Arc soundstage skewed to left?

Hi @Binh, Thanks for reaching out and welcome to the community. Thanks for bringing this up and we understand where you're coming from. Regarding this issue. I’ll ask you to submit a diagnostic report for us to investigate further what could be causing this issue. You may reply to the thread with the confirmation number to assist you with this issue.  

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This is the number. 198944089

Hi @Binh, thanks for the update. I appreciate you taking the time to submit the diagnostic report. Regarding this concern, upon checking the diagnostic report, It shows Wireless Interference on the Sonos system, and the Arc status is offline on the Sonos Beam and Arc. You can try to unplug the cables for 1-2 minutes, and replug it back in. On the sound of the speakers, have you tried to check on adjusting some sound settings on the Sonos App, like the Equalizer, treble, bass? Etc. And check if there's any difference.

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Yes, tried that. I contacted Support and they had me reset the whole thing and no difference. There is no “balance” adjustment.

Hi @Binh, thanks for the update. Have they suggested anything after those troubleshooting steps? Because if it still doesn’t work, then they should be able to escalate the issue to a higher tier of support for further investigation. or they may suggest any other options for this issue. 

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I’ve noticed this too, it’s more noticeable on Atmos, but I can still hear it on 5.1 content. Mostly Disney plus and Netflix through an Apple TV.

@Simon B could you have a look at my diagnostic, thanks 1199285800

Hi @SonosJames, thanks for the update. I appreciate you taking the time to submit the diagnostic report. Upon checking, all is good with the Sonos system. it’s detecting Dolby Atmos sounds and no interference issues. Regarding on this issue. If the issue still persists. I'll ask you to kindly contact our phone support team for further assistance and more in-depth troubleshooting steps. so they can check what could be causing this issue. 

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@Simon B Good to know. I’ll listen to some more content and if needed contact them. Thanks for taking the time the time to look into it.

Hi @SonosJames, thanks for the update. let us know what happened after calling our phone support team,

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FWIW, I got shipped an RMA July build replacement ARC and that speaker just left of center is still playing more treble than the right speaker (both right next to the SONOS logo - Left and Right). I’ve tried multiple different songs and movies. Hmmmmm. If 2 of them are doing this, is this by design somehow?

Hi @Binh, thanks for the update, regarding your concern, It is possible, but for further recommendations and options regarding this issue since it was already a replacement Arc and the issue still persist, I'll ask you to kindly contact our phone support team for further assistance and more in-depth troubleshooting steps.  

Let us know how you get on with the advice above.

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Hi!

I’ve noticed this as well. At first I was convinced that there was something wrong with my right ear and I’ve used products to clear it from wax, which didn’t help. My partner doesn’t notice anything but we know that I can hear much higher frequencies and her left ear is somewhat damaged.

I’m gonna get my ears checked but something tells me it’s the speaker and not me. The treble element is not in the center of the speaker and that might just be the problem, perhaps Sonos arc is just not for me? Because I honestly can’t stand it, it feels like I’ve got a cotton swab in my right ear when I’m watching tv.

Hi Nep, yes I’ve since returned my arc. This is one of the few reasons why. Maybe I’ll try again some day when I have a true Dolby atmos source. If you look at the design of the speakers and where they are located, there are 3 speakers in the middle section. The 3 speakers, they are actually not symmetrical. Of the 3 speakers in the center section, the left speaker is actually a tweeter and the other two are not! If you sit a few feet right in front of the speaker, you can clearly hear more treble from the left. Now the further away you sit the less noticeable it is. But like you said, maybe your hearing is more sensitive. But I can notice it from 12 feet away. 

Hi Binh!
Interesting since I’m actually about 11.5 feet or so from our speaker with a wall right behind me.

It feels insane that the displacement of a few inches would create such a disturbance but perhaps that makes all the difference in certain frequencies.

At this point it’s like the unbalance is permanently etched into my brain and I’m walking around with the feeling that my right ear is somewhat deafened. Perhaps it some kind of weird COVID-isolation-effect or it’s actually the speaker, either way I’m disconnecting my arc for a few days to see if makes any difference :-)

Good luck! Yes, voices always sounded a tad left of center and it just seemed like there was always a bit less action and content coming from the right. 

Wow. I thought it was just me. I notice it even more when listing to music. I thought perhaps I had screwed up the first step of Trueplay, where you “balance” the sound. I thought maybe I had been leaning too much to the left or something when performing that step. But I definitely notice that the sound appears to be shifted a bit to the left of the soundstage. 
 

The explanation re: the asymmetry of the center speakers would explain a lot...
 

Mike

Hey Mike, 

Yeah you might hear more highs to the left with music with things like cymbals and other bright sounds. I’m not sure why it was designed like that. When I’m across the room, it all sounds fine. But when I just want to sit right in front and enjoy the soundstage, I can notice it. Doesn’t sound like there are many of us though which I find kind of odd.

Yes -that’s exactly the use scenario where I notice the issue:  sitting in my preferred listening position (about 10 feet in front of the speaker, in the exact spot where I ran the initial step of the Trueplay test - which is why I thought that I had perhaps been a bit off-center when doing the initial balancing phase of Trueplay.)  In fact, when I do an A/B test by turning Trueplay off, the “left shift” isn’t as pronounced - but, in my setting, Trueplay adds a fair amount of treble and cuts midrange slightly, so it makes sense that a tweeter placed to left of center would make that effect more pronounced where Trueplay is actively enhancing the treble response.

I’ve re-run Trueplay a few times, but may try again with the phone held a bit to the right of my standard listening position to see if that results in any compensation to shift the field more to “center”.

Mike