center all sound good. TV or streaming, both are good.

U
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  • User117655
  • Collaborator II
  • Answer
  • December 2, 2025

I had exactly this issue from the right hand channel of an Arc Ultra too. It was specifically noticeable on the male voice and lower frequency sounds, at lower volumes. It was quite subtle but definitely present.

Support suggested it could be the source and asked for a recording. They listened to it and authorised a replacement.

Using sources that had triggered it to check (radio stream/local NAS) it was not present on the replacement so my conclusion is that it was a fault. I have not noticed the issue since.

Out of interest, a specific source was the BBC's Ed Reardon's Week... Ed's voice seemed to consistently hit the issue for me - not limited to but the start of s16, ep1 for example 🤓.

 

br.
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  • br.
  • Lyricist I
  • December 3, 2025

I have the same issue. My Arc ultra had sound distortion from the right side after one day of use, I had it swapped and the replacement is even worse. Have to go back and swap it again. 

Stanley_4
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A
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Hi, same problem for me: distorted sound on the right side of the soundbar, appeared right after purchase, maybe it was already broken when delivered.

Decided to return it and bought another one from a local store. So far the new one works really well, I get no distortions on the same tracks and so far the sound is crisp and clear on the new one.

 

Stanley_4
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Airgetlam
A
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I have the same issue. My Arc ultra had sound distortion from the right side after one day of use, I had it swapped and the replacement is even worse. Have to go back and swap it again. 

Hi, did you finally get a good one?

br.
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  • br.
  • Lyricist I
  • December 14, 2025

I have the same issue. My Arc ultra had sound distortion from the right side after one day of use, I had it swapped and the replacement is even worse. Have to go back and swap it again. 

Hi, did you finally get a good one?

Yes, the third one works well, finally!

Stanley_4
Airgetlam
A
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  • pjt99
  • Lyricist II
  • December 14, 2025

Having exactly the same issue — left side of the speaker. I logged a support call, but I think I’m just going to go to Costco to return. Really bad experience with Sonos so far —my Era 100 started making crazy noises and I had to return also. 

E
  • Eme77
  • Lyricist I
  • December 15, 2025

I hate to say it, but I also have the same issue with my Arc Ultra. I got one 3 weeks ago, and one of the drivers on the right side clearly was distorted. It sounded like something was resonating. It was very clear with low volume low frequency sounds. I had the Arc Ultra replaced, but the new one also has it. It is now much more subtle and it appears in the center. I am about to have it replaced again, but I seriously doubt if the third will be better. I actually expect Sonos to pick this up and see if there is not a bad batch or something… all reported issues appear to be very recent. If the issue remains, I might even consider replacing the ultra with the previous model, but I definitely did not expect this from my past experience with Sonos products.

 

Update: I checked the serialnumbers of both units and they are very similar, including a “2508”, which could indicate August ‘25.  There is also an Mfg code which starts with 082025 so both my units are most likely from the same manufacturing batch.

buzz
  • buzz
  • December 15, 2025

Many years ago, before SONOS was in the imagination, a certain well respected speaker manufacturer started having trouble with a model. Units would fail within days of purchase and repair parts would fail in shipment. Eventuality the issue was traced to a person on the assembly line who was not following published procedures over a three day period. Speakers repaired or manufactured before and after this period are still in service.

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  • pjt99
  • Lyricist II
  • December 16, 2025

Support experience has been terrible. They clearly know there is an issue and just want customers to go away. I’d still be waiting for an answer from them — fortunately I just returned to Costco.  Started to think I should have just got an LG Soundbar!

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