Sonos Arc Ultra review: An impressive upgrade

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Back when I reviewed the Sonos Ace headphones, the team at Sonos sent me one of the original Arc soundbars to test out the Home Theatre mode, which was only available with that soundbar at launch.

It was a solid product! Time got away from me, and I didn’t get to write a review of it before it was collected for the next reviewer.

But even though the Arc was fantastic, I can comfortably say that the Arc Ultra is better. Sonos has refined the look, added simpler controls and improved the audio quality — particularly with the lower end.

While the engineering involved to improve the audio is impressive, the result for users is a soundbar that sounds perfectly balanced. And partnered with the new Sub 4 and a pair of surround speakers, you can have an immersive home theatre experience that also connects to your home’s Sonos speaker ecosystem.

Yep, I’m going to have to buy one. Have you thought about upgrading to a paid subscription to help me with my speaker addiction?

What is the Sonos Arc Ultra offering?

The Arc Ultra is Sonos’s top tiered soundbar. Priced at $1,799, it’s a pretty big step up from the Arc’s $1,499 price tag.

There are a couple of glaringly obvious upgrades over the original Arc. Firstly, you get Bluetooth 5.3 connectivity, so you can use your soundbar like a regular Bluetooth speaker. The Wi-Fi has had a big upgrade from 802.11n to Wi-Fi 6, which adds 5GHz support.

Sonos has tweaked the design as well, though there’s no mistaking the Arc Ultra for anything apart from a soundbar. It measures in at 1,178 mm long, 110.6 mm deep and 75 mm high, vs the original Arc’s 87 mm high, 1,142 mm long and 116 mm deep. So longer, but shorter and thinner.

You get a volume control groove on top, and a dedicated Bluetooth switch on the back of the unit. The back of the soundbar has a flat surface for wall mounting, with the soundbar automatically detecting when it is wall mounted and adjusts its EQ accordingly (though I didn’t get to test that).

But all of those features are on the surface. The real improvements are on the inside of the speaker.

At the core of these improvements is a technology Sonos is calling “Sound Motion”. Engadget has a really great break down of the technology and how it works, but effectively, it’s a new driver design that allows for much better bass.

By using the new Sound Motion drivers, Sonos can deliver a 9.1.4 audio configuration from the Arc Ultra, up from the 5.1.2 arrangement in the original Arc.

It also allows for better voice enhancement and night modes, so you can hear every word spoken in your favourite film even when there are explosions happening all around.

What does the Sonos Arc Ultra do well?

I know Sonos has annoyed quite a few users with the substandard updates to its app this year, but the setup process for the Arc Ultra was straightforward.

I set it up replacing my first generation Beam, integrating into the surround network that consisted of a first-gen Sonos Sub and two satellite Play:1 speakers.

I also added in the Sub 4, rocking twin subwoofers either side of the TV for that full bass experience.

Yet despite all of those speakers, the Arc Ultra delivers one of the most nuanced audio experiences I have had from a soundbar. I’ve been using the Arc Ultra almost every day for the past three weeks, and can say with confidence that it sounds exceptional.

The most obvious example is that not once over the past three weeks have I had to rewind playback to more clearly make out what was being said. With my Beam, quite often I will miss the dialogue among the surround sound or the explosions happening on screen.

With the Arc Ultra, everything came through balanced. Even with the soundbar’s boosted bass capabilities and the combination of two subwoofers, it felt truly immersive and lifelike to watch a movie like The Terminator or TV show like Rings of Power.

Part of the reason everything is so balances is Sonos’ TruePlay calibration tool, and this has had a nice upgrade too since the last time I used it. Rather than having to walk around the room waving my phone up and down like a madman, for the Arc Ultra I just sat in my spot in front of the TV and let the app do all the work.

It makes a big difference to the sound quality, particularly when using the other connected speakers.

The other reason is that Sonos has improved its night mode and its speech enhancement, so that now you can adjust the speech enhancement across three different levels to find the right one for you.

What could the Sonos Arc Ultra improve?

I have two minor gripes with the Arc Ultra.

The first is philosophical. Given the amount of money you are paying for this soundbar (and more if you get the surround speakers and subwoofer), the fact it doesn’t support DTS is a let-down.

To be fair, I didn’t miss it. Almost all of my entertainment is delivered digitally and, typically, in Dolby Atmos, so I didn’t personally miss the DTS support. But I’m still sad it wasn’t there.

The other is the fact the soundbar only offers a single HDMI eARC connection. That means you need to connect all your game consoles, streaming boxes, Blu-ray players and other miscellaneous devices into your TV to be played back through the soundbar.

That becomes a problem if you have a handful of newer games consoles that all require HDMI 2.1 to work properly, but your TV doesn’t have more than a could elf HDMI 2.1 ports.

Again, I don’t necessarily think that Sonos has done the wrong thing here, but it’s something you may have to face, particularly if you are a passionate gamer.

Verdict

Sonos speakers are always better investments for people willing to commit to the Sonos ecosystem. Because in addition to being a solid soundbar for movies and TV, it can also play back music in sync with every other Sonos speaker in your home.

And if you own a pair of Sonos Ace headphones, you can sync it to play back Dolby surround audio at the press of a button.

But the Arc Ultra is worth considering even if you don’t own other Sonos speakers. Its audio quality is exceptionally balanced, beyond previous generations of Sonos soundbars and superior to other models I’ve tested.

The speaker also looks good, is easy to set up and – while it’s not cheap – offers solid value for money.

This is definitely on my wish list.

Buy the Sonos Arc Ultra online

Sonos Arc Ultra

RRP: $1,799

Check Price @ The Good Guys