Sonos has finally debuted its new Arc Ultra soundbar. Considering it’s the company’s new top-end offering, it’s been launched with not-a-lot of fanfare and has clearly been delayed.
I guess that’s hardly surprising considering Sonos’ recent travails with one of the worst app launches in recent memory and subsequently having to offer up commitments to future quality checks to appease raging fans.
All of that is a shame, because the $999/£999 Sonos Arc Ultra should be the best Sonos speaker there has yet been – it’s incredible on paper, utilising cutting-edge tech that Sonos acquired in 2022 with the purchase of Dutch firm Mayht. Sonos calls this tech SoundMotion and it’s debuting on the woofer inside the Arc Ultra. Essentially SoundMotion enables bigger sound from smaller components. Here, it’s the size of the transducers that convert the electronic signal into sound. This has meant that Sonos has been able to give the new soundbar a ‘slimmer appearance’. It has reduced power consumption than Arc, too, by around 20 percent.
Naturally, Dolby Atmos is fully supported on the unit. There are a huge 14 drivers inside in total (arranged in a 9.1.4 configuration instead of the Sonos Arc’s 5.1.2) including tweeters with waveguides on either end to direct the sound. As you’d expect from Sonos, you’ll be able to tune the Arc Ultra to your room with the company’s well-known Trueplay tech. The company is claiming that the new bar has double the bass output of the existing Arc.
Interestingly, Sonos says it has worked hard at improving the clarity of dialogue with Arc Ultra, with a new centre channel design and a Speech Enhancement feature in the app that enables you to dial up the dialogue if you’re finding it hard to follow. There are three distinct modes. That sounds like a welcome feature to us, especially for particular shows where there are challenges with hearing what people are saying above the action.
As you’d expect, you can control the Arc Ultra through the Sonos app, Sonos Voice Control, or Amazon Alexa while it supports Apple’s AirPlay 2 and Bluetooth (for playback from other devices). There are also touch controls on the soundbar, too, which now have a ‘dedicated ledge’ behind the main soundbar.
Sonos has also debuted a new version of its high-end Sub to sit alongside the Arc Ultra, called Sub 4 – again to sit above the Sub Mini as Sonos’ sub for larger spaces and you can use two in the same setup should you wish. The $799/£799 Sub 4 has a matte finish and upgraded internals – in particular on the Wi-Fi front – for lower power consumption. Crucially there’s also a better subwoofer. Both Arc Ultra and Sub 4 will be available from October 29. As you’d expect from a Sonos product, it’s available in black and white.