I've been reviewing soundbars (and plenty more besides) for over 16 years now, and people (family members, friends, random people in the pub) often ask me which Dolby Atmos soundbar they should buy. In almost all cases, I recommend the Sonos Arc.
Yes, there are soundbars that sound even better (the Sony HT-A7000 and Sennheiser Ambeo Soundbar Max), but they cost a lot more and don't offer quite the same complete package that you get from the Sonos Arc: not only does it sound great for its price, but it also boasts superior streaming smarts, excellent usability and a really straightforward and worthwhile upgrade path through the addition of wireless surrounds and/or a subwoofer.
Best of all, thanks to Cyber Monday, the Sonos Arc is now cheaper than it has been for a long while, coming in at just £667 at Amazon.
In the interests of absolute transparency (after all, I'm here to offer advice, not sell you stuff), the Sonos Arc has been even cheaper before, having very briefly hit £649 in May this year, but it now seems very unlikely that it will get that low again any time soon.
If you've been eyeing up the Sonos Arc, I think this is probably the last chance you've got to get a big discount on it before the Boxing Day sales.
The Arc sits above the Beam (Gen 2) in Sonos's range, using 11 speakers to deliver one of the most convincing Atmos performances around. Features include Apple AirPlay 2, Spotify Connect and Tidal Connect for easy streaming, and a choice of voice assistants, with Google Assistant and Amazon Alexa both built-in. It's simple to set up, slots into the Sonos ecosystem, and has earned What Hi-Fi? Awards in 2020, 2021 and 2022.
I've personally been involved in various Sonos Arc tests over the years, including its first What Hi-Fi? review and various comparisons since, and it's still without a doubt the Dolby Atmos soundbar I would choose. In fact, it's the Dolby Atmos soundbar I did choose – I've been using one at home for about a year, a brief flirtation with a pair of HomePod Gen 2's notwithstanding.
If you want to go the whole hog and add true surround (one of the best things about going with a Sonos is that you can expand your system over time), you could add a pair of the new Era 300 or Era 100 speakers, which we've recently reviewed and are superb, but I think they're probably overkill for pure surround duties, so I'd go for a pair of cheaper One SL speakers myself. They're currently available for £132 each at Amazon in another cracking Black Friday deal.
You can also add a subwoofer to the Arc. There are now two – the huge and expensive Sub and the smaller and more affordable Sub Mini. Personally, I don't think the Arc needs an additional subwoofer, so I'd suggest living with the soundbar itself at first and only adding one at a later date if you're really craving more bass.
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