Define “the known problems”, please. It’s software. Constantly changing. There appear to be some who are experiencing some issues, there’s a much larger contingent, based on what I see, who are not experiencing issues currently, including myself.

There certainly are best practices, and a lot depends on your local network, and not actually the Sonos software itself. And not only your network, but the devices and software running not only on your TV, but other sources that you’re feeding your TV set. 

I moved two systems in my home from PLAYBARs to Arcs when the Arc was released. There is absolutely no regret in doing so. One is on a Arcana, since I use other systems connected to that TV, the other is not. 

I have been using the Arc/Sub/Play:1s setup since July 2020. I have an older TV without eARC, so I also use the Arcana with a Blu-ray player, Apple TV 4K, and Roku Ultra. I have been very pleased with the sound quality from the Arc especially from Blu-ray discs and Dolby Atmos music. IMO, the Arc is definitely worth the upgrade, especially since you watch Blu-ray discs. I think you will notice a pretty dramatic difference listening to lossless audio (Dolby TrueHD, Dolby Atmos, Multichannel PCM) from Blu-ray discs on the Arc compared to the audio you are currently getting from the Playbar.

@Mart the Fart,
I presently have the Arc, Surrounds & Sub and not experiencing any issues at all with it/them as our main TV HT setup, which we use with an LG C9 OLED and a Nvidia Shield in the Family Room.

If I had your setup with the Playbar, I would likely have repurposed that soundbar over to our separate Dining Room / TV …and the Beam (gen1) (which I already have in that room) would be moved upstairs to the main bedroom TV.

I’m sure I would have been happy with doing that .. the one issue is, I would likely spend more than the £1000 you mention, as I would want to add surrounds to the bedroom Beam, but I guess the nice thing is those surrounds could perhaps come along a little further down the line.

So if it was me, I would go for the Arc/Arcana (or possibly the Feintech VAX04101A extractor/switch), but maybe look to see if you can repurpose the Playbar to another room in the Home, as it’s still a good soundbar, better than the Beam (gen1) IMHO, but not as great as the Arc.

The Arc is also definitely better with a Sub/Surrounds too, but I guess that goes without saying.

I think @Ken_Griffiths has the Arc, which uses ARC for connection….

Oops (embarrassing ) .. I edited it.

Shouldn’t be, it’s an easy error to make, thanks to Sonos’ wonderful naming conventions ;)

 I don’t know how many times I’ve typed ‘you connect the CONNECT…’ or mixed up the ARC and Arc….