14.12 Update

Glad to hear you are enjoying it 😁

Initially I didn’t like the new 14.12 update, however I gave it some time and listened at various volume levels, I am now pretty satisfied. Before 14.12 I found the Arc was too shouty with a fair amount of dialog, midrange, treble harshness and some distortion, dynamics were a mess also unbalanced and unrefined, I was shocked that my beam gen 1 sounded way better, this was driving me mad to the point where Sonos replaced my arc, in the end I sent the replacement back for a full refund then realised I may need to try the arc with the sub as I was comparing the arc with our previous system which was a Yamaha Aventage  traditional HT systems, the Aventage series are known for their musicality, refined sound and fidelity so my bias was strong. 
We have just moved into a new home so aesthetics are priority meaning no unsightly speaker wires or conduits around the living room and as I’ve been building my Sonos setup over the years I decided to try the arc one last time with the sub, of cause the arc sounded way better paired with the sub but It was still unsatisfactory dynamics were still a messy bumpy and lumpy sounding stage, sounds just rolled along the spectrum unrefined and harsh, several trueplay tunings later with various ios devices, an iPhone 11 delivered the best tuning, still lumpy in dynamics but it was way better than without the sub, then Sonos released 14.12 

I was so use to the unrefined arc with 14.10 that I though the update was bad, after some time listening i can honestly say 14.12 presents a better sound profile, music sounds better too even with loudness on which I never used before and didn’t like how it over exaggerated the bass and treble frequencies also I’ve only done 1 trueplay tuning with an iPad Pro 2nd generation with no further adjustments to the EQ and levels, so far I’m pleased, hope it gets better from here on.

And no One’s or One SL’s as surround’s? 

No rears, standard UK new build room dimensions and for some magical reason the Arc’s virtual surrounds are very convincing in this house, sounds bounce off our walls as if actual speakers are located in the back or sides, be it slightly diffused but still clearly audible.

People having trouble, make sure you play around with the EQ and check our Peter Pee’s video on youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C7sLAhDXH7A. He does a good breakdown of where the frequency response changed that helps with adjusting EQ accordingly.

I don’t like the new tuning. I found there was too much mid bass/low mids that made voices unaturally boomy and seeming to sit outside the rest of the sound. Peter’s video confirmed this. But I was able to get back to something I find okay by reducing the bass and increasing treble.

BUT I am not currently using a sub despite having one sitting a metre from my TV, which is another whole story.

I think the root of the problem here is the extremely limited EQ options sonos has always given us. TruePlay is using a one-size-fits-all target curve and beyond that we only have the very blunt instrument of bass/treble adjustment. We all have different ears. We all have different preferences for how we like our music and movies to sound. 

We DESPERATELY need a more capable 6-8 band EQ. IMO this would solve almost all the issues people had without needing to screw around with the volume spectrum.

This update is incredible.  The Arc sounds way better.  I can hear dialogue in movies clearly.  Sub (had to change level from 0 to +2) still hits but doesn't require me to turn the volume down.  We don't change the volume up and down every five minutes any more.

Music sounds way better.  The rears are delivering great ambience at default values, and the Arc sounds a lot more wide than before.

We can now listen to podcasts on the Arc.  Previously the voices in podcasts were drowning under the low levels, but now it's crystal clear.

This is great.  Love the update.  Thank you!

While I'm glad Sonos has atleast responded to and acknowledged this issue (albeit not in it's entirety), I still think that this response is an oversimplification of the issue. Simply "turning up the sub audio" does not replicate the output that we had pre 14.12 (even with turning your sub audio and system's overall volume all the way up. Which is also obnoxious and not a sufficient solution for the record). Pre 14.12 I could have my system play at a moderate overall volume, with the sub punching. I cannot replicate the sound profile that I enjoyed pre 14.12 update, no matter how much I revise the settings. I'll add that with the sub audio all the way up (& overall volume extremely high), there appears to be more of a boost to mid bass than to the low end. While the new "sound profile" isn't completely terrible it definitely is different and the old profile can't be replicated by turning up the sub audio. So, as a substantially invested Sonos customer, I do not find this response to be comprehensive or completely accurate. Please give us our Subs back. Perhaps, allow a sound profile option. Just a thought. Thanks!

Are you using the Sub with the Beam or the Ray?  

If I wanted a Bose, I would have bought a Bose. Please make this optional or something. Many of us spent thousands of dollars on setups because we liked the way it sounded. 

Echoing what others have said. I parted with a considerable amount of money for the arc, sub and surrounds ones because I loved the way they sounded. I’ve been a very happy customer for the past 18 months. 
 

14.2 arrives and the sound profile is totally different and in my view unacceptable for such a high priced bit of kit. If the system sounded like this on day one it would have been boxed up and sent back immediately. 
 

Really not happy that I’ve spent so much money and now the product I have is not the product I bought. I presume the return window will remain well and truly closed for those who really don’t like they way the system sounds now 🙁