Thanks for your great answer! This means I’ll try before buying a new TV. Because I seems like the Arc itself is a big upgrade from the Playbar, Atmos or not. 

Pun gleefully accepted :)

By mounting the bar on the wall above the tv (Still over a metre and a half to the ceiling) would it create significant degradation in the sound quality? I really want this but it won’t fit on the tv stand as it’s a little too wide so mounting it above the tv would be the only option for the next 6-12 months.  
 

in general it’s not a large space anyway. Probably 2.5m from tv to sofa (the top of the tv is just above head heightwhen sitting) 

It’s not an ideal setup, most likely it’s just not going to be great for Atmos content, but it should still sound pretty good. It’s in the category of not recommended but you could give it a try. 

kind of what I was expecting; not the end of the world as I’ve got limited access to atmos content at the moment but that will change over time 

thanks Ryan 

Just one more HDMI socket on the Arc is all I would’ve needed to make this an easy buy.

In the interests of simplicity they’ve nice again crippled their product and made it 100x more complicated than it should be.

My use case;

• LG C6 TV with ARC only (not changing this anytime soon as still want 3D)
• Oppo UltraHD disc player itching to let loose with some full bandwidth Atmos via seperate audio only HDMI
• Apple TV 4K (arggggh!)
• Xbox One Pro ready to output Atmos
• If I use ARC out from TV will only get downscaled DD+ and will run out of HDMI inputs

I’m already looking for extra HDMI eARC splitters/switchers and I can’t see a way to get the full benefit of the upgrade from my Playbase. I did not intend becoming an expert on ARC and eARC this week but now thinking of buying an Sonos Arc I have to factor this into my decision.

How much simpler it would have been to have another input on the Arc! I hope this wasn’t just about saving a couple of dollars in manufacture…..

For the ones using Apple TV with an LG with ARC port, this article is an interesting read and confirms what Ryan mentions about the betatesters getting Atmos via ARC from ATVs: https://hdguru.com/understanding-dolby-atmos-from-an-supporting-lg-tv/

Here the interesting paragraph: 

So, while you can get an LG TV’s decoded Atmos signal to work carried in a DD+ soundtrack over ARC, you will have to decide if the clarity of sound from that compressed format is good enough for you. If it’s not, you are better off listening to the Ultra HD Blu-ray version with the Dolby Atmos or DTS:X content connected directly into a supporting AV receiver, which is then connected to the television via and HDMI output carrying the video information.

Looks like LG TVs decode uncompressed Atmos signals into a compressed DD+ stream that will be passed via ARC. That is good in theory.
Practically however I read in av/hifi forums of users facing lots of delay and lip syncing issues using this setup, to an extent that couldn‘t even be fixed with adjustments in the TV or AVR settings. Guess there is no way to find out for sure other than testing your individual setup. 

Personally I’m gutted. I’ve had a Playbar since 2013. Still think it provides and excellent experience today especially with the Sub. However the lack of HDMI pass through means I can’t upgrade to Arc. I upgraded to an LG C9 55” OLED last year and held out for Sonos to release an atmos compatible bar, but I need all 4 of my HDMI ports. As an experienced technology product manger I have to ask who did the customer research and persona profiling? Honestly Sonos this is super frustrating, who on earth decided one HDMI port was enough? Late to market with an atmos compatible product which is forgivable if you give your product all the right bells and whistles.

Could you point me to where you found this please?

Questions:
1) Considering the fact there was no update on the speaker setup schema (assume 5.1 is what we still have with ARC) and the fact my LG TV doesn’t support eARC (so compressed Atmos, DD+) what benefits I will get with upgrading to Sonos ARC? Now I have Playbar, 2 Play1s and Sub. Practically, the new bandwidth will enable 1mbps (ARC) compared to 384 kbps TOSLINK, but will I be able to hear it? 

• I do not have BlueRay. I store all my movies on NAS which is connected to TV with 1GB network.
• TV is getting all the content and pushes the audio directly to Playbar with TOSLINK

2) What is the difference between Sub and SUb (gen2) from an audio quality perspective?
3) Are there new setup schemas available? 7.1?

My TV is a 2019 Samsung Q70 series and doesn’t have eARC. Does that mean Atmos won’t work as I don’t have the bandwidth from eARC?

@Kamenrider It's confirmed that the Play:1 will work with the Arc. Earlier only the speakers that Sonos sells right now were listed on the product page. Although, both in the thread and on the product page earlier speakers are listed as well. 

The xbox one should have a HDMI input pass through that might be useful for you.  I also noticed that there’s some duplication of function in your inputs.  In fact, the xbox can do streaming and play blurays, although it does not have all the functionality of your disk player and ATV.  And of course, an HDMI switch may not be as inconvenient as it looks, particularly if one of those inputs is used much less that others.   I understand why this might not work for you give you all the functionality you’re looking for...just offering suggestions.

Atmos will also work over DD+, which ARC capable TVs can send over to the Arc soundbar.  I have a similar Samsung model to yours, and not expecting any issues.

Without knowing what codec the movies on your NAS are in, not sure how that can be answered.  If they are in DD+ with Atmos, then yes.  If not, I suspect you’re going a hear a difference when compared to the playbar, but not nearly as much.

The audio is the same, improvements are in hardware capabilities.  If you aren’t have issues with wireless performance, there isn’t a strong reason to upgrade right now.

5.1.2

I too am disappointed by the lack of HDMI pass through, options etc. I have a 2019 Quantum TV with no eARC. I like my TV. We watch 90% of my content through our Apple TV. I am more than happy with my picture quality and don’t want a new TV. My wife would rightly be irritated since my ‘old’ tv was only 3 years old when I declared an upgrade necessary! I don’t need or want a new TV! 

I really, really, want a bigger more powerful sound bar than my beam. And I wanted Atmos. I was excited by the Arc. And now, seriously, one HDMI port. I can’t get Atmos from my ATV. And even if I could I want the MAX quality! Even if there was a way with a splitter or such its just a layer of complication that will irritate me when it’s quirky. 

I have Sonos because I like it’s relative simplicity. I don’t post much but when I do I’ve been accused of working for Sonos since I am generally very positive to Sonos. I like Sonos. I am just disappointed at the Arc and it’s lack of options. I wonder if we did a pole today how many of us have TV’s with eARC? By the time I get a new TV the Arc 2 may be out!

I am all for designing products that work for tomorrow, but make it practical today. I’ll stick with my beam, my SUB and play surrounds for now. And I will brood at my lack of Atmos as I walk around my house, and when my wife gives me the eye roll I will retort with ‘I know I know, 1st world problem, but COME ON SONOS!’. I really want more oomph and Atmos! I want to keep my house simple so I want SONOS to provide it for me!!

It will work with Play:1s, Play:3s and Play:5 Gen 2.  The poster was mistaken.

If you connect to a TV using a optical or a ARC port the Dolby audio formats you will get are dependent on your TV model and manufacturer,

I would give them an email to see if your TV can pass the formats needed.

I’m afraid most probably won’t, 

1. I have had 4k movies with DD and DTS/DTS-HD/TrueHD, but since it is not supported on my current setup, I killed the DTS/DTS-HD/TrueHD track. Anyhow, I do not have Atmos movies. Basically need it for games and Netflix. Anyway, without eARC I will not be able to listen to DTS/DTS-HD/TrueHD tracks anyway
2. Got it, thanks
3. Can you provide a link where I can see that in the official documentation? 5.1.2 means that I can add another pair of Play1s, right? Front - Arc, Middle - 2 Play1s, Rear - 2 Play1s and Sub

The Arc contains the front and middle speakers for when used as a TrueHD device.

+1 if Sonos is reading this. Will buy a device that lets me output atmos via pc hdmi to such device which then let me link to the Sonos Arc's EARC. 

You can only have the Arc, 2 rear speakers (Play1s would work) and a sub.  The “middle” speakers are in the Arc.  You can’t pair any additional speakers with it.

For netflix, you would not need an eARC connection.  Streaming services are likely going to be over DD+, which will work through ARC.  AppleTV seems to the exception to this, as it sometimes work with ARC, sometimes not, depending on the TV used.

Thanks. I searched and found this

“Just like the Q90R and the 2018 Samsung TVs, the Q70R doesn't support DTS passthrough, and doesn't support eARC. It likely does support lossy Atmos passthrough from Dolby Digital Plus sources, like the native Netflix app, because there's an Atmos option in its settings.”
 

from https://www.rtings.com/tv/reviews/samsung/q70-q70r-qled

Am totally in the same boat, my tv is only a year old with two months finance outstanding. Would be divorced if I wanted another tv to support an £800 speaker!!!