It’s the end-of-year star at Sonos, the one that many are likely to want under their tree for Christmas. With this Arc Ultra (1,000 euros), the Californian manufacturer is marketing its most high-end soundbar here, further improved compared to the already very serious Arc.
At first glance, it is difficult to tell them apart. The new model is very similar to its predecessor. Its oblong profile remains the same, as do the thousands of perforations on its matte aluminum covering (here black, but also available in white). We just notice a slight protrusion at the back on which the tactile controls for activating the microphone, playing/pausing, moving to the next or previous track and volume are placed. However, the dimensions remain almost similar: 117.8 x 7.5 x 11.06 cm for 5.9 kg. It even has the luxury of being more than a centimeter thinner than the Arc to be even more discreet under a television. Still the same minimalism that Sonos has accustomed us to for years.
At the back, a small niche houses a few buttons and the connectivity, also as minimalist as ever: an Ethernet port, the power socket and an HDMI port. A second one would have been welcome to be able to connect another source and be more flexible depending on everyone’s configurations. A Bluetooth button allows you to trigger pairing (in version 5.3) and a switch allows you to electrically deactivate the microphone to ensure that it is turned off. In terms of voice assistants, the Arc Ultra is also compatible with the effective Sonos Voice Control (but limited to reading content) and Alexa (more useful when it comes to controlling your connected home, for example). ). For Google Assistant and Siri, however, you will have to continue using another device.
A finally mature application
The configuration takes around ten minutes, but is never painful as you are well guided within the Sonos application. A facility which is one of the strengths of Santa Barbara society. Please note, however, that your television must be equipped with an HDMI ARC or eARC socket to be able to benefit from Dolby Atmos (in Dolby Digital plus in the first case and Dolby TrueHD in the second). It is possible to connect an older television via an optical to HDMI adapter, but in this case, only stereo and 5.1 will be managed. The bar is delivered without a remote control, but you can configure your television’s remote control within the Sonos application to control the sound volume.
The application will also be the nerve center of all the bar settings. Some people will find this annoying, but once the configuration is completely done, there is no need to go back to it. After a turbulent spring of 2024 when it was released, this new version of the application has undergone many updates and is now mature. At no time did we encounter any problems, bugs or limitations as was the case during the first months of availability. It is she who centralizes all the services to which we have access, as well as the various and varied options. It is used from time to time to modify a configuration (optional subwoofer management, verticality of the audio signal, dialogue synchronization, equalization, loudness, Trueplay calibration, etc.) and on a daily basis for audio playback and multiroom management. But the speaker and other models in the Sonos range being AirPlay 2 compatible (but still not Google Cast), it is even possible to do without it in this case.
During configuration, do not hesitate to make a Trueplay adjustment once the speaker is placed in its final position. This functionality is one of the manufacturer’s strengths; it calibrates the sound according to the acoustics of the room. If you have an iPhone, you can do this manually by walking around the room to move the smartphone’s microphone to all corners while the speaker emits sound signals. Otherwise, a slightly less advanced version uses the speaker microphones directly. But in this case, the acoustic signature of the room will necessarily be a little less precise. We also appreciate the loudness, which amplifies bass and treble when using the speaker at low volume to give a little more depth to the whole thing. The night mode is also very useful to avoid excessive dynamic variations (for example during action scenes) likely to disturb other occupants of the house or neighbors. Finally, improving voices suggests putting them forward (at three different levels) to make them more intelligible.
The good find Sound Motion
On the hardware side, Sonos has done well with this Arc Ultra which has no less than 14 speakers and 15 class D amplifiers. Among them, we can count 7 tweeters with silk dome (including two facing upwards), 6 mid -woofers, but above all a new woofer responsible for bass, called Sound Motion. This is the great novelty of this Ultra version compared to the original Arc. This driver is directly inherited from the technology developed by the Dutch company Mayht, bought for $100 million by Sonos in 2022. This process, unique to the market, made headlines during CES 2022 in Las Vegas. It is based here on a transducer made up of a double membrane driven by nothing less than four motors. This quadrupling compared to a usual architecture allows more precise movements of the membranes and a clearer bass rendering. This allows you to do without a bass reflex port or even a passive radiator and provides more responsiveness. Thus, Sonos simply promises a doubling of the bass volume compared to the first Arc of the name, while retaining more or less the same size.
A performance which deserves to be praised, especially since it is largely held, as we were able to notice during our multiple listening sessions. The bass presence is undeniable and surprising given the size and shape of the speaker. During action scenes involving, for example, explosions, the Arc Ultra fulfills its role perfectly thanks to the integration of this Sound Motion integrated mini subwoofer. A definite advantage compared to many other brands on the market! Musically we also find ourselves there, this technology giving a powerful basis to styles which require it, such as hip-hop or techno. Dolby Atmos compatibility is also relevant when you subscribe to a streaming service that takes it into account, offering beautiful spatialization thanks to the width of the device. We are just surprised by a slight withdrawal of the mids which thus penalizes the voices.
Impeccable immersion, with or without subwoofer
However, in home cinema use these are quite warm, even when you do not activate the voice enhancement option. Here too, Dolby Atmos compatibility obviously plays its role fully. If you don’t quite get the impression that the sounds are coming from above (despite two vertical speakers) like in a cinema, you are completely immersed in a very well reproduced sound bubble. The 9.1.4 signal and the speakers located on the two edges of the speaker surround us in a beautiful way and simulate sounds coming from almost everywhere. We are also won over by the dynamics of this Arc Ultra, truly astonishing in the action scenes which turn into fireworks.
For those who want even more, it is possible to add the brand’s new Sub 4 subwoofer to the soundbar. This beautiful baby (38.9 x 40.2 x 15.8 cm and 11.89 kg) retains the same architecture as the previous one, namely two 5 x 8 inch elliptical speakers powered by two class D amplifiers. The drivers always face inwards, towards each other in a “push-push” architecture which creates a force-cancelling effect and removes unwanted distortion as much as possible. Very effective, this Sub 4 is however not essential as we were able to realize during our test. Certainly, it emphasizes the bass very subtly when necessary and forcefully when the content demands it. But the Arc Ultra is already very well equipped on this point, it is intended rather for those who will place the bar in a large room where its power will not be enough to provide sound.
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