The Sonos Ray and Sonos Arc sit at either end of the Californian company ’s soundbar range of a function , the Ray is its chintzy and bare bar to date , while the Arc is built to show off Hollywood blockbuster at their good .
TheSonos Rayis , at the time of this comparison , sit as Sonos ’ entry floor gadget for improving the goggle box speech sound . TheSonos Arcwas the company ’s first effort in bringingDolby Atmosto living room , producing the overhead effects needed to pull off immersive audio .
Each has its own appeal , but in the Sonos Ray vs Sonos Arc , which would suit you best ?
Price
The Sonos Ray is price at $ 279 / £ 279 / € 298 / CAD$349 / AUD$399 , making it by far the cheapest legal profession in Sonos ’ chain . The Sonos Arc stand at the top of the pricing ladder at £ 899 / $ 899 / € 999 / CAD$1099 / AUD$1499 .
It ’s obvious the Ray would bring through anyone a substantial amount of money , but the Ray and Arc pop the question take issue viewpoint on better sound in the living elbow room .
Design
All of Sonos ’ bars since the originalSonos Beamhave adhered to the ship’s company ’s industrial esthetic , minimalist in appearance , lash out edges and a front - facing acoustic mesh . The master difference here is the sizing , the Arc is 90 x 1140 x 115 mm , while the Ray is 71 x 559 x 95 mm ( HWD ) .
The Ray is better for smaller place and can even be put into your telly single-foot to salve more space , while the Arc is best accommodate on a broad small-arm of a piece of furniture in front of a TV . You wo n’t want to extend the top of the Arc either , as that would break up the effectiveness of the upfiring speakers used to make the Atmos effect .
The Ray suits TVs up to 55 - inches , while the Arc takes over from ( 55 - column inch or more ) , so that will give concerned customers any meter reading of how each bar is intend to mould with your survive curing - up . Both can be wall - mount with an optional bespoke mount available from the Sonos website .
Both attend different spaces , so if you ’re someone who ’s not concerned in Atmos and has a smaller TV / way , the Ray would be the direction to go in . For bigger way and those who do desire Atmos compatibility , then it ’s the Arc .
Features
Sonos incline to put up consistent feature supporting across its soundbar models , but the Ray differs in that it does n’t put up support for HDMI .
The Ray relies on an optical input for obtain audio , and Sonos have plump in this direction in an attempt to pop the question the blanket compatibility with new and quondam TVs . You also get an Ethernet port for hooking up to the Internet to connect to the soundbar to the Sonos S2 ecosystem .
With the Arc , it does support HDMI ( eARC ) , although it does n’t feature an optical connection , utilise an optical adapter if your TV does n’t supportan ARCor eARC connectedness . HDMI CEC on allows for control over power and mass , whereas with the Ray ’s IR stimulus , it has to be tune to receive the signal from the TV ’s remote . We found this aspect to be more fiddly than it should be , and that bump up volume on the Ray can also bump up volume on the the TV . To get past this , you should hold as to whether your TV ’s speakers can be turn off .
Both models support Sonos ’ S2 app ( you could find out here whichother devices are compatible ) . Using the Sonos app both soundbar can be used in a multi - room set - up alongside other Sonos Speaker .
The S2 app supportsSpotify , Tidal , Qobuz andApple Musicstreaming services along with oodles more , andthere ’s also access to Sonos Radio , which wreak with its 60,000 plus radio stations . Apple’sAirPlay 2features on both model , which bring casting from iOS twist into the fray .
Out of the two , the Arc is the smarter try , with financial support for Alexa and Google Assistant with its integrated far - sphere microphones there to pick up your voice . The Sonos Ray does n’t feature any microphone like the Roam SL andOne SL , and therefore does n’t feature any digital aid .
Trueplayis the mean value by which the speaker ’s phone is calibrated to suit the surround it ’s in to deliver optimal sound , and both the Ray and Arc make use of this . finally , the Arc stand Dolby Atmos , Dolby Audio , Stereo PCM and DTS Digital Surround , while the Ray drops the Atmos as it does n’t have the speakers / processing for it , nor can Atmos be played through an optical connection .
The Crux Australis of this section whether youwant a soundbarto go with an older boob tube or you ’re looking for a partner with a raw Dolby Atmos compatible video . For the latter it ’s the Arc , and for the former the Ray is intimately suited .
Performance
With the Arc an Atmos soundbar , it produces a heavy , wide and taller soundstage than the Ray . Its talker set - up sport three silk bean tweeter and eight elliptical mid / bass driver . Two mid - deep machine driver blast upwards for the acme channels , while another two ride at either end to advertise audio frequency out wide with three are titled upward at the front to fire sound towards the auditor .
One thing we noted with the Arc was that the conversion between midrange and bass is not wholly unified , so it ’s not the most seamless performing artist in that horse sense . The top end of frequency stove is sharply determine , freshwater bass hits toilsome and the mid - reach is roomy and elaborate . Aside from that badly - define crosswalk between midrange and bass , it ’s an impressive sounding good example .
The Ray features four Class - D amplifier that control two tweeter , two full - cooking stove mid - woofers , with two curl low - velocity porthole for bass . wave guide flank the odd and right speaker to push audio out wide . The resolution is a surprisingly wide soundstage for its size of it , outspoken clarity is improved over a TV and freshwater bass is in effect , though not as elbow room - shaking as the Arc can make .
With euphony , the Arc shows front in the gloomy - end regions , with a textured mid - range performance and fine reproduction of high final stage frequency . The disparity between midrange and bass is more noticeable with euphony than it is with films , but this is an gratifying sounding effort nonetheless . The Ray shows decent skill with music , lend out a full amount of particular and nuance , although sea bass is less impactful in its description and the Ray go flatter than any other soundbar Sonos propose . For more bass weight and deepness , there ’s always the option of adding the Sonos Sub .
The Arc is the well - sound speaker unit , but choosing it will count on other view we ’ve mentioned elsewhere . Do you have enough room and a television that supports Atmos soundtracks ? If so then you ’d probably make a move for the Arc . If not , then the Ray carry itself well , though you ’ll have to live with the idea that it is more compromised in the livery of its sound recording .
Verdict
The Ray is the tinny Sonos ’ soundbar and well beseem for old TVs or models that do n’t feature HDMI port . With no digital aid , this is a soundbar for those who simply need to improve the sound and not have a Browning automatic rifle that doubles up as a voguish verbalizer . For the toll it ’s very undecomposed value .
For bigger rooms the Arc is the better choice , but if you have a smaller elbow room but still want Atmos support then theSonos Beam Gen 2may stake . Sonos ’ current origin - up now has good deal of options to gibe your living circumstances , and all impressment in the operation they offer .
