But its frustrating that it doesnt have HDMI passthrough, and the lack of DTS is a shame.
Better Dolby Atmos effects, better bass, better speech clarity, better connectivity.
Is it worth upgrading from the originalSonos Arc?
The Sonos Arc Ultra features the first use of Sonos' Sound Motion driver tech.
The lack of DTS is also a shame, but wont be a big problem for most people.
Its even bigger than the Arc Ultra, though.
For a premium soundbar, the Arc Ultra is competitive.
This new version will probably be preferable for a lot of people because its much easier.
The biggest flaw in the Sonos Arc is the lack of any HDMI passthrough ports.
I think Sonos has simply off-loaded the complexity to users.
I tested the Arc Ultra on its own, and with Sonos' complete Dolby Atmos setup.
The other notable issue is a lack of DTS decoding.
It delivers fulsome balance and exciting sound with clear speech, and superb height and width.
Everything is an improvement over the original Sonos Arc.
Its not quite night and day, but its a clear step up anyway.
The Sound Motion bass speaker did really jump out during music though.
For music, the original Arc sounded unclear and subdued compared to the Arc Ultra at the same volume.
The concave volume control matches other recent Sonos releases.
Its easier to fill out that sound when you could be thick and tall, unlike a soundbar.
More expensive soundbars may do better, but the audio package here is excellent.
Still, for those with the ear, I think the Sonos systems sound is superior.
The connections are all in that recessed area.
However, its actually wider than the Sonos Arc.
It comes in black and white, and the overall look is very simple and classy.
In the middle, you still have buttons to play/pause, and skip tracks.
The Sonos Arc Ultra with the Sub 4.
At home, on my normal mesh router setup, I had no problems at all.
For the price, it should really offer you the solution.
Should I buy the Sonos Arc Ultra?
The Arc Ultra sitting on top of the original Arc. I didn’t test it like that, obviously…
You want Sonos' extra skillsPart of a multi-room music system?
The ability to add other speakers in the future to improve the sound?
Sonos Beam 2Want to go even more compact and have Sonos' options for expansion?
We gave it five stars in ourSamsung HW-Q990D review.
