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Sonos Beam (Gen 2) or the Sonos Arc based on my room size(more info below)

Budget and location - 900 USD(85,000 INR), Amazon India Prime Day Sale

How the gear will be used - With my LG C3 48 (121cm) OLED HDR10 and Dolby Vision. Spotify Play and Apple Music

New or used - New

Past gear experience - Never used any premium hi-fi soundbars. Currently, I have Edifier R1280DB bookshelf speakers and Beyerdynamic DT 990 Pro and Sony XM5 headphones.

Room information:

  1. Room Dimensions:

    • Length - 360cm , width - 280cm, and height - 280cm

    • (in-feet) Length: 11.81 feet Width: 9.19 feet Height: 9.19 feet

  2. Room Shape:

    • Rectangle room

  3. Room Acoustics:

    • Wall materials - Concrete wall

    • Floor materials - Vitrified tiles

    • Ceiling materials - Concrete ceiling

    • Presence and placement of windows and doors - There are two windows on one of the longer sides and one window on one of the shorter sides, for a total of three windows.

    • Presence of acoustic treatments or furniture that might absorb or reflect sound - The room contains three computer tables, three curtains, one office chair, and one single bed.

  4. Listening Position:

    • Preferred seating area or sweet spot for listening - Almost center of the room facing TV

    • Distance from the speakers to the listening position - 170cm

  5. Speaker Placement:

    • Potential locations for speakers - Under the TV, on the table.

I am looking for a high-quality standalone soundbar capable of producing a surround sound experience. My main uses for the soundbar will be:

  1. Connecting it to my TV for watching movies, TV shows, and occasionally gaming.

  2. Playing music from Spotify or Apple Music.

I have narrowed it down to two options: the Sonos Beam (Gen 2) or the Sonos Arc. Both work well with my TV and can also play Spotify or Apple Music. However, I need you help to choose between the two.

Hi @MelodyRaven, thanks for your post and welcome to the Sonos Community!

 

Both the Arc and Beam gen 2 would be excellent choices here but I can give some further info on the benefits of each. Both the Arc and Beam gen 2 are Dolby Atmos capable, though the Arc is better at recreating 3D audio due to its dedicated upward firing speakers, so if Atmos movies/music is something important to you then this may be something to consider. In terms of volume, the Arc is technically a more powerful speaker though for the size of room you describe, I think the Beam gen 2 would be sufficient purely from a volume perspective. I personally use a Beam gen 1 in a small room for movies, gaming and music and have been very happy with its performance.

 

I hope this information helps!


Thanks, @Craig L. I got the Sonos ARC last week. My room dimensions are 11.81 feet (Length), 9.19 feet (Width), and 9.19 feet (Height).

I’m wondering what I should get next: the Sonos Sub (for that gut punch) or the rear speaker Sonos Era 300. The Era 300 is just very expensive at this point. I hope that once the new Sonos speakers are released, the price decreases.

 


I'd lean to the Sub-mini, I have a full Sub in a 10x10 foot room and it is way more than is needed.

If Surround is a priority maybe Era-100s for now and later upgrade to 300s relocating the 100s to other rooms.


My Samsung s95c is on a stand and any soundbar taller than about 3” in front of the TV will obstruct viewing.  the Arc is 3.4” and Beam is 2.7” (I think) so go with the Beam?  my room is 17’ in the direction of the tv and 14’ wide, furniture (couch, chair, some tables).  I would prefer better 3D but this might mean raising the TV (pedistal?  maybe wall mount -- which may be difficult since there is a window)

 

suggestions between the Arc or Beam are appreciated


 A rug would help the acoustics.  For woofing the Mini is probably enough.  You may want to eventually add another Mini.  Not for an increase in bass volume instead because smaller rooms have more bass nulls and peaks.  A second sub can help alleviate some of those issues.  Oddly a larger room may only need one sub as there are usually fewer nulls and peaks.

 If you enjoy Dolby Atmos music from Apple Music save your bucks for the 300s.  The 100s have no upfiring speakers.


Raising the TV can be pretty simple. We have one that is boosted by two bricks at each end, sprayed gloss black. Another we put on a Sanus stand and that is a huge improvement, much easier to adjust it to reduce glare or for off-line seating positions. We had a different TV we got fancy with and made a 2x4 and plywood pedestal, again sprayed gloss black.

We added two thick wool rugs that do an excellent job of reducing the excessive brightness of the room, enough we didn’t bother with any other treatments. A thin one won’t do nearly as much.

similar to: https://www.costco.com/nourison-colorado-wool-rug-collection-telluride.product.4000225191.html


oh yeah…. we have rugs.  was unfamiliar with Sanus and will look at what they offer.  may look into tilting wall mount and then leave the soundbar on the entertainment center (no need to wall mount it I don’t think).  unfortunately the selected tv location is in front of a window and the only two mounting locations are about 54” apart.  I would have to put a 2x4 or 2x6 to span this so that the wall mount could be attached to the wall.  You think this would work?

a different question involves not woofers but adding two 100’s behind the couch where we sit when watching:  can these be wall mounted higher on the wall so they are out of the way and what will that do to the acoustics?


Instead of a board to span the window consider a metal tube, your local metal/welding shop can likely provide something fairly small, strong and attractive.

I’ve used a ½ by 2 inch rounded square tube with good results. Make sure you line it up to hit the studs behind the wall covering. Get the shop to drill two mounting holes in the ends. reinforce them inside the tube and add end caps.

Bring it home, thoroughly clean it and give it a coat of  Rustoleum primer. Once it dries paint it to match the wall or TV, maybe both.

Primer: https://www.rustoleum.com/product-catalog//consumer-brands/stops-rust/clean-metal-primer-spray

Paint: https://www.rustoleum.com/Paints-Stains-Sealers/Spray-Paint/Metal


Surrounds are supposed to be at ear level and properly positioned, mine aren’t. They are four feet too high, 5 feet too close together, at different distances from our seating, and they point different directions.

A workable compromise with the spouse and they sound better there than in the closet.

Sure they could be better positioned but I can’t win the ugly but sounds better discussion and after trying it both ways what I have is good enough.


If I watch TV on a couch 10’ from the 77” samsung and have sonos soundbar (either arc or blade, haven’t decided), to get true surroundsound on non ATMOS content you would need those 2 satellite speakers and they would need to be to either side of my couch (which is about 3’ from the rear wall and 10’ from the TV)… ideally at ear height but behind or in line with the couch?


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