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shopsteward
Contributor I
March 22, 2021

i already have a playbar two play 1s and a generation 2 subwoofer and i am thinking of replacing the playbar with the sonos arc would the upgrade be noticeable

Would I notice much improvement if I upgrade my Playbar to an arc and kept my two play 1s and gen 2 subwoofer

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    5 replies

    melvimbe
    melvimbe
    March 22, 2021

    yes.  Even if you aren’t listening to dolby atmos content, the improvement is noticable.

    Danny
      shopstewardAuthor
      Contributor I
      March 27, 2021

      I have now ordered an Arc  taking advantage of the 15%discount deal  but not too sure if there would be any advantage in changing the play 1s (rear speakers) or the gen2 sub for a gen 3 

      obviously having the Arc in the same room would satisfy any Alexa or speech advantages that the play SLs would otherwise offer  

      thanks for any advice/ opinions 

      Airgetlam
      Airgetlam
      March 27, 2021

      When I replaced my PLAYBARs with Arcs, I saw no reason whatsoever to replace the PLAY:1s I use as surround speakers, or the SUBs I use.

      However, the key is making sure that before you remove the PLAYBAR, you un-bond the surrounds and SUB. Then they’re ready after the swap to be re-bonded to the new Arc. 

      If you can, TruePlay can help after setup, in some instances. In others, it may not. I waited a few days before running the process, due to time restraints. It helped in one room, a bit, in the other, made no difference. If you’re an Android user, I wouldn’t overly fret, you can at some point borrow a friends device….or just ignore it completely. There’s often a huge deal made over the process, much more than I think is appropriate. 

      Bruce
      Sonosjunkie
      Sonosjunkie
      Prodigy III
      March 27, 2021

      Yes. No benefit at all from replacing the Sub….. but you could add a Gen 3 as an additional Sub if you want to push the boat out on the Bass. But there’s no sonic ‘upgrade’ from a straight swap. 
       

      in terms of rear/surrounds. Unless you’re going to upgrade to the 5s then stick with the ones you have. Upgrade to 5s is a marginal gain for surround (you have to be playing loud to notice much difference). It does upgrade the music experience. But it is also a diminishing return. But I had a spare pair of 5s so needed to put them to some use. I’d probably not pay the extra to upgrade otherwise unless it was in a very large room. 

      Lounge: 5.1 Arc HT (2x Subs and 2xP5 rears) with LGOLED77CX. Kitchen: 2xOneW, 2xP3w with SubW. Bedroom: 2xP1s. Office/Studio: 2xP5w. Snug 2xP1s. Garage: 2xOneW. Also 3x Moves.
      shopstewardAuthor
      Contributor I
      March 27, 2021

      Ok thanks for that advice. I will definitely unbond the rears and sub when I take out the Playbar.  I’ve always used the Trueplay option since I first got the setup and will do again. I didn’t think there would be any gain in upgrading the rear speakers or the sub either  I first need to upgrade my LG TV to one which supports eARC  my current one only has ARC 

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