Sonos has reinvented its flagship Dolby Atmos soundbar with the release of the Arc Ultra. Promising enhanced dialogue clarity, improved tuning and a deeper and more powerful bass response, the brand touts unprecedented performance and an immersive sound experience that surpasses any of its previous designs. And to get a fuller picture of the Ultra’s potential, we paired it with Sonos’s latest subwoofer, the Sub 4. In this review, we’ll explore how well the brand’s latest innovation performs, and whether it genuinely creates a true-blue Dolby Atmos spatial effect.
Design
Form and Aesthetics
Sonos presents another sleek and elegant soundbar, though solid and curved in its design, spanning about 46 inches in width and 3 inches in height. So, if your TV sits particularly low on a surface, you may need to raise it slightly. Still, weighing in at just 13 pounds, it’s not particularly heavy to move around. The touch controls on the soundbar are subdued and simply laid out. It’s likely that you will rarely touch them anyway, given the use of the companion app and your current TV remote, which automatically controls the soundbar’s volume once your system is connected.
Driver Configuration
The Ultra is packed with 14 drivers in a 9.1.4 configuration. A highlight of this latest flagship model is its Sound Motion technology, which consists of a four motor, dual-membrane woofer intended to deliver a markedly powerful and deep bass response. In fact, it boasts double the bass output of the previous Arc. This technology is combined with seven angled tweeters, two upfiring tweeters for the height effect and six mid-woofers.
I’ll note again that I paired the Ultra with the Sub 4, which turned out to be integral to the overall sonic experience, but we’ll talk more about this below.
Setup & Stability
The unboxing process was super simple and clean, reflecting the intentionally minimalist design for which Sonos has become famous. There was no tape involved. Just a couple of easy to open locks that neatly unveiled the equipment.
I was a little trepidatious about the connection process, given that Sonos’s app has had to iron out some wrinkles in its recent updates. But pairing the soundbar and subwoofer to the app was reasonably fast and straightforward. And although I had to do to do a couple of quick app restarts over the course of using the system, it certainly wasn’t enough of a frustration for me to avoid making a serious investment in their line of speakers. I should also note that this issue is not unique to Sonos. Even my pricey Bose soundbar system needs an app reboot from time to time. And in terms of stability, the Sonos app is at least 90% there. I assume it will be completely perfected once the next update happens. But certainly, you should be able to get your system up and running within 15 minutes or less.
Features and Functionality
Trueplay Audio Tuning
Trueplay struck me as one of the most powerful features of the Arc Ultra’s technology. I set up the soundbar and subwoofer in a roughly 14x14 ft room. And the Trueplay Audio Tuning feature, which optimizes the sound for your environment, made a huge difference. (The Sub 4 also works as part of this calibration process). And once tuned, the acoustics seemed significantly cleaner, more comprehensive and yet more contained to fit the space.
That said, when listening to music, I found I got a much more full-bodied sound with Trueplay turned off. It’s just a personal preference, but it’s good to play around with the two settings to see which sounds best for the content you’re playing.
Speech Enhancement
As we’ll discuss below in the sound impressions, dialogue clarity is another one of the Ultra’s greatest strengths. The Speech Enhancement feature is highly effective and allows you to choose between three levels of speech presence. So, if the dialogue ever feels too prominent, you can turn it down a notch or two.
WiFi and Bluetooth
In addition to optional ethernet connectivity, the Sonos soundbar system connects via your home WiFi network. And if you ever need to quietly listen to content with Bluetooth headphones, you can easily and quickly pair them with the Ultra system. Also if you own a pair of Sonos Ace headphones, you can simply use Audio Swap to listen to your content seamlessly.
Companion Sonos App
As mentioned above, Sonos seems to have resolved any problems associated with previous app updates. And though I didn’t make use of Sonos Radio or use the Sonos app for music navigation, I found the rest of the controls very simple and responsive. Operating functions such as changing the bass or treble settings, adjusting the level of the height speakers and subwoofer, activating Speech Enhancement or Night Sound and calibrating the soundbar with Trueplay was a breeze. So, no complaints in this category.
Voice Control
It’s easy to setup Sonos Voice Control and Amazon Alexa on the speaker. If you’re feeling lazy, ask it to turn your TV on or off and adjust the volume, or even tell it to activate Speech Enhancement and Night Sound. The soundbar also features shutoff mics. So, if you ever get paranoid about Big Brother listening in on your music or shopping preferences, you can easily switch off the mic at the back of the soundbar.
Compatibility with Your Existing Remote
Once you set up the soundbar with your TV, you’ll instantly gain control over volume with your existing TV remote.
Airplay & Spotify Connect
Although you can make use of Spotify Connect, I played all my music via Apple Airplay. The connection remained consistent throughout the prolonged testing process, and I was able to play several speakers at once, even in combination with speakers from other brands. (That said, with respect to your viewing content, if you’re looking to pair your soundbar with rear speakers for a full Dolby Atmos effect, you will have to stick with the Sonos brand.)
Compatibility with Sonos Ecosystem
The Arc Ultra works with an array of existing Sonos speakers, including the Arc, Beam, Sonos Five, Era 100, and Era 300, allowing you to build or add to the existing Sonos ecosystem throughout your home. You can also utilize a Sonos Amp, and any in-ceiling or in-wall speakers of your choice, if you want to opt for something other than an Era 100 or Era 300.
Sound Impressions
Cinema
What first stands out is the remarkable clarity of the dialogue, especially with speech enhancement set to its highest level. Dialogue sits forward with notable transparency, and any distant speaking that happens within an action scene or that is layered in with music is still intelligible.
In fact, the overall sound presentation is generally immaculate, with the bass frequencies well separated from midrange and all sonic elements neatly spread out throughout the stage. I also found that having the treble and height settings slightly raised on the equalizer yielded an even clearer sounding result.
While the bass is clean and powerful, with respect to lower frequency sound effects and subterranean bass elements in musical scores, it becomes clear that you can’t hear the full spectrum of sound without the subwoofer. So, know that despite the improved bass response of the Ultra, you will likely want to invest in the Sub 4 to take full advantage of the sound system’s capabilities.
Throughout the testing process, the Sub 4 provided ample oomph, and would probably blow me off my couch if I raised the levels higher. There is no end to this thing’s power. I think the sub frequencies felt most sensible at their default setting. But if you want your floors to vibrate, the Sub 4 will deliver, no matter the size of your space. Luckily, you can turn the subwoofer levels down too, which is good news for your neighbors.
In terms of sonic impact, the soundstage is broad and majestic, and it provides the cinematic experience you’re used to when going to a real movie theater. However, perhaps it was too much to expect that I would feel completely enveloped in a bubble of sound. There’s plenty of height and width in front of the viewer, but height objects don’t feel like they’re quite reaching above or behind one’s sitting position. And it left me wanting a pair of rear speakers (namely, the Era 100 or 300) to do full justice to the Dolby Atoms effect. But this is the case with any soundbar, even the highest-end models form premium brands. So, if I were ready to invest in the Ultra and Sub 4, I’d eventually go all out and throw down the extra cash for the rear speakers.
Music
Music was a joy to listen to, especially with respect to Dolby Atmos tracks. Everything from Billie Elish’s “LUNCH” to Elton John’s “Rocket Man” came out with a crystal clarity and robustness, while delivering a tall and expansive soundscape. Of course, being a soundbar, vocals felt quite prominent, creating an intimate connection with the vocalist and bringing out the subtlest details in their timbre.
Throughout my testing, the sound profile avoided any hint of muddiness, not only thanks to tidy mid to upper midrange, but also because the lower midrange is a tad scooped out, which was likely intended to further enhance the clarity between the bass and higher frequencies. At times, the mitigated lower midrange detracted from the fullness of the track, but the overall effect was far from disappointing. Pop tracks, especially, were thrillingly dynamic with tons of low-end punch and snap in the treble. In fact, I found the sound signature to be increasingly addictive the more I listened. And if I were to get one sound system for both TV viewing and music, the Arc Ultra would be my all-in-one choice.
Final Verdict
There’s no question that the Arc Ultra delivers a formidable and emotive cinematic and musical experience. With its rich and grand soundstage, solid bass and pristinely clear dialog, the result is nothing short of exhilarating. But again, the Sub 4 seems to be a necessary addition if you’re set on getting the full spectrum of sound. And taking the sub into account, this Sonos package becomes admittedly pricey. Also, as impressive as the Ultra’s performance is, you may feel that to be entirely immersed in a 3D sphere of sound, it’s worth spending the extra cash on rear speakers (i.e. the Era 100 or Era 300).
But make no mistake; the Arc Ultra on its own will significantly transcend the sound quality of your older soundbar system, especially if you’ve never owned Sonos technology before. And if you’re a music lover who plans to rely solely on a soundbar for all your home audio entertainment, this is the one to own.
For more information about the new Sonos Arc Ultra and Sub 4, including additional features, specs, and highlights, be sure to check out our detailed product pages. Or drop us a line below, and we’ll do our best to answer all your comments and questions.
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