Sonos Arc Ultra finds extensive acoustic re-engineering is its trump card

Audio tuning is typically Sonos, and reworking physics with two opposing diaphragms powered by four compact motors, has an overall benefit.

If ever there was a time when Sonos needed a product that was on-point, this was perhaps it. The Sonos Ace headphones did that to an extent, but the Sonos Arc Ultra home theatre system along with the Sonos Sub 4, is just that multi-faceted showcase the American audio maker needed to get over prolonged app troubles. This allows them to showcase a familiarly brilliant audio tuning, introduce a completely new Sound Motion technology that reworks the laws of physics, and widen the product portfolio in search of new customers. None of these is light on the pocket, but then again, nothing ‘flagship’ ever is.

The Sonos Arc Ultra home theatre system. (Official image)

The Arc Ultra will set you back just one rupee short of the ₹1,00,000 price point, but then again, the perceptive advantage of ₹99,999 on the price tag compared with one that may be six digits, does make a world of difference. Chances are, just the soundbar wouldn’t do, and if you’re looking for a proper home theatre experience, the ₹84,999 Sub 4 subwoofer will be added to the bundle. In essence, this competes with the Bose Smart Ultra (around ₹1,04,900) with a Bass Module 700 (around ₹84,900) subwoofer, as well as Sony’s Bravia Theatre Bar 9 (around ₹1,49,900) alongside potentially the SA-SW3 subwoofer (priced around ₹29,900).

In short, whichever of the troika you pick, the outlay for their best sounding combination, is relatively similar. Sennheiser’s Ambeo Max that is priced at ₹1,74,990 and with the option of an Ambeo Sub for an additional ₹54,990 does come across as possibly the least value for money premium home theatre proposition. Sonos’ TruePlay sound optimisation for the room (can be configured on an iPhone, as well as an Android phone), does make a world of difference to how sound is tuned based on the room you’ve placed the soundbar in.

First and foremost, you may encounter a bug in which the soundbar simply disappears from the Sonos app. In the duration that we had the Sonos Arc Ultra for review, there was no actual fix available as a software update, except a complete power cycle (sometimes, two in quick succession) would restore it to the rightful place on your Wi-Fi network and therefore the Sonos app on your phone. But once you do get past this foible, which we hope Sonos would fix at some point, things become smoother.

The Arc Ultra retains a very familiar sound signature, something I’d label as neutrally warm and welcoming. It’s the same with the other soundbars such as the Arc and the Beam, and not entirely dissimilar to Ace or even the Move 2 speaker. Basically, if you like the Sonos sound signature, the Arc Ultra shouldn’t elicit any doubts before you present your credit card for payment. This, when there are some substantial upgrades over the Arc soundbar, which till now, was the flagship proposition in Sonos’ home theatre range.

One of those upgrades is testing conventional wisdom that has defined audio speakers till now. Most traditional speakers use a single cone or dome-shaped diaphragm to displace air and produce sound. The diaphragm is typically attached to a voice coil that moves within a magnetic field created by a single magnet — the coil and magnet assembly (that is, the motor) is positioned at the centre of the diaphragm, driving its motion. Instead of one large driver, Sound Motion uses two opposing diaphragms powered by four compact motors (each with dual voice coils). These diaphragms move in opposite directions, canceling mechanical vibrations that could distort sound or rattle the enclosure.

This audio hardware architecture has an advantage of compact size, increased displacement and therefore better lower frequencies too. If you do believe that more is more, then this challenge to physics does open up room within the innards for an additional tweeter and mid-range drivers. It is very likely you’ll have a big smile on your face as you meld the audio with the visuals of the opening scene of Dune, the joyride run in Top Gear: Maverick and the car chase in Baby Driver. These are just some illustrations of the nuanced layering with pristine reproduction.

The more audio hardware in play has been put to good use, and having added some more, Sonos has done enough to tune the sound just right for a very detailed soundstage and much more profound bass, even without a subwoofer in play. My suspicion is, most homes would find the Sonos Arc Ultra soundbar more than adequate for most of the content they consume across the collection of Blu-ray discs as well as streaming platforms including Netflix and others.

To illustrate what sits inside the Sonos Arc Ultra, it is essentially an array of Fifteen Class-D digital amplifiers, seven silk-dome tweeters, six mid-woofers for mid-range frequencies and the already detailed SoundMotion woofer. Important to note here, the physical connection is only available with HDMI eARC, via the TV’s HDMI eARC/ARC port. There is the option of optical audio, but that adapter is sold separately.

But if you do feel the need for bass, the Sub 4 gets the job done with some finesse. This taps frequencies lower than what the soundbar can do, and depending on how you tune it, will deliver anywhere between sophisticated lower frequency addition to your movie viewing, or furniture vibrating bass for the music playlists.

The aforementioned changes in hardware have allowed Sonos to reduce the height of the Arc Ultra, in comparison with the Arc. However, it is still tall enough to get in the way of the display on most TVs. This has a fairly large footprint too, and is almost as wide as a 65-inch TV.

There is little that the Sonos Arc Ultra is leaving to chance. The audio tuning is as you’d expect from a high-end Sonos system, and the powerful hardware array is delivering on the intent with a better tuned handling of lower frequencies, and a wide soundstage. Considering its price tag, Sonos hadn’t given the Arc Ultra much wriggle room in terms of less than pristine performance. Luckily for them, it doesn’t need that either. You must get used to not having a separate remote control with this soundbar.