- Sometimes I can tell I'm
dealing with a great product because I can't wait to
make a video about it. Other times, it's because I find making
the video darn near impossible 'cause every time I sit down to use it, I end up playing with
it instead of working. And that's not really what
I expected from a soundbar. Like, who even cares about soundbars? If you wanted a clean set up, you'd just use your built-in audio. And if you wanted decent sound quality, you'd buy real speakers. And yet, here we are. Many attempts to write this video that turned into movie
watching sessions later, and I'm finally ready to
tell you about my time with the Sonos Arc. A soundbar, that doesn't suck. Today's video is brought
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10 to get 10% off your order at the link below. (upbeat music) The last time I formally
reviewed a Sonos product, back in 2014, I loved both the style and the
seamless software experience. But I was let down by the price, and the sound quality, which is sort of a bummer for a speaker. Fast forward to today, and immediately upon opening the box, the style was as good or
better than last time. The Arc features a clean
and modern industrial design that's outstanding for its ability to not stand out and blend in
perfectly with its environment, leaving my full attention for my TV. And then things quickly fell apart when I got to the software. As a user of some of Sonos's older home speakers and amplifiers, I was immediately prompted,
during my Arc setup, to update to the new S2
version of their app. And then I was warned that I actually might have
to split my older devices and newer ones, according
to compatibility. That's not great for a whole home unified
ecosystem experience. Making me even more hesitant was the atrocious rating of the S2 app on the Google Play Store. So I actually ended up not
even listening to the Arc for the first couple of days while I researched what
the impact was gonna be. The thing is, updates on devices like this have a nasty habit of being irreversible. And it didn't work at all without going through the setup process. Making matters worse, my enthusiasm for it took
another hit when I realized that the Arc has no built in HDMI switch. That's right, it doesn't even have a single HTMI input to replace the eARC one
that it occupies in your TV. That takes me down from five total inputs, with my previous LG soundbar, to just three. Fortunately on the software side, my legacy Sonos Bridge was
the only problematic device and it's no longer required anyway. So I was able to just take it out and migrate everything to the S2 app, which lets you fine tune
tonality and audio sync along with allowing you to turn off the light for better immersion, disable the touch controls if
you have a curious toddler, and toggle the IR repeater function, depending on whether the Arc blocks your TV remote's receiver or not. I felt like the app
could use some knobs for DSP adjustments, like, you know, how big the room should
sound and stuff like that. But overall I appreciated the
less is more simplicity of it. As for the lack of HTMI ports, well, that's just less is less and I'm still
pretty unhappy about it. My Logitech Harmony universal remote did sync up with the Arc flawlessly. So, I guess it's just a matter of adding an HTMI switch to
my setup or something. But I do still think that
that's a big deficiency in a product at this price, when I can buy a well-rated one on Amazon for literally half the price that allows me to connect more devices, includes surround speakers, and also includes a subwoofer. Yes, my friends, at a $1,000 US, with the only real extras
being Dolby Atmos support with upward firing speakers, and of course Sonos's whole
home audio synchronization through their app or Apple AirPlay 2, the Arc had a lot to live up for me when I turned it on for the first time. Shockingly, despite my "Press X to doubt" initial reaction to the
marketing materials that include the usual nonsense about Oscar-winning sound engineers, blessing it with their plus five, one of acoustic brilliance or whatever. I mean it's still a soundbar, right? No, actually. It made a really good first impression. Right out of the gate, the Arc impressed me with its
outstanding dialogue clarity. Men, women, children, groups of men, women, and
children talking over each other. All of them were noticeably
better than my previous soundbar to the point where, I can't even find any complaints compared to my old 3.1 setup with a dedicated A/V receiver. That's a really big deal. Remember guys, a lot of people
start shopping for a soundbar in the first place because they're having
trouble understanding what people are saying on
their moving picture box. And, it only got better from there. The LG setup that I replaced was more expensive and
came with a subwoofer. But, frankly speaking, outside of scenes with very low engine rumbles
or large explosions, I couldn't see the benefit
of my old two-piece set up against the Arc all by its lonesome. But then again, my previous soundbar
also felt good enough, until I sat down and watched one of the more musical
episodes of "My Little Pony" with my kids, only to realize that the background music, anytime there was lyrics, was an absolute mess. I mean, it was so bad
that I was at the point where I was considering tearing
out the new media console to make room to put my speakers back in. Until I hooked up the Arc. It was an absolute breath of fresh air. I mean, don't kid yourself. It's not a full fledged DIY-grade home theater setup with a receiver. And I'm sure there's better
bang for the buck out there. But in such a compact
and attractive package, I have no complaints with
respect to performance, none. Everything from clarity
to soundstage to rumble, vastly exceeded my expectations. And if you're the kind of person who wants good enough performance
without a mess of wires, you can stop watching now, and buy it at the link
in the video description. Seal of approval, at least, for news and TV. If you intend to make the Arc the center of your movie
watching experience, and you want even better performance, Sonos also allows you to add a subwoofer. So I asked if they could send one over. They dug out a loaner unit
of their Generation 2 sub, and I went through the five minute process of adding it to my home setup and assigning it to the
same room as the Arc. The only thing here that I
found a little unintuitive was the calibration process, where the sub plays a loud low note and then asks you to dial it
back if it's overwhelming. I found it very overwhelming
and I sent it to minus three, but then I found that when I
actually loaded up any content I needed to crank it
way back up to default. Though, thankfully, that was easy enough to
do from within the app. As for how much the sub helps, well, if you like the channel, then we really do appreciate if you do it. Aye, get it (laughs) no? Anyway, sorry. As for how much the subwoofer helps. If I was spending this kind of money, I would go for it. It even manages to look
good in my living room. But the difference in experience wasn't nearly as night and
day as I was expecting, based on my experiences with
other sub-less soundbar setups. And I don't mean that as a
criticism of the Gen 2 sub you know, should've got the Gen 3, it's reasonably punchy, it's not over done. I just mean that the Arc
does a pretty good job of handling the low end on its own. And anyone who's living
in a townhouse or a condo should just save their money and buy a stealth hoodie
on lttstore.com instead. The biggest difference for me was that allowing the sub to take some of that low end burden off of the Arc, really lets the Arc put
forward its best clarity. Dialogue, background effects, and music were all well separated and
a little easier to enjoy without any of them
distracting from each other, with the Arc plus sub combo. So in conclusion, Sonos, it might not save your company
from your other big problems. Like simply not being able
to build enough products to meet customer demand, as of the time of writing there's a three week wait for the Arc, but you guys have clearly come a long way in terms of bringing your performance up to the same level as your software. And, I'm getting a call right now. But I'm like three
words away from the end. I'm pleasantly surprised. Who is this? Hi. Oh, he just wanted me to
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Why is everyone upset about his video?
I read this post Elise this morning thinking he goes the Arc to shreds, I’ve just watched it and he constantly praises it... what are your problems?
Next Level Acoustics makes an articulating ARC bracket called the UM1-A that has been reviewed by a few industry media sources.
Making me wonder if i should sell my beam and sub for the arc... I'm moving to an apartment anyways
Don’t understand why people are shitting on his review, thought it was honest enough about the product, said Sonos has come a long way and the actual product is decent but the lack of ports is frustrating as it probably is for people who just want the TV, the bar, maybe a cable TV box and no extra’s
I think you can probably find better reviews. Linus does fun videos for masses, but they're often pretty biased, incomplete and full of errors.
I wouldn't base a purchase decision on a Linus video. They're fun, light entertainment though.
This is an ok review except one thing.. The fact that he forgot to mention or configure the Arc with Trueplay. Some may say it is not such a big deal, but i think it is.
Is it just me getting mad at the plant blocking the screen view in the bottom right corner?
I mean, you buy (or get for free in his case) a 77" OLED and then you put a lavander plant in front of it? Probably event affecting the sound diffusion.
Never once mentioned that he gave it a bad review, so I'm missing your point with that statement.
No issue with him mentioning competitor products either, but advertising other items that have nothing to do with the product annoys me, hence my comments.
You're obviously not going to agree with me and that's fine, but I'll not give a positive response to a review, that in my opinion, was a poor one - and that can be in the positive or negative, regarding his opinion.