Sonos has announced its long-awaited new flagship Dolby Atmos soundbar, and it looks to be an exciting improvement on the much-loved Sonos Arc.
It’s called the Sonos Arc Ultra and it features 14 Sonos-engineered drivers, packed into a chassis that’s pretty much identical to the older model. In its breakdown of the driver configuration, Sonos says the soundbar includes a new Sound Motion subwoofer that’s able to deliver twice as much bass as the existing Arc.
The company says Sound Motion is a groundbreaking achievement, calling it one of the “most significant breakthroughs” in audio engineering in over 100 years. That’s a pretty big claim, and the company says it’s justified as Sound Motion delivers “bigger and weightier” sound than ever before by combining lightweight motors with its small driver units to displace more air and provide deeper bass than before.
There’s also a new centre speaker in the soundbar that’s said to deliver crisp and clear dialogue, along with dedicated side- and upward-firing drivers that help to disperse the sound horizontally and vertically, creating a more immersive sound field. They’re enhanced with Sonos’ custom colinera waveguides for the left, right and centre channels that aim to bring greater clarity to the soundstage.
According to Sonos, the Sonos Arc Ultra delivers a 9.1.4-channel spatial audio experience with Dolby Atmos support, and has the effect of “enveloping” users in sound. But the effect can be enhanced significantly if you want to pair the soundbar with other Sonos products, such as the Sonos Sub 4 or the Sonos Era 300 wireless speakers.
One useful feature pertains to dialogue enhancement, which is all the rage with audio equipment makers these days. With this feature, users can select their preferred level of dialogue to get just the right balance between vocal clarity and sound effects. There’s also Trueplay, which helps to calibrate the soundbar for your specific living room.
Although the Sonos Arc Ultra looks similar to the original Sonos Arc, the company highlights the new product’s “attractive and functional design”. It says it’s slightly slimmer than the older model, with two colour options available, black and white.
To use the Sonos Arc Ultra, you’ll need to download the Sonos app on your Android or iPhone, and the company claims to have improved this. The app is necessary to help setup the soundbar and initiate the Trueplay feature, though once that’s done, you’ll be able to use your TV’s remote control to the other features. That said, streaming sound via the Sonos Arc Ultra will also require the app.
Sonos said the new device is also compatible with its Sonos Ace headphones, providing spatial sound in a private audio environment.
Besides the new soundbar, the company also debuted the Sonos Sub 4, its latest subwoofer, which is designed to be paired with the Arc Ultra. Once again, it looks a lot like its predecessor, in this case the Sonos Sub 3, with a familiar rounded-square chassis, though this one has a matte finish that some may consider to be more stylish. The design means users can choose whether they want to place the Sonos Sub 4 upright or on its side.
New features include dual-force cancelling woofers that help to “virtual eliminate sound distortion” and an upgraded wireless radio that will enhance connectivity with other Sonos audio devices. The company also claims to have future-proofed the latest Sub with increased memory and processing power to support future innovations, though it didn’t provide any hints about what they might be.
Sonos said the Sonos Arc Ultra will go on sale on October 29, priced at £999 in the U.K. and $999 in the U.S., and it can be pre-ordered now. That isn’t a whole lot more than the current £899/$899 price tag of the existing Sonos Arc, though we suspect that price might drop a bit once the new model hits the ships.
As for the Sonos Sub 4, that will cost £799 or $799. Buyers can also obtain a discount when they buy a “full home cinema kit” that bundles the Sonos Arc Ultra and Sonos Sub 4 with the company’s Era 300 and Era 100 speakers.
