Sonos Arc Ultra Soundbar with Dolby Atmos and Voice Control - 9.1.4 Surround Sound for TV and Music - Black

The media could not be loaded. Excellent soundbar with a premium design and materials. As I have purchased this together with the Sub 4 my review will be for this set up.Note: For reference my previous set up was made up from 2x echo studios on proper stands for height and backed by the echo sub all of which were quite good as a home cinema set up.Positives:Great sound with excellent reproduction across the frequency range and very clear vocals.Music sounds great on it in different formats and genres and movies can be a true delight as it almost reproduces true cinema like experience.Wide sound stage, the bar is shorter than my 65" to but presents a wider sound stage.The bass from the bar alone is insane for a standalone soundbar and is reproduced very well with fairly low extension so you can feel it kicking not just hear it (again as reference it’s got more and better bass than 2 x paired echo studios which is very impressive to say the least). The sound motion driver is not a gimmick.The surround and atmos effects are well represented with excellent effects placement and room adaptation once trueplay is performed.Trueplay itself is great. Although it’s not automatic like on the echo studios the quick option work well and is easy. I have also tried the advanced mode on iOS and it can make a difference by refining the dynamics.Speech enhancement works well and can be refined with 3 levels although the voices sound very clean and clear even without it.The volume and power is just insane. My room is a small to medium open space and the bar can push so loudly I rarely go over 40 out of 100 volume and feel everything like in a cinema (again at 40 its about as loud as 2 echos plus sub at full volume so very impressive).There is a dedicated night mode that helps with that and reduces explosions and high volumes.The app is intuitive and well laid so it’s easy to use. Limited options but just enough to keep things simple and easy. It also loss quickly and works smoothly on iOS.Once paired with the Sub 4 the set up is just insane. The bar diverts some low frequencies to the sub and the sound motion driver handles low to medium transitions with excellent performance.The whole experience is cinema like with soundtracks from music to movies delivered with great quality and kick. Explosions are just insane when connected to the sub 4.Voice assistant works well with Alexa and the built in microphone is surprisingly good.The design is elegant without sticking out too much.Construction is solid with premium plastic materials and the packaging is nice and clever also.Negatives:The app is fairly basic so don’t expect too many options.Trueplay advanced takes a little practice to get the best result.The speech enhancement works well but at higher levels lowers the overall dynamics a bit (high setting is only recommended if you truly struggle).Lack of a physical remote may annoy some (personally I don’t mind and in fact prefer this way of working)The connectivity is just ok. HDMI for eARC and does support Wi-Fi 5Ghz, bluetooth and AirPlay.Personally I struggled with setting it up initially so it wasn’t as streamlined as I expected (but once set up using lan and switching to WiFi I have had no further issues and all works very well).It’s expensive (very much so for a standalone). More so if you build it up with other Sonos devices into an ecosystem. Like I said I have it paired to the new Sub 4.Final thoughts:The sound quality is great standalone and certainly think in many rooms you may not need the subwoofer but if you do want the ultimate experience I recommend getting both (of course if that’s within your budget).It’s not really a negative more of a mention it’s a very loud bar. I would recommend it for a medium to large room as in smaller rooms it can be overwhelming a bit. I have measured 80dB+mat 1.5m at only 40% volume so it’s pretty powerful.If you like Sonos or in general appreciate great sound and a cinematic experience then this might just be fire you.

Great buy!outstanding soundbar that delivers rich, immersive Dolby Atmos audio with deep bass and crystal-clear dialogue.Its sleek design fits seamlessly into any home setup, and the Trueplay tuning ensures optimal sound for your space. With built-in voice assistants, seamless streaming options, and effortless integration with other Sonos speakers, it’s perfect for both movies and music. If you’re looking for premium sound quality and smart features in one package, the Arc Ultra is a fantastic choice!

Bought this for my parents and without prompting they said they felt drawn into the movie we were watching: take this to mean, the sound is spectacular, dialogue is clear and Sonos Arc Ultra just gets out of your way and lets you enjoy whatever you're watching or listening to. Note that I have a Sub 3 and Sonos One surrounds and it harmonises beautifully with them.

There is always better

Amazing bit of kit great sound easy to set up no problems at all

Yeah great sound bar and with my era300’s and a mini sub in my small lounge it easily fills the space and is totally immersive, lets just hope the app doesn’t have anymore problems as it did last year!

Very happy with this sound bar, the sound quality is spot on

The sound bar is definitely an upgrade on my Sony TV's integrated speakers. However, I found I was unable to connect the sound bar to the mobile app. I tried on numerous occasions and tried numerous ways and methods. Searching online, I found I was not alone in having problems with connecting the sound bar to the app. Since the app provides a lot of extra functions, most of which I'm not interested in, I finally gave up. This is not what I expect from a premium priced product.I operate the sound bar volume with my TV remote control.