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Which soundbar is best for my apartment?

  • November 30, 2025
  • 3 replies
  • 48 views
R

I’m unsure whether the Beam or Arc would be better for my apartment. I don’t want to bother my neighbors. My living room is about 15 feet wide (though one side only has a partial wall with the kitchen extending another 10 feet, if that matters for sound wave reflection). My couch is about 8 feet from the tv. The room extends another 12 feet beyond that, where I have a dining room table. There is another 10 foot room after that to reach the wall I share with my neighbor. The wall the tv is on is at the end of the building, so no neighbor there, nor above me.

 

If possible, since it’s one big room, I would like to also use the soundbar for background music while sitting at the dining room table. Given the large extra cost if I get the Arc, I’m unlikely to get anything else; if I get the Beam, I’d consider a couple Era 100s for rear speakers (not sure if those could be used as regular speakers for the dining table when not using them for a movie).

 

 I’m not an audiophile, so I’m not sure the Arc is worth the higher price for someone who may not fully appreciate it, and if it is, whether it might be bothersome to my neighbors. Any advice would be much appreciated. Thanks

S

3 replies

Stanley_4
  • Stanley_4
  • Lead Maestro
  • November 30, 2025

The Arc, preferably, an Ultra will provide superior sound, something that room needs

The longer length will improve the right/left separation, helping both TV and streaming. 

The additional speakers will do a lot to fill the room with sound, the low frequency driver may be enough you don't later decide you need a Sub.

A pair of Era-100s set up as an additional Sonos Room and placed near the dining area would, when Grouped add to the sound while reducing the need for volume from the far end of the room. You could also use them alone to minimize the noise impact on your neighbors.

Using speakers as a Sonos Room and switching them to be Surrounds is an aggravation every time you switch modes. Folks seem to consider it but soon realize the monkey motion of swapping is not fun.

S
Triticale
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  • Triticale
  • Prominent Collaborator I
  • November 30, 2025

I agree with ​@Stanley_4, Arc Ultra will be better filling the room when listening music and providing low frequencies. Also you’ll get better performance watching TV.

About your neighbours, both bars can be played at low volume 😅. Also they have Night mode and Dialogues enhancement for watching action films.

About the rear speakers, again ​@Stanley_4 is right, changing them from surrounds to stereo pair and viceversa is a nightmare if you’re doing it frequently, not just because it’s not a matter of one-click action, but because you have to perform TruePlay each time if you want to get the benefit of the equalisation.

As the table is quite close, I think an Arc ultra with two surrounds can fill the space. Perhaps you have to set the rear as Full instead of Immersive in these cases. Other option is to put an additional Era 100 or a Move2 close to the dinning table, but I don’t think it’s needed. But, again, I’ll never set the Era 100 as stereo pair unless the films watching is rare in your life. Because a surround setup will perform a great music but just a bar (even Arc Ultra) never gets a real surround effect as they can do with rear speakers. 

S
Stanley_4
  • Stanley_4
  • Lead Maestro
  • November 30, 2025

The neighbors (and my spouse) will likely have comments on the Trueplay process if run often. There have been dire promises made if I Trueplay “her” Beam again while she is in the room. :-)

Triticale
S
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