Sonos has a new soundbar in the build of theArc Ultra , fundamentally replacing the old model and offer upgrades in the process .

While the Arc Ultra looks the same as the original bar , there have been change under the hood with new driving force units that produce good dialogue , a grown bass functioning and the latest version of the Sonos’Trueplay optimisation ; although this comes with a higher damage tag . Some things have n’t changed though with just a unmarried HDMI port and the deficiency of full DTS support .

If you ’ve already got the Arc , is it worth raise to the Arc Ultra ? Having review both , the sign direct to yes but study on to find out more about whether you should indue in the Arc Ultra .

Price

The Sonos Arc Ultra is priced at $ 999 / £ 999 . That ’s a higher start damage than the master copy , which was ab initio $ 799 / £ 799 but was bumped up to $ 899 / £ 899 .

But , since the declaration of the Ultra soundbar , retailers have discounted the original streak by a respectable amount , which implies that the Acr Ultra is a full - on permutation and not a new legal profession to sit alongside the one-time model . As of Dcember 2024 , the original Arc is down to £ 589 in the UK .

Design

There ’s not much that ’s changed in terms of the visual appearancefrom the Arcto the Arc Ultra . It still comes in black or white finishes , and like the original it ’s a farsighted bar that feel weight and chunky .

Eye it up closer and you ’ll find that the Arc Ultra is slightly longer , and if you take to wall - mount the young soundbar , it still supports the same bracket as the original , which is helpful for an easy installation .

In a recessed area is where the physical connections are , such as theHDMI eARCand Ethernet port . To do good from the extra banwidth and high tone sound that it allows for , you ’ll require a television that supports eARC too .

There ’s a forcible switch for enabling Bluetooth ( which the original did n’t support ) , as well as a switch for disabling the built - in microphone if you do n’t want the soundbar listening to what you say .

Otherwise the Arc Ultra looks very familiar to the original Arc . If you liked that pattern , then the new soundbar very much follows on from that .

Features

Inside the Arc Ultra has been totally redesigned . It sport a total of 14 Sonos - engineered drivers to create a 9.1.4 spacial audio frequency experience . This includes the newSound Motionwoofer , six mid - woofer and seven tweeter .

The Sonos Arc is equipped with eleven drivers , including eight elliptical mid - woofers to handle midrange and freshwater bass and three silk - dome tweeters that attend to with the height line .

You ’ll discover the different form ( 9.1.4 compare to 5.0.2 channels ) but the main difference you ’ll ‘ hear ’ with the new bar is the Sound Motion woofer for the low frequencies .

Both put up the app , which after a distrastrous launching is slowly getting back to how it used to be . Like with other Sonos Speaker , the Arc Ultra can be used as a stand - alone speaker or as in part of a group . Both soundbars funding Spotify Connect andAirPlay 2but the in style soundbar brook Bluetooth , which the original lack .

Sonos ’ Trueplay optimises the sound for the elbow room the soundbar it ’s localise in , but the Arc Ultra features the latest version of the calibration prick of the‘Quick ’ version . This is mainly for Android users to use but for iOS exploiter there remains the advanced edition where you wave your iPhone about the elbow room and the soundbar calibrates via that .

Dolby Atmos is supported ( Dolby Digital Plus or Dolby TrueHD ) . Basic DTS supporting is available although neither soundbar has livelihood for DTS - HD MA or DTS : X. The deficiency of full DTS support annoys , especially for the monetary value the Arc Ultra is sell at .

The Sonos Arc Ultra is compatible with the Sonos Ace headphones , and with these earphone you’re able to beam audio from the soundbar to your ears for a virtual environs effect . Functionally , we discover there ’s no divergence between using theSonos Aceheadphones with the original Arc and the Arc Ultra ; it works in the same way .

Sound Quality

It ’d be odd if Sonos enacted all these change to the audio public presentation if they did n’t cross off a fracture in the levelheaded quality . We found the big change with the Sonos Arc Ultra is in its speech manner of speaking , with the centre transmission channel optimised to deliver readable dialogue . We ascertain with the old Arc there were time we ’d struggle to hear some mo of a film or a video serial but the Arc Ultra is clean and clearer .

With the original soundbar the freshwater bass was a fleck of a stark shaft . With the Arc Ultra , the Sound Motion engineering science bass meld into the soundstage , which build the transition from dispirited - frequency to high - frequency much smoother . To us , the phone is much more co-ordinated and cohesive than it was on the original Arc .

In terms of immersion , the Sonos Arc Ultra is skilful than its predecessor , too . watch the opening of Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny and the phone of the submarine sandwich is as if it ’s just above you . Watching the nosepiece fight scene in Black Panther Wakanda Forever , the spears swoop and hyphen around the sound stage , and every shock is felt . The Arc Ultra is n’t so just at is mimicking rearward channels but you’re able to fix that by impart rearward speaker .

For music the Arc Ultra is an improvement over the Arc , the basso is songs is more reliably reproduce while the item and clarity levels are higher too . It certainly performs better with medicine than the original managed to do .

Verdict

The Sonos Arc Ultra is a big step up over the original model , especially when it comes to turn in dialog and get bass . We ’re still frustrated by some aspects that have n’t switch , such as the want of any HDMI inputs and the deficiency of full DTS audio support .

But take the Arc Ultra for what it is and it delivers a stronger , more cohesive and immersive sound than the original . It derive at an extra monetary value but we suppose it ’s deserving the jump in price .