Retired Sonos Staff

Meet Arc, Brilliant sound for your TV

Extraordinary sound meets elegant design

Eleven high-performance drivers, including custom elliptical woofers and precisely angled side tweeters, produce vivid detail and impressive bass for home cinema and music streaming. Arc's upward-firing drivers create a multi-dimensional soundstage that moves around you, rendering every whisper and explosion with dramatic clarity, detail, and depth.

With its elongated shape, soft profile, and seamless façade, Arc discreetly mounts to the wall or sits beneath the TV without pulling focus. When mounted, a magnetic sensor detects the orientation and smartly adjusts the EQ to temper bass resonance.

Arc’s sound was specially tuned with the help of Oscar-winning sound engineers to emphasize the human voice so you can always follow the story. The advanced processing creates five phased-array channels that masterfully deliver sound to your ears from all directions at the exact right moment. Use enhanced Trueplay tuning technology to optimize the sound for the unique acoustics of your room, even calibrating the height channels for precise localization.

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You can also make a surround sound setup with a pair of our surround capable Sonos speakers, such as a pair of Sonos Ones, or amplify it all with a Sub for an extraordinary surround experience.

Some more details on Sonos Arc:

Simple to set-up. Plug Arc into power and then connect it to your TV using the HDMI-ARC cord. Bring your phone up to Arc to automatically pair and securely transfer WiFi credentials using near-field communication (NFC).
HDMI eARC. Increased bandwidth supports high-quality audio and has lip-sync compensation built in.
Dolby Atmos. Play Atmos and Atmos-encoded audio to play from your collection and favorite services through your TV’s HDMI ARC or eARC connection.
Ambient light sensor. Arc detects how bright the room is and automatically adjusts the brightness of the LEDs to be visible but not distracting.
Automatic remote sync. Arc connects to your TV's HDMI eARC port with a single cable and automatically syncs with your remote.
Control your way. Control Sonos Arc with your voice, the Sonos app, your existing TV remote, your favorite music service’s app, or AirPlay 2. Capacitive touch controls for play, pause, skip tracks, adjust the volume, and group rooms just by tapping or swiping the top of the soundbar. LED indicates status, mute status and voice feedback.
Smart voice recognition. A four far-field microphone array used for advanced beamforming and multichannel echo cancellation makes sure you’re heard, even when the music is blasting, even when playing in immersive surround sound. For privacy, turn the microphone off with a tap. The LED light is hardwired and will always indicate if the microphones are enabled or if your voice assistant of choice isn't listening.
Optimized for your listening. From within the Sonos App, tap Speech Enhancement so you never miss a word, or Night Sound to amplify quiet noises and reduce loud ones so you can enjoy late night TV without waking the entire house.
Tune with Trueplay. Trueplay puts the speaker-tuning capability of the pros in the palm of your hands, adapting and optimising the sound of the speaker to the unique acoustics of the room. iOS device required.
Low profile and compact size. The dimensions are 3.4 x 45 x 4.5 inches (87 x 1141.7 x 115.7 mm) H x W x D and Arc weighs 13.78 lbs (6.25 kg).

Pre-order today on Sonos.com in stunning black with matte finish or white with matte finish for $799 US (€899 EUR, €799).

We’ve announced details for the Sonos Five and new Sonos Sub. You can also check out our blog for some great stories.

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Show previous replies

melvimbe

Since eARC is rather rare still I believe a lot of people have been doing such things to get TrueHD to their audio sources from Blueray players.

I don’t know Chris, doesn’t fit what I’ve understood about ARC and eARC. As far as how people were able to get True HD, I thought it was because the AVR or soundbar had separate HDMI inputs and an output to the TV. The video source connected to soundbar first, then soundbar to TV, so no need for ARC or eARC.

Exactly - no need for ARC or eARC (I just said the soundbars have inputs and outputs - exact thing I said). What I am explaining is the video source is then connected to the Sonos Arc first.

What is the difference in the Video source hooked to the Sonos Arc directly vs. the same exact signal that has been duplicated and then sent to the Sonos Arc and TV.

But the HDMI port on the Arc is output, not input. I don’t think it can read it. In fact with the Beam, when not using the optical adapter, you had to establish a CEC connection with the TV so that the TV and Beam knew that the ARC channels on the cable were to be used, and what codec to use. Maybe I’m missing something the HDMI port is both input and output (in the way traditional HDMI connections work)?

Sonos - naming your device arc makes discussing hookups very difficult!!!

Agreed! I am using all caps for HDMI-ARC and mixed cased for the Arc soundbar.

Danny

Chris

Lead Maestro

I may have linked wrong product but I’m talking about a splitter 1x2

1 input - 2 HDMI outputs - full video and audio on both

One to TV (it ignores the audio portion)

One to Sonos Arc (it ignores the video portion)

https://www.monoprice.com/product?p_id=15258

In strict HDMI terms, the HDMI port on the Arc is an output, not an input. ARC is an Audio Return Channel, meaning that it’s audio going in the reverse direction than the normal ‘flow’ of an HDMI signal. Unless I’m mistaken, the Arc wouldn’t be able to ignore the video portion and just read the audio portion..it’s looking to read the ARC portion of the signal...which isn’t there.

Did you read Keith’s statement from Sonos - it say it can do exactly that - receive the full HDMI signal and ignore the Video portion and play the direct HDMI audio signal. No where does he say it has to be an ARC modified signal (he says the exact opposite - that it doesn’t have to be an ARC signal).

Plus I wouldn’t be surprised in near future for these switches to have an eARC output as well.

Respect the Queue (2)Move (3)Beam (1) Era100 (2)ARC (1)SonosOne (1)Playbar (4)Play5 (4)Play1 (3)Play3 (1)Port (2)Connect (1) Roam (2) Ace (1)Connect:Amp (4)Sonos Amp (1)Sub + (9) Echo + Smartthings; (2)Play)

Chris

Lead Maestro

The HDMI port on the Arc is an input!!!!!!!! That is how you play the output from your TV. It’s primary function is to be an input.

It does handshake and also output back to the TV (rather uselessly I will ad) - but it doesn’t need to do that hand shake and output back. It having ability to also output is meaningless and can be forgotten.

If you take your Blueray player output HDMI and plug it directly into your Beam it will play the Blueray Player audio.

Respect the Queue (2)Move (3)Beam (1) Era100 (2)ARC (1)SonosOne (1)Playbar (4)Play5 (4)Play1 (3)Play3 (1)Port (2)Connect (1) Roam (2) Ace (1)Connect:Amp (4)Sonos Amp (1)Sub + (9) Echo + Smartthings; (2)Play)

E

ewolkoff

Enthusiast II

Rysn S/others from Sonos - Is it okay to mount the Arc above a TV (like the Playbar) or does it really have to be mounted below the TV given the up firing speakers?

E

ewolkoff

Enthusiast II

The HDMI port on the Arc is an input!!!!!!!! That is how you play the output from your TV. It’s primary function is to be an input.

It does handshake and also output back to the TV (rather uselessly I will ad) - but it doesn’t need to do that hand shake and output back. It having ability to also output is meaningless and can be forgotten.

If you take your Blueray player output HDMI and plug it directly into your Beam it will play the Blueray Player audio.

But then you would only get audio through the Beam when you use the Blu-ray player, right (and no video to the TV unless your Blu-ray player has two HDMI outputs)? I think the point of HDMI arc is that you can be on a different source (e.g. HDMI 2 or 3) and still receive audio to the Sonos through the HDMI ARC port, which may be HDMI 1. Or am I wrong?

The reason why output off the soundbar would be helpful is if your TV does not have Dolby Digital Plus decoding (i.e. is pre-2015/16), you could plug your Apple TV into the soundbar and then output the video through the soundbar to the TV.

Chris

Lead Maestro

But then you would only get audio through the Beam when you use the Blu-ray player, right (and no video to the TV unless your Blu-ray player has two HDMI outputs)?

The whole conversation started with yes having 2 outputs from the Blu-Ray player - using a duplicator (I will call it that instead of splitter) as linked to create 2 of the exact same signal from Blu-Ray to send to TV and Sonos Arc. Functionally exactly same as having input/output on the Sonos Arc.

Respect the Queue (2)Move (3)Beam (1) Era100 (2)ARC (1)SonosOne (1)Playbar (4)Play5 (4)Play1 (3)Play3 (1)Port (2)Connect (1) Roam (2) Ace (1)Connect:Amp (4)Sonos Amp (1)Sub + (9) Echo + Smartthings; (2)Play)

melvimbe

Did you read Keith’s statement from Sonos - it say it can do exactly that - receive the full HDMI signal and ignore the Video portion and play the direct HDMI audio signal. No where does he say it has to be an ARC modified signal (he says the exact opposite - that it doesn’t have to be an ARC signal).

Plus I wouldn’t be surprised in near future for these switches to have an eARC output as well.

Yea, I read it, and I think it’s wrong. In fact, I vaguely remember when it was said, and vaguely remember Keith taking it back….but it’s vague memory, so not worth a darn.

Danny

Chris

Lead Maestro

ok - then if he was wrong and it can’t take full HDMI then would have to wait for a splitter that had eARC output - which shouldn’t be too long down the road as there are already a lot of them that will do regular ARC.

Respect the Queue (2)Move (3)Beam (1) Era100 (2)ARC (1)SonosOne (1)Playbar (4)Play5 (4)Play1 (3)Play3 (1)Port (2)Connect (1) Roam (2) Ace (1)Connect:Amp (4)Sonos Amp (1)Sub + (9) Echo + Smartthings; (2)Play)

E

ewolkoff

Enthusiast II

But then you would only get audio through the Beam when you use the Blu-ray player, right (and no video to the TV unless your Blu-ray player has two HDMI outputs)?

The whole conversation started with yes having 2 outputs from the Blu-Ray player - using a duplicator (I will call it that instead of splitter) as linked to create 2 of the exact same signal from Blu-Ray to send to TV and Sonos Arc. Functionally exactly same as having input/output on the Sonos Arc.

But then don’t you need the Blu-ray player to also pass through audio from other sources on the TV, like your cable TV, unless you only plan on using the Sonos Arc with your blu-ray player? An Oppo can do that, but I am not sure there are many other blu-ray players that do that… And the person with a super high end blu-ray player is probably going to have a TV with arc passthrough.

Chris

Lead Maestro

Well the other question is coming up is will the Sonos Arc really receive the HDMI direct like those soundbars …. there seems to be inconsistent answers. It would take someone plugging and HDMI direct into a Beam to see if really will or not.

But assuming then it doesn’t work - a lot of switches already will extract HDMI ARC so just a matter of time before you can get a switch to do the eARC to the Sonos Arc (mouthful there).

The example Switch had 4 inputs and 2 ouputs (of which one currently can be ARC …. just need updated version that will also do eARC)…. at about $50 a lot cheaper then replacing TV.

A lot of hypotheticals right now - I’m sure a lot of creative solutions coming to get eARC ability for people on many things not just Sonos. So a TV not having eARC shouldn’t be the biggest concern.

Respect the Queue (2)Move (3)Beam (1) Era100 (2)ARC (1)SonosOne (1)Playbar (4)Play5 (4)Play1 (3)Play3 (1)Port (2)Connect (1) Roam (2) Ace (1)Connect:Amp (4)Sonos Amp (1)Sub + (9) Echo + Smartthings; (2)Play)

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Extraordinary sound meets elegant design

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