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[User.45]

Sonos arrived Friday, did a test run by sitting it on a barstool/the box, under the TV - everything worked about as simple as you could expect. I had the app already installed, so I just got the phone near the new speaker, it registered it on our WiFi, so control through the app, and AirPlay, and by simply connecting the devices like this: Apple TV >> TV >> Sonos, the ATV remote seamlessly handles volume control.

Sonos definitely has some Apple DNA, in the design, marketing, even the packaging, a locked/lift off box, the speaker itself was in a cloth bag, it actually came with what I'd assume is an eARC cable (so that was $10 I didn't need to spend ...). It has 11 speakers (pointing at different angles), 11 amps, microphone arrays - you can tune it to the room with your phone, it supports dozens of formats (DD, DD+, Atmost, etc.)

The really neat thing with Sonos, is you add speakers, and everything just works together, via WiFi, want some physical rear channels? Buy a pair, plug them in, register in the app, done.

Since our TV is on a wall mount, I went with the Sanus mount, specifically designed for the Arc, It bolts into the VESA mounts on the TV then supplies replacement hardware for your original mounting bracket, very clever design - it's adjustable vertically and horizontally, so you can get it perfectly under and in front of the TV, it almost looks like it's built in. I've got other Sanus products, they're always well engineered, and very high quality.

This is the mount FYI:

The sound is pretty stunning, especially the depth/soundstaging, dialogue is beautifully clear and isolated, there's additional modes to tweak the latter. Some of the effects from the side channels are crazy, I've had some reasonably decent surround setups, and this is excellent, with 1/10th the clutter.

Speaking of: removed multiple speakers, stands, meters of wiring - and the plan is to move the AVR as well (with the speaker, into a another room), since it kind of serves no purpose (for convenience, I will likely pick up a good switcher to handle a few HDMI sources).

The room seems so much less crowded, thrilled with the final result of audio + aesthetics

Surround Set with Sonos Arc, Sub, & One | Sonos

Add cinematic surround sound to your home entertainment with Arc in the center, Sub providing the bass, and a pair of Sonos Ones as rear speakers. Experience enveloping sound from all angles with crystal clarity and rumbling bass. Easily control sound with your remote, the app, and your voice.

www.sonos.com

Are you planning to get this?

 

[Thomas Veil]

We have a 50” 1080p Samsung in our living room- I always thought the picture was almost too good- things seemed kinda weirdly real but artificial.

It’s likely the motion smoothing and edge enhancement features in the set. When I got my new 4k 60” about 2 years ago to replace an old 1080p 52” that died, the picture definitely looked much sharper at 10’ viewing distance. The HDR was even more of a noticeable difference.

But the “soap opera effect“ took me 3 days to get rid of. I had to go through the menus for each source (where “source” is not just a port, but the type of signal coming through the port - it’s resolution, whether it has HDR, etc.), and disable a bunch of crap. Now everything looks properly cinematic, without that artificial look you are talking about. I heard the newer sets might have a simpler way to turn all that off.

I think you've pretty much nailed it there. Sometimes it's also due to contrast settings. Despite having enormous ranges of advertised contrast, some TVs don't really live up to the hype in that category. And that's not even counting how many come out of the box with settings that give the picture a too-bright, almost cartoony look.

My house is getting bored. What should I do to entertain it, before it gets into a fight with the garage?

Tell it to go outside and play with some of the other houses.

 

[diamond.g]

I think you've pretty much nailed it there. Sometimes it's also due to contrast settings. Despite having enormous ranges of advertised contrast, some TVs don't really live up to the hype in that category. And that's not even counting how many come out of the box with settings that give the picture a too-bright, almost cartoony look.


Tell it to go outside and play with some of the other houses.

I found Filmmaker mode (LG) seems to disable all of the ”Demo mode” settings. It was jarring watching a YT test video and seeing ghosting, until I remember I disabled all the motion fixing stuff (BFI, motion smoothing etc).

I am sure other sets have a similar mode.

 

[DT]

The Sonos Arc has really opened up over the last week, bass is richer, some of the Atmos content is pretty cosmic, considering the source. Apparently the true sound also continues to fine tune the audio, it's definitely better than it was on day one, I'm highly satisfied. And now: no wires, no stands, no speakers, no AVR (well, it's still sitting on the AV rack, not sure if it's going to stay, FWIW, it's actually a Sanus modular, same brand the Arc mount).

Did you mention the price on these? Are there wireless rear speakers?

The Arc is $899, but you can score a discount if you check around or Sonos offers refurb (and you can of course pay full price Amazon, B&H, BB, Costco etc., all carry them as well, usually without a discount, Costco is $50 cheaper). I picked up a 15% discount, and free shipping (direct from Sonos).

As I mentioned, this has 11 discrete amps and speakers, including side, front and top firing drivers, and it has some pretty sophisticated audio tech. You can easily add rears, fronts, sub(s), completely wireless, Sonos has a polished execution that reminds me of Apple.

 

[User.45]

The Sonos Arc has really opened up over the last week, bass is richer, some of the Atmos content is pretty cosmic, considering the source. Apparently the true sound also continues to fine tune the audio, it's definitely better than it was on day one, I'm highly satisfied. And now: no wires, no stands, no speakers, no AVR (well, it's still sitting on the AV rack, not sure if it's going to stay, FWIW, it's actually a Sanus modular, same brand the Arc mount).



The Arc is $899, but you can score a discount if you check around or Sonos offers refurb (and you can of course pay full price Amazon, B&H, BB, Costco etc., all carry them as well, usually without a discount, Costco is $50 cheaper). I picked up a 15% discount, and free shipping (direct from Sonos).

As I mentioned, this has 11 discrete amps and speakers, including side, front and top firing drivers, and it has some pretty sophisticated audio tech. You can easily add rears, fronts, sub(s), completely wireless, Sonos has a polished execution that reminds me of Apple.

Their long-terms support is pretty impressive indeed. What is suppling the signal to your Arc? HDMI? Any issues with delay? Can that single bar fill the room? Are you missing the sub?

 

[DT]

Their long-terms support is pretty impressive indeed. What is suppling the signal to your Arc? HDMI? Any issues with delay? Can that single bar fill the room? Are you missing the sub?

Just for the heck of it, the old setup was this:

AppleTV & Other Devices --> AVR --> TV, the speakers of course running from the amp'ed analog/speaker output on the AVR

So the AVR was also providing switching duties (in addition to amp/audio decoding). Had very occasional audio sync issues, mostly "lip sync", pretty minor (it might have been the AVR).

New setup is much simpler:

AppleTV --[HDMI2.1/18Gbps/ARC ~15']--> TV --[HDMI2.1/48Gbps/eARC ~ 3'] --> Sonos Arc

Of course, what's missing is the "Other Devices", I could use the AVR to switch, but that adds complexity, and I think I want to use it on the speakers I removed, so I'm looking into a very small HDMI switcher (with proper 2.1/4K @ 120Hz support), but honestly, I could just about switch the cable manually it's done so infrequently.

No delay, audio and video is perfectly in sync. According to the app, it's receiving/decoding various audio specs as expected, including Atmos (when present, some Marvel stuff on D+ sounds fantastic).

It has both ethernet and WiFi, and uses that for all speaker communications, it's nuts to think a "speaker" has a total of 1+4GB storage, and a 1.4GHz quad-core processor, you can monitor, airplay, everything right from their app.

As far as room filling sound, I suppose YMMV, has 11 discrete amps/drivers, it's pretty powerful, like easily too loud. At our typical listening volume, dialog, effects and a reasonable amount of bass is present. The main TV room where it's located is like 14x14 with an open "back wall" that leads into a 18+ deep (and same width) kitchen area and it's loud and extraordinarily clear standing in there as well.

Good question about the sub. I mean, let's be honest, it would be better, when you add it, the system compensates, like adjusts the crossovers, balances everything out - while I'm not into ear shattering, explosion sound effects, I'm sure it really richens up the music experience, if you push the low frequency hard (for music) it's just physics, a low freq driver the size that's in the arc can't keep up. I'd say my chances of adding a sub are better than 50/50.

 

[DT]

@P_X

I don't know if you ever watch Peter Pee, love this guy, he has some good reviews/analysis of Sonos gear, including the Arc (and yes, I giggle at his name because I'm an immature idiot ...).

This was one I watched a few times, because I had kind of set an in-head budget, and I considered a Beam Gen 2 + Sub vs. the Arc (without sub), interesting that the Beam didn't open up as much as the Arc when each is combined with the sub (I would've expected the less capable soundbar to compensate more):



And here's a great one on just the Arc being run alone, with one sub and then with a dual sub setup:

 

[DT]

FMA.

There was an insane Sonos deal, I suspect an old discount code, I tried to get in on it, BTT the email arrived from SlickDeals, it was no longer valid. I would've definitely scored a sub

 

[User.45]

FMA.

There was an insane Sonos deal, I suspect an old discount code, I tried to get in on it, BTT the email arrived from SlickDeals, it was no longer valid. I would've definitely scored a sub

the demo above looks pretty interesting. Arc could be a super convenient addition to me. The second video with the 2 subs is interesting and sounds expensive. Since I'm conservative with the bass boost, I'd use it to improve SNR of low mids (200-500), but that's the more directional part of the bass, so yeah that would probably demand 2 subs. THough if I could extend my Mackies with it it could be worth it.

*It seems to cross over between 110 and 60Hz. Wonder if this can actually be paired with non-sonos wired speakers.

 

[Huntn]

After a year of watching a 65” 4k Visio TV, regarding the 55” Sony it replaced, I finally got the Sony out of the guest bedroom, and made the effort to swap a tall TV Armoir with a tall but not as tall chest in the closet, so I could get it up in our bedroom (Ha ha in advance ) First thing I noticed was the picture was not as good. There was a time I might have said I didn’t see the difference, but there is a definite difference. I mean the 2k picture is fine for the bedroom, but 4k is the standard to beat. Waiting on the 8k, 90”.

​

 

[DT]

This was hinted at in some software config files several months ago, looks like it's close:

This is the design of Sonos’ upcoming Sub Mini

The Sub Mini is cylinder-shaped and smaller than the Sub.

www.theverge.com

Sonos also just released their new entry level soundbar:

Ray: A Small Soundbar for TV and Gaming - Sonos

Introducing Ray, the compact soundbar perfect for small to medium rooms, and equipped with an optical connection for TVs and PC gaming alike. Ray achieves perfect balance with custom acoustics and anti-distortion technology. Upgrade your digital audio with Sonos.

www.sonos.com

Might be looking at a nice setup with a Ray + Mini Sub for under $700

 

[DT]

I mean, let's be honest, it would be better, when you add it, the system compensates, like adjusts the crossovers, balances everything out - while I'm not into ear shattering, explosion sound effects, I'm sure it really richens up the music experience, if you push the low frequency hard (for music) it's just physics, a low freq driver the size that's in the arc can't keep up. I'd say my chances of adding a sub are better than 50/50.

I guess it's more like 100%, since one is on the way.

 

[DT]

I guess it's more like 100%, since one is on the way.

It didn't ship till a few days later, then as I assumed would happen, the delivery date was while we were OOT, so I put a va-ca hold on FedEx through Sunday (yesterday), and it arrived today.

Wow. Yeah, this totally sorts out the low end, moves the Arc totally into its frequency sweet spots. Holy hell, music (which wasn't the primary motivation of this purchase) is so good, this may become my primary listening choice (even from a room away).

The setup experience is so Apple-like, unbox (really nice packaging, just like opening a Mac), attach one cable, the power, plug it in - open the Sonos app, it sees the device, register it into the living room, it knows we already have an Arc, configures everything, it does an update on the Sub firmware, changes the tuning/crossover points to work with the Arc.

Done. So easy, and it can sit anywhere, and you can add a 2nd one too!

 

[Edd]

It didn't ship till a few days later, then as I assumed would happen, the delivery date was while we were OOT, so I put a va-ca hold on FedEx through Sunday (yesterday), and it arrived today.

Wow. Yeah, this totally sorts out the low end, moves the Arc totally into its frequency sweet spots. Holy hell, music (which wasn't the primary motivation of this purchase) is so good, this may become my primary listening choice (even from a room away).

The setup experience is so Apple-like, unbox (really nice packaging, just like opening a Mac), attach one cable, the power, plug it in - open the Sonos app, it sees the device, register it into the living room, it knows we already have an Arc, configures everything, it does an update on the Sub firmware, changes the tuning/crossover points to work with the Arc.

Done. So easy, and it can sit anywhere, and you can add a 2nd one too!

Love Sonos. I'd replace my Playbase with an Arc but hard to justify, with cost and size of the space. I also may have an issue with using an HDMI connected speaker (Playbase is optical only) because my last TV would not supply sound to my TV headphone cradle IF the connected speaker was HDMI. My last TV was Sony with a Sony speaker so that could be a brand-specific issue. I had to switch that speaker to optical connection (wasn't happy about that) for the headphones to function at all. And there are times when headphones come in so handy, I'm surprised everyone doesn't have a set connected to the TV.

 

[DT]

Love Sonos. I'd replace my Playbase with an Arc but hard to justify, with cost and size of the space. I also may have an issue with using an HDMI connected speaker (Playbase is optical only) because my last TV would not supply sound to my TV headphone cradle IF the connected speaker was HDMI. My last TV was Sony with a Sony speaker so that could be a brand-specific issue. I had to switch that speaker to optical connection (wasn't happy about that) for the headphones to function at all. And there are times when headphones come in so handy, I'm surprised everyone doesn't have a set connected to the TV.

I'd been interested in their gear for a while, I have friends that love it, not just the audio itself, but the overall ownership experience.

I could've done a full set of replacement speakers, run wire, continued to use the AVR, etc., and I've certainly spent a ton of money in the past on discrete setups, hell, I recall spending, well, a bunch, on just a stereo setup for audio only. This seems to be a perfect mix of:

Audio quality
Features
Convenience/simplicity
Design/aesthetics

Sonos just updated their "smart" functions for volume which works perfectly, so now I can "Hey Sonos" (snicker ...) to the Arc and easily do things like adjust the volume.

 

[DT]

We finally did the full reorg/redesign downstairs, I had a bunch of shit just sitting there, not in use, not even plugged in.

So now, downstairs, the setup is: AppleTV >> TV >> Sonos, that's it. I swapped out my long HDMI that was run down some conduit, making that simpler, so that now holds just a power extension and an ethernet cable. The AppleTV is on the mantle, doesn't need to be LOS but I like to see the light, on the other side (again, where I can see the status light), I have a Airport setup as an AP, and using the ethernet ports for the ATV and Sonos Arc, Sub is on WiFi and it's just chillin' in the corner where the rack used to be (I'm going to find some kind LED for light it )

The room downstairs is so much less crowded, thrilled with the final result of audio + aesthetics + features.

If we do decide to setup a console again, it could also go on the mantel, standing the side, tucked behind the TV, I may still do that with our XB1S since it's our BD player (and who knows, we might occasionally fire up a game )

FWIW, the rack went into the bedroom, it's a nice Sanus piece, swapped out the existing, mediocre rack, had to drop a shelf from the Sanus (it's modular) to get our desired height, it wound up perfectly, slightly higher. I had originally thought about using the AVR, speakers in the bedroom, but same thing, a bunch of wires, etc., I think I'll just wait and do a Sonos Ray and one of their Mini Subs when they eventually drop.

 

[DT]

If we do decide to setup a console again, it could also go on the mantel, standing the side, tucked behind the TV, I may still do that with our XB1S since it's our BD player (and who knows, we might occasionally fire up a game )

I did this.

Scored a "official" stand, where it orients the XB on the side, had a power strip already on the mantel so power solved.

I was being dense about needing an AV switcher, I'm used to thinking like: Source >> AVR - [speakers] - >> TV, where with the Sonos it's Source >> TV >> Sonos [speakers]. So simple enough, just used an HDMI port right on the TV (3 of 4 in use) to the XB.

I fired up a BD (Event Horizon), had a couple of quick video tweaks, looks good. Selected a good scene to check out the audio, sounded flat and dialog was way in the background. I check the Sonos app and see stereo as the current output from the TV. I saw other audio options in the XB, including Dolby Atmos (which the Arc supports), that required me to download support from the MS XB store. Weird, though I guess since it's not a free license, they don't just include it on every console. Even more odd, to get headphone support, it was actually a paid download (~$15), otherwise free.

Get that downloaded, selected Dolby Atmos on the XB, see that indicated on the Sonos app, and wow, yeah, pretty spectacular.

I also cleaned up the inputs (removed unused), relabled, set things for auto-detect (or last input used), updated the XB iOS app (remote control via WiFI vs, IR), works great, no additional hardware, and the XB tucked nicely behind the TV on the mantel.

 

[DT]

This was hinted at in some software config files several months ago, looks like it's close:

This is the design of Sonos’ upcoming Sub Mini

The Sub Mini is cylinder-shaped and smaller than the Sub.

www.theverge.com

Sonos Sub Mini announced and available for pre-order! Woot!

Sub Mini: The Compact Subwoofer with Big Bass | Sonos

Add remarkable bass to your home theater system by pairing the compact Sub Mini with your Sonos soundbar and speakers.

www.sonos.com

Yep, the Sub Mini, delivered is $754 with a Ray, or $935 with a Beam (Gen 2) That's a pretty killer, wireless, very little spaced used, surround setup for those prices!

 

[fischersd]

Heh...I won't be purchasing a sub anytime soon I have a Sonos Arc and two Sonos One's as satellites (mounted on the wall) - WAY too much bass for my neighbours already.

Our streaming providers (and Apple) really need to provide better audio controls so we can normalize the audio. The super-loud sound effects and music and the super-quiet speech make for me using the volume control on my remote way too damn much!!!

Heh...I really should get some stands for the One's and take them off of the wall...maybe that would appease the neighbours.

 

[DT]

I'm wondering if the Mini would be add a decent amount of sub freq sound without being too loud[?]

Our Arc seems to do a pretty job with balancing things, but I listen pretty loud, hahahaha, you know it's probably too loud when your 14 years hollers down from her room, "Dad, turn down your superhero show!!!"