I just setup my new Sonos Arc, Why is it worse than my playbar

With respect to the Volume number there is a large class of listeners who equate low numbers and high output with “powerful”. Low end, department store merchandise capitalizes on this by creating a very aggressive Volume control profile. As I walk the isles, I hear people remarking about a “powerful” unit that gets very loud when they just “crack” the control. For me these units are very difficult to control if you want to listen quietly. The units tend to be loud or off.

High end equipment tends to use a gentler Volume profile that allows better control at the lower settings. It’s common when a person in the above class moves up to high end equipment that they feel that the new equipment seems less “powerful” because of the higher number when in fact it is much more powerful.

Another aspect of “loud” is distortion. We tend to keep raising the Volume until distortion becomes obvious — this is then declared as “loud”. In my college apartment we could run at levels that made verbal communication very difficult (with low distortion), yet guests would constantly yell in our ears, with cupped hands, “turn it up” because it didn’t seem “loud” yet. This same crew in another apartment listening to a cheap compact unit that was obviously struggling, never said “turn it up”. Conversation was easy.

In my opinion SONOS is struggling with “loud”. If SONOS changes the Volume control profile to allow better control at low Volumes, then there are complaints of “not as powerful” because the Volume number might be higher for equivalent output. If SONOS leans toward “powerful”, then there are complaints from those who want to listen quietly at night.

The detail of equating distorted with “loud” is tricky with SONOS. In this respect SONOS will never sound “loud” because the units are designed to never enter this high distortion mode. Units will reduce Volume or shut down rather than enter this often destructive mode.