- Huge improvement compared to a solo original Arc
- Thin profile
- Fantastic sound with excellent bass
- Not a huge improvement compared an original Arc paired with a Sub
- More expensive than previous model
Sonos' new high-end connected soundbar - the Arc Ultra - lives up to its, offering a silly amount of bass in a thin package. It's a really impressive feat, but it also creates a conundrum.
The Arc Ultra is the flagship product for Sonos' "Sound Motion" technology, which it calls "one of the most significant breakthroughs in audio engineering in nearly 100 years".
In short, Sound Motion is said to allow bigger, better sound from smaller products. In addition to improved clarity and depth, Sonos says the Arc Ultra doubles the bass output of its predecessor.
Listening to the Sonos Arc Ultra side-by-side with the original Sonos Arc, the improvement is immediately clear. Tracks like Carly Rae Jepsen's "I Didn't Just Come Here To Dance" feel so much more vibrant and alive. The original Arc was no slouch, but you can hear better bass immediately.
In some cases, pairing the Arc Ultra with a Sonos subwoofer didn't really change the sound much. Nina Simone's "Feeling Good" was almost identical when played through the Arc Ultra by itself and when played through the Arc Ultra with a Sub 4. That's seriously impressive.
The only area where the Arc Ultra really benefited from having a subwoofer paired was with sub-bass. As fantastic as the Arc Ultra is, it can't hit the deep resonate lows you get in songs like Childish Gambino's "3005" or when there's a rumbling explosion in a movie.
This creates a problem, because the Sonos Arc Ultra paired with a Sub sounds very similar to the original Arc paired with a Sub. You might notice a slightly wider sound stage, but it's not a day-and-night upgrade like when the soundbars are used solo.
This wouldn't be as much of an issue if the Arc Ultra was priced in line with the Arc, but it's $300 more expensive, retailing for $1,799. And since the Arc is being discontinued, we're seeing it being sold for under $1,000 at time of writing. You can get the Arc and a Sub for roughly the same price as the Arc Ultra standalone and get a better audio experience.
Side note: there's a new Sonos Sub 4 that was launched to go with the Arc Ultra, but it's acoustically identical to previous generations. The main change is a new matte finish to better match the Arc Ultra, as well as increased processing power and memory. This won't change the sound quality, but it will ensure a longer software life.
Sonos says the Arc Ultra has more dimensionality, and advertises it as a 9.1.4 speaker - up from 5.0.2 on the Arc. While both have room-filling presence from the upward-firing speakers, the extra drivers never felt like they added much. Sound never felt like it was coming from behind me with either the original Arc or Arc Ultra.
The Arc Ultra does have a few other improvements worth touching on, however. It's the first Sonos soundbar that supports Bluetooth as a direct input mechanism - you don't have to go through the Sonos app or AirPlay on your iPhone to send music to it.
There's also improved speed enhancement, giving you more options in terms of bringing voice forward in the mix. Out of the box, I found voices crystal clear, even on lower volumes. Lastly, it has a slightly lower profile (but a longer design), and a redesigned control strip. Both are thoughtful, but huge changes.
Sonos Arc Ultra - Final Thoughts
The Sonos Arc Ultra is a fantastic connected soundbar. In terms of audio performance, it's hard to fault. If you're looking for a top-tier soundbar and don't want to pair it with a subwoofer for whatever reason, the Arc Ultra is easy to recommend.
But if you do want a subwoofer - and my gut says that many dropping top dollar on home audio equipment would - the benefits of going with an Arc Ultra over an Arc are very minor. There's Bluetooth support and more advanced speech enhancement, but you're not getting too much else. In terms of audio quality, the Sonos Arc paired with a Sub sounded almost identical to the Sonos Arc Ultra paired with a Sub.
While Sonos is discontinuing the original Arc, right now you can get it for under $1,000. The previous generation Sub 3 is also available for around $949. At that price, that pair is a better buy than the $1,799 Arc Ultra.
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