Sonos Arc - The Premium Hdmi Soundbar with Dolby Atmos (Black)

I was pleasantly surprised that Amazon.in offered the SONOS Arc on their website. This, arguably may be the first time. Additionally I was pleased that Appario is the seller. SONOS is one of the best known companies that manufacture exclusively audio equipment of very high quality. This is evidenced by the enormous popularity of their PLYBAR, SUBWOOFER and satellite speakers and they are very highly rated. I owned Playbar and subwoofer gen 2Coming to ARC, this sound bar was introduced in mid 2020 by SONOS. The main intention is to offer the most popular and highly rated DOLBY ATMOS. The features of the sound bar are given on the website. I will only deal with positive as well problems that you are likely to encounter.It comes with 110 to 220V power supply and hence no need for a stepdown transformer. Before installation download the SONO 2 app. from Google play. Make sure it is the one with brown color. Once you open the app and power the soundbar a green flashing light will appear and the app will recognize the arc and prompts you to press the infinity button located on the back of the sound bar. A steady white light is an indication that sound bar is ready for use. It has only one connection, HDMI, located opposite to power plug slot. HDMI cord is provided, and should be connected to the ARC of your TV. After connection, make sure the soundbar is connected to the HDMI arc of TV by using the app. TVs manufactured prior to 2015 will not connect easily. The newer ones with e-arc should easily connect. PLEASE NOTE THAT YOU WILL NEED THE NEW e-ARC outlet to make full use of the Dolby Atmos. If HDMI ARC is not available then connect the soundbar to optical input of TV using supplied HDMI to optical audio adapter.Some tips: Though sound bar itself can function it is desirable to add subwoofer and two SONOS ones to serve as a high quality 5.1 system. Set soundbar to “speech enhancement mode” to avoid background thumping sound from some of the movies. Ensure regulated power is supplied by installing servo voltage stabilizers and smart plugs to avoid surge. SONOS equipment is expensive and they use high quality components to provide many years of trouble free service. Nonetheless problems can come. SONOS do not have a service facility in India and hence they do not carry any warranty. However they have an excellent customer care department and are willing to help if the equipment needs service.SONOS cannot be used with older analog outputs using RCA cables. Adding converters is waste of money since they do not serve the purpose.It is provided with only ONE HDMI. I wish they have provided at least two HDMI inputs and a separate optical connection instead of providing HDMI to optical converterSONOS 2 app is more user friendly to apple devices than android.Soundbar will become slightly warm after more than half an hour of usage. This is normalThe sound quality from sonos is excellent. It has very good bass and sound dispersion is unbeatable. It is sold for $799 in USA ( state tax not included )and 799 euros in Europe. SONOS products are seldom discounted. The price on amazon is nearly $1200. The price is acceptable considering the transport charges and customs duty. It is certainly not advisable to buy at a higher price than $1200.I have given 5 star rating on the basis of the sound quality. To realize the full bass a sub must be added. I checked with and without sub. It makes an enormous difference. Using the app it is very easy to operate. The app allows numerous possibilities to adjust sound, both treble and bass can be adjusted, music in ”full” or “ambient” form can be chosen although the “full” is preferred especially for 5.1 system with satellites added.There is no BLUE TOOTH connection, in my opinion a disadvantage especially to stream music. SONOS 2 will not allow accurate streaming of MP3 playlists from the music folder.In India it is not possible to use Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant because these services are yet to be launchedI am also hoping SONOS will make the app more user friendly and certainly needs changes for streaming music using wifiI sincerely hope that SONOS will soon add a service facility in India.Review is after one week of use. Durability and technical problems can only be assessed after several months of usageI am not an audio expert and hence has no competence to compare SONOS to BOSE. Both the companies offer equipment of high quality. BOSE products can be serviced in India.I HAVE BEEN USING THE SOUND BAR FOR THREE YEARS AND NO PROBLEMS IN FUNCITIONING. HOWEVER I SHOULD MENTION THE PROBLEMS WHEN NEW SET OF SURROUND SPEAKERS ARE ADDED. I EXPERIENCED LOT OF PROBLEMS CONNECTING A PAIR OF ERA 300. SONOS NOW CAME UP WITH A NEW APP BLACK IN COLOR. APP SHOWED ERA 300 AND DESPITE CHOOSING THE RIGHT ROOM FOR PAIRING ERA,s WERE NOT ADDED. I HAD TO DO THE RESTTING OF THE ENTIRE SYSTEM AND START ALL OVER AGAIN FOR ALL THE COMPONENTS THAT INCLUDE ARC, SUB AND ERA 300. VERY PAINFUL AND TIME CONSUMING. SONOS IS NOT PAYING ATTENTION TO THE CUSTOMER COMPLAINTS ON THEIR APP WHICH IS NOT USER FRIENDLY .Excellent music equipment but need to be connected with a horrible app.

- Packaging - 5/5 - I was amazed with the packaging. Lets say its an iPhone of home theatre.- Looks - 5/5 - Look is just minimal. Simple and subtle.- Setting up - 5/5 - Setting up via iOS is very very easy, all you have to do is just follow the steps shown on your phone.- Built quality - 5/5 - The Sound bar is quite heavy with a firm casing. It does not make any vibration noise when played at high volume.- Speakers drivers - 5/5 - This bar has 11 drivers. Unlike others where they try to cut down on drivers and do flop phase guide and all, this brand went with simple and directional. Where the speaker is required they just gave it and in that direction.- Sound quality - 5/5 - the sound quality of this bar is just another level. It is better than Bose or Sony. If you are coming from TV speakers you will be amazed with the Bass this bar can produce. The sound is clear, sharp and strong mids. But once you connect the Sub there is no coming back from it. I have seen Bose 900 drivers break. So my suggestion is not to push too much bass on just the bar. When you connect sub to a Sonos bar, it takes away all the bass from the bar and you get amazing crystal clear sound from bar.- Atmos - 3/5 - Atmos on this bar (or any bar for that matter) is like a myth. First the tv should support atmos. Then you have to get the TV settings right. Then the content you are playing should have atmos i.e. Dolby Digital Plus or Dolby TrueHD. Don’t forget to set the bar right at the edge of the table or wall mount with at least 8 inches below. Even after getting everything right and increasing the height channel to 10 the atmos is not that promising or prominent. I feel it’s cause the up firing driver is at only 15 degree angle which is almost straight up. It should have been 25 to 30 degrees. You can enjoy atmos but it’s just like it’s there for the name sake.- Connectivity - 4/5 - like it’s just stupid at this point to not have bluetooth on such an expensive bar.- Ecosystem - 5/5

It sounds wonderful.. best for movies and music.. dialogues are crisp and clear now.. bass is ok.. but I added a mini sub for the extra oomph.. i could sense the stereo seperation clearly.. but surround and height effects definitely need extra surround speakers.. I can confirm that the bar produces a room filling sound when paired with a sub.. I got it for 66K.. it's a worthy buy..