Though it may be going through a bit of a PR and general app-related crisis with its users right now, new products from Sonos always cause quite a stir.
We know this based on how many of you click on the articles we write about the company's products and the sea of comments and ongoing discussions about Sonos on our forums and social media channels.
As luck would have it there’s good reason for this. Outside of a few notable exceptions – *cough* the Sonos Ace – the company's products tend to perform very well in our listening rooms, and quickly become easy recommendations.
This is particularly true of the Sonos Arc, which not only earned a perfect five-star rating when we reviewed it but has also remained a staple feature in our best soundbar and best Dolby Atmos soundbar buying guides for multiple years.
Which is why you may be surprised to read that we've tweaked our advice and are now urging potential buyers to put a pin in their purchase plans, at least for a few weeks. Why? Because Sonos has just unveiled a new Arc Ultra soundbar.
To be clear, the shift isn’t because we think the original Arc has magically turned bad overnight – we still use it in our viewing room as a benchmark for quality at its price point because it remains a top performer.
But the arrival of the Arc Ultra and the fact Sonos has confirmed it will replace, not sit alongside, the original Arc, adds a little chaos to the mix – meaning we now have one big question to answer: is the new version any good?
We haven’t had a chance to listen to the Arc Ultra yet, so this is a tricky question to answer right now, especially as, despite it looking very similar to its predecessor, under the hood the new model is a very different beast.
It features a completely different driver arrangement that the company claims produces sound in a fundamentally different way to the original model and lets it deliver a 9.1.4 spatial audio experience.
Specifically, it features 14 custom Sonos-engineered drivers including a new Sound Motion woofer that delivers “double the bass” of the current Arc. Considering the fact we listed “a lack of weight” with the original Arc’s sound as one of its few weaknesses compared to rivals, the woofer in particular could be a key differentiator.
We’re also curious how the new centre speaker array housed in the middle of the bar, and dedicated side and upward-firing drivers, will impact its Dolby Atmos performance. This will be another key area in which the Arc Ultra will need to deliver, as the Award-winning but more expensive Sony Bravia Theatre Bar 9’s class-leading 3D audio processing earned it a place as the best Dolby Atmos soundbar when we tested it earlier this month.
On top of all that, there’s also the ongoing presence of the original Arc. While its time in the sun is setting, retailers still have stock of the original and it’s already retailing for as little as £700 / $700 at most stores, including Amazon.
With the new model out, we expect the first-generation Sonos Arc’s price will drop even further, theoretically making it even better value, and a solid option for buyers on a strict budget. But this will again be determined by how well the newer Arc Ultra performs when we review it.
So in short, until we get answers to these questions, our advice to Arc-curious buyers is toe wait and see how the new Arc Ultra performs before parting with your cash.
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