While Sonos built their name on multi-room speakers that pump out music all through the house, they do have soundbars for blasting TV audio in their lineup, too. And while the outfit’s soundbars have never quite stood out from the pack the way their speakers have, their newest offering, the Sonos Arc, just might change that.
The new high-end model in the outfit’s soundbar lineup, the device combines a bigger sound and a more powerful bass with a full-on surround system that makes it more immersive than any of their previous releases. Whether you primarily use your TV to enjoy movies, play games, or watch live sporting events, this thing should deliver a wide soundstage that will help send your imagination to entirely different places.
The Sonos Arc is equipped with 11 drivers, namely eight elliptical woofers and three silk-dome tweeters, which are individually powered by 11 Class D amplifiers. These drivers are arranged in five separate arrays, with one each on the left, right, center, left surround, and right surround, allowing it to replicate the sound field of a five-channel surround system that bounces sound off your walls and ceiling for an immersive listening experience. With this surround setup, the soundbar is the outfit’s first to support Dolby 5.0 Atmos, allowing it to reproduce sound that, Sonos claims, delivers “dramatic clarity, detail, and depth.”
You know how some people enjoying dialing up the TV volume really lose themselves in whatever movie, TV show, or concert they’re watching? Sonos knows that all too well, which is why the soundbar has been tuned to support high frequencies way better than any of their previous models, all while putting out more bass, so the low frequencies continue to sound powerful and intact even at the highest volume levels. For night time viewing, they offer a Night Sound mode that flattens dynamics and reduces bass, so you don’t wake up those people at home trying to get some sleep in.
The Sonos Arc is much wider than the outfit’s previous releases, coming in at 45 inches wide, making it much more suited to the larger TVs people tend to own nowadays, all while enabling the outfit to fit in the large number of drivers inside. It has a slim profile, allowing it be placed on the same media cabinet as the TV or mounted up a wall, with the latter actually recommended for the best listening experience. A 273-degree grille out front hides the collection of front-mounted and up-firing speakers, while grille covers on each end do the same for the drivers located in those positions. It measures 45 x 4.5 x 3.4 inches (width x depth x height).
As with many modern devices, the soundbar has a built-in far field mic array that allows it to pick up voice commands for Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant, allowing you to control the soundbar without having to move a finger. Other features include internet connectivity (WiFi, Ethernet), speech enhancement, Apple AirPlay 2 support, a companion app, and a bundled remote.
The Sonos Arc will be available in June, priced at $799.
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