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Debating between a Beam Gen 2 + Sub Mini and Arc Ultra

  • November 26, 2024
  • 5 replies
  • 889 views
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I’ve just moved and want to set-up a more legit home theater experience. The living room consists of the sectional and TV console on that bottom left portion of the L shape. I’d like a sound bar to sit on the tv console and face towards the sectional with a surround speaker in the corner of the room and other side of the sectional.

Given the L shape of my living space, the media/sound is mostly enclosed in an 11x15 foot space. The other area will be a more formal dining room. It’s also worth noting I have fairly short ceilings, ~8’ and there’s a chandelier hanging dead center of the living room portion between the sectional and TV console which could potentially interfere with any up-firing drivers. 

My original plan was Arc Ultra and two Era 100s with no sub given the ultra’s rich bass. 

After reading some posts on reddit and the forum, I’m now leaning heavily towards:
- Beam 2
- 2 Era 100s
- Sub mini?

Looking to the community to help me decide!

Is it worth it to get the Arc Ultra for future-proof consideration, or is my space way too small to get any of the benefit? 

Would a sub-mini complement the beam 2 and be worth the extra couple $100 or would I be better off just getting an Arc Ultra only? 

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5 replies

Stanley_4
  • Stanley_4
  • Lead Maestro
  • 11223 replies
  • November 27, 2024

The room is small enough that the Beam Gen 2, 100s and a mini sub would likely do a decent job. With the open side though I wouldn’t rule out a Sub 4.

If Atmos is important to you I’d go the other way, Arc  Ultra, 300s and if needed a Sub.

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1 person likes this
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    pudboi
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  • pudboi
  • Author
  • Contributor I
  • 1 reply
  • November 27, 2024

Thanks! I ended up buying the immersive set with Beam 2, Sub Mini, and 2x Era 100s. Fun fact if you buy as separate items it’s $24 cheaper than if purchased as the pre-built bundle.

I’ll update this thread with my review in case anyone else finds themselves in a similar situation.

Stanley_4
  • Stanley_4
  • Lead Maestro
  • 11223 replies
  • November 28, 2024

Where the bundles pay off is if you have a discount, one discount is good for one bundle, so that saves a pile over not getting the discount on everything.

Airgetlam
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2 people like this
  • Airgetlam
    Airgetlam
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    pudboi
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  • Soundscape1
  • Contributor I
  • 2 replies
  • November 30, 2024

I just tried swapping out my Playbase + two Play: 1s for a new Beam Gen 2 + sub mini + two Era 100s. I did this due to the AirPlay issues with the Playbase, even though it still sounds amazing. My room is maybe 75 sq feet larger. The sound with the new setup was a bit better for movies (due to Dolby Atmos), but not quite as good for music than the Playbase + Play: 1s. Even with the sub mini added to the Beam Gen 2, it couldn’t quite match the Playbase alone. I’m going to return Beam Gen 2 and sub mini and see if the Arc Ultra can match the fuller sound of the playbase. 

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  • legedema
  • Contributor II
  • 21 replies
  • December 26, 2024

I have a beam gen 2 , sub mini and 2 x Era 300 and recently I replaced the beam with ultra.

I was expecting night and day differences but there is almost no changes

don't know if the Ultra is not that good or beam was just super good but I would not recommend anyone to upgrade from beam to ultra.I did it but I should not.

also, I tried to listen to music via apple TV 4K with my setup but that sound is just terrible.even Atmos music sounds little funny. guess the setup if not ment to listen to music. you are getting some noise from the ultra and than some slight sound from my Era’s. 

I immediately stop listening to music because it was disturbing.

 

anyway , I have also 2 x Era 100 and I am considering to pair them with my Ultra and sub min so that I can have the Era 300 as stereo pair to listen to music.

2 x Era 300 pairing in stereo  is really good for music only but it sounds horrible when paired with ultra 

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