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Any advice on these alternatives… Arc on its own or Beam G2 and Submini combined

  • 2 July 2023
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So far have only used Sonos for music.

 

I am now planning to change to Sonos for TV and wondered about either a Beam Gen 2 with the Submini, or the Arc on its own. My main question is which alternative gives best all round sound, including regular listening to music only.

 

Not planning to use Dolby Atmos. Price seems roughly equivalent. Might add rear speakers in future but probably not. Currently have conventional 5.1 home cinema and experience is we don’t use surround element much.

 

As always thanks for any advice.

 

 

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Best answer by Ken_Griffiths 2 July 2023, 16:58

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Ken_Griffiths

Beam with Sub-Mini would be my personal choice, particularly if music audio is perhaps more important than TV surround sound. I have the Arc and Beam and in my humble opinion the Arc really sounds best with the larger Sub (gen3). Standalone the Arc bass is good, but the Sub-Mini beats its low frequency output. 

I love the Sub-Mini and have two of them, one is attached to a Beam/surrounds in our Main Bedroom and another is connected to a Sonos Ray in the Kitchen/Diner area. The little sub really makes a huge difference.

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Thanks Ken

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I have to ask… if I had the budget to buy the ARC soundbar is it worth pairing with the Submini?

Would this combination be noticeably better than the Beam/Submini combination (especially for listening to music?)

Finally what about the Arc with the Sub-G3? Is the extra cost rewarded when listing to music?

Thanks in advance for sharing your experiences.

Airgetlam

There would be, IMHO, never a case where pairing a Sub or Sub-mini wouldn’t help. You’re offloading a lot of effort from the main speaker so it can ‘concentrate’ on certain frequencies. 
 

I’m not a huge fan of using a sound bar for listening to music. Just not enough separation in the stereo soundstage. If forced, I’d go with the Arc, due to it being wider, but in my own home, I use a pair of Sonos Fives for music, and leave the Arc (and Sub) for movies and TV.

Bruce
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