put them under the same test bench, The cables plug into a cavity on the back of the Arc so they’re hidden from view. Using the Arc is just as simple. Credit: Reviewed/Jackson Ruckar . Samsung HWQ70T vs Sonos Arc. Sonos, Xboxes and Saumsung are properly set to have Dolby Atmos It can also be linked to a pair of surround speakers (from £179 each) and a sub (£699) making it a very adaptable solution. Verdict. Sonos Arc review: What you need to know. I had a chance to test and compare two models: Samsung HW-Q900T vs Sonos Arc and this review should help people who are looking for a good soundbar. Our pick: Sonos Arc. Sonos Arc's upwards-firing drivers create a multi-dimensional soundstage that moves around you, rendering every detail with dramatic clarity and depth. Be part of the most informed community and take advantage of our advanced tools to find the best product for your needs. Live Chat. Using ARC rather than HDMI pass-through, as home cinema receivers do, means the Arc suffers from the same problem plaguing all soundbars that connect this way: lipsync issues, where the sound and picture are out of sync. Customer Service 800.221.5743 or 212.239.7765. No cherry-picked units sent by brands. The Arc packs 11 speakers into a sleek metal bar for immersive TV sound and stunning music playback, but suffers traditional HDMI-ARC audio issues affecting most one-cable soundbars. I used the Sonos Arc with a number of different TVs -- the Sony X950G LCD, the Samsung D8000 plasma, the Samsung 6 series LCD -- in two different rooms. Sonos Arc + SUB + 2 rear speakers are 85-90% ATMOS of Q90R. Same as older model Arc is not powerful enough and sounds not even closer to Samsung although its better than Bose 700, may adding two Ones will make difference. Sadly the feature isn’t available for Android devices because of the variances in microphone quality. Sales & Expert advice 800.606.6969 or 212.444.6615. The Sonos Arc is the company’s first steps into the world of high-definition home cinema audio, delivering Dolby Atmos 3D sound. Multi-room audio specialist Sonos is back with the Arc, the firm’s first Dolby Atmos-enabled soundbar that totally transforms your TV’s sound. 90. If your TV remote is set to control the sound via HDMI control rather than infrared it won’t work when playing music on the Arc. The soundbar handled most music genres with aplomb, only sounding a tad flat with orchestral music such as Holst’s Jupiter, if I was being super critical. Because the Arc relies on your TV to pass audio to it via an HDMI cable, what you get out at the end depends on the capabilities of your television. Contact Us. So I recently picked up the Sonos Arc + Sub and a Samsung Q90T TV (which has HDMI 2.1/eArc) and I am experiencing the sound cutting out periodically. But its worth to listen to Samsung before making purchasing decision. Speakers: Eight elliptical woofers, three silk-dome tweeters, Connectivity: wifi b/g, HDMI (ARC/eARC), Optical (via adapter), Ethernet, IR, AirPlay 2, Spotify Connect. No items to compare. This may seem a rather minor irritation but it became less and less minor as time wore on - and I’m extremely happy to be rid of it. Its Atmos height production was effective and its bass was shockingly good for a soundbar that lacks a separate sub. It has a subwoofer included and a handheld remote control, is wall mountable and features Audio Return Channel (ARC). It also conducts local carbon offsetting at manufacturing sites and supports music education through its Soundwaves initiative. © 2021 9298-5266 Quebec Inc. All Rights Reserved. It’s $100 more than the Playbar it replaces, yet it offers better sound, Dolby Atmos, AirPlay 2, voice assistants, and more. DTS:X uses a DTS-HD MA carrier signal, so to support DTS:X the soundbar must also support DTS-HD MA. The Arc can be grouped with other Sonos speakers for multi-room music. The Sonos is better-built, and it comes with satellite speakers, unlike the Samsung. The Arc looks deceptively simple. If you’ve been following any sort of soundbar coverage recently, you’ve no doubt heard of the Sonos Arc – a new 5.0.2 Dolby Atmos-enabled soundbar from Sonos. The LED above the Sonos logo shows when the bar is muted (here lit green) or when the smart speaker functions are active. Honestly, I am not sure what the differences between ARC vs. eARC and if it will be an issue. It looks the part. Pros: sounds fantastic with music, great Dolby Atmos reproduction, super-clear vocals, Night Sound, wide soundstage, looks good, Alexa or Google Assistant, extensive music service support, simple set-up, surprisingly good bass without a sub, Cons: expensive, ARC/eARC rather than HDMI pass-through, takes up a port on your TV, can have lipsync issues like any soundbar, Sonos Beam review: a great, compact, jack-of-all-trades upgrade for your TV, Sonos One review: the best smart speaker for audiophiles, Sonos Move review: brilliant sound now portable, Ikea Symfonisk speaker review: Sonos on the cheap, Ikea Symfonisk review: table lamp is also a great-sounding Sonos wifi speaker. Despite being about the length of a 55in TV, it is neither thick nor tall which makes it easier to position on the wall or on a TV stand. The Arc’s dialogue clarity was truly top notch coming across sounding natural and clear at all times. Our Verdict: The best rated soundbar under £500, with the latest technology. Kagoo Score. Sonos Arc vs Sonos Playbar — Sound quality Sound quality is slightly harder to quantify, as much depends on the type of input that you have into the Sonos Arc. Music is rich, full-bodied and highly detailed. Sonos can create multiroom audio Sonos can pair with other speakers through an app and add "infinite" more speakers to it. Plug in the standard figure-eight power cord and the HDMI cable, which slots into the HDMI port on the back of your TV labelled ARC or eARC (enhanced Audio Return Channel). Not once did I have to turn up the sound to hear what was going on, and that was without the Arc’s dedicated Speech Enhancement mode. The Arc is a fantastic soundbar with a … The HDMI port in the Arc is hidden in the alcove in the back of the speaker. The Arc has removed this irritation for the most part. The smart speaker functionality works as well as an Amazon Echo or Google Home device. The Sonos app listens to the sound to optimise the Arc for your particular room. It might be pricey and long, but the Arc is just about the best-sounding soundbar you can get. Only biggest advantage of Sonos is modularity otherwise for true hometheatre experience q950t is a winner. Immerse yourself in movies, games, TV, sports, and more by adding Sonos sound to your TV. The Sonos Play:1, Sonos One and Sonos One SL will all work independently or as part of an existing Sonos system, offering multi-room audio. The new Sonos Arc is the company’s first soundbar that supports immersive Dolby Atmos surround sound. £436.05. It is a sleek, one metre-long cylinder that is surprisingly compact considering there are eight separate woofers, three tweeters and a collection of electronics all hidden behind the matt metal mesh. Features. Samsung HW-Q900T vs Sonos Arc review. but sound about 120-140% better than Q90R full. Despite having had … I just ordered the Sonos Arc which supports Dolby Atmos but not sure if my TV is going to become the issue. The Samsung HW-Q90R 7.1.4 Kit (on Amazon) is another great option, with the linked kit including the soundbar, sub, and two more wireless speakers. I keep score. The Arc has top-notch vocal clarity and excellent separation of tones, instruments and vocals. The effect can be truly dramatic. The Sonos Arc with Sub + One SL Speakers is a better overall soundbar setup than the Samsung HW-Q900T. I've been reading Samsung hasn't released an update for eARC capability. The TV must also support eARC. For Sonos users, the Sonos Arc is an absolute no-brainer. Create a 360-degree sonic landscape with Ones or One SLs for true surround sound. On the top you have an LED light to show when the soundbar is on and to show when it is listening to you for its built-in (but entirely optional) Google Assistant or Amazon Alexa smart speaker functionality. Sonos is known for having an Apple-like attention to detail when it comes to the user experience, and that hasn’t changed here. 160 St-Viateur Est, Suite 408, Montreal, Canada, H2T 1A8, Sonos Arc with Sub + One SL Speakers vs Samsung HW-Q900T. With the latest version of the Sonos app, the S2 controller, each bar is easy to control and set up for a wide variety of tasks. The soundbar sits on a piece of furniture in front of your TV or can be wall-mounted with a bracket, and requires just two cables that plug into an alcove in the back – one for power and one to connect to the TV – for a minimalist look. The sound from the Samsung is fed to the Sonos via the the TV's ARC-enabled HDMI output, and it all comes out of the soundbar at the same volume. You can control the volume with your TV’s remote, using a voice assistant or the Sonos app. It simply sounds fantastic. The sides of the bar are slightly angled with vent-like openings for … 90. Because the Sonos Arc does have one weakness. A woofer in each end of the soundbar provides a wide soundstage. The process takes under five minutes. General stereo TV sound was great. Typically it is an issue when using external devices connected to your TV, rather than the apps and services integrated into your TV, and very common with Sky Q, Virgin and other TV set-top boxes in the UK. Most TVs will support the older ARC on at least one HDMI port, which is limited to the compressed Dolby Digital+ with the added Atmos layer that is used by most streaming services, including Netflix, Amazon and Disney+. Because DTS-HD MA requires eARC, DTS:X does as well. In one scene from Netflix’s Our Planet it sounded like I was right in the middle of a flock of birds. Everything from old reruns of Midsomer Murders and NCIS to Match of the Day sounded exactly as it should: clear, crisp and full. The Sonos Arc is available in black or white costing £799. - "With a software update today, Arc now supports multi-channel LPCM, bringing new immersive sound experiences for gaming, Blu-ray discs, and more," said Sonos. But Atmos is also available with a wide range of content, from football to nature documentaries all with a more immersive sound. Sonos did not comment on whether the Arc contains recycled material. Regular TV sounds good, with super clear vocals, but feed it a Dolby Atmos soundtrack and be rewarded with truly immersive, fully-rendered sounds with surprisingly good height elements. Will my TV (QN65Q900RBFXZA) allow for Dolby Atmos audio using the OneConnect ARC port? One tweeter fires straight out from the centre of the Arc, while the other two fire out at a left and right angle. Kagoo Score. Enjoy control with your remote, the app, your voice, and Apple AirPlay 2. Dead easy to set-up 9/10 Sonos usually updates their products for years. Setting up the Arc is simple. With software version 12.2, Sonos Arc gains support for multi-channel PCM through an eARC connection in a TV. £523.98. It is such a common problem with ARC-based soundbars there is a cottage industry built around it from bizarre sets of configuration steps to a vast array of HDMI gadgets. Sonos Arc: New Sonos app, set up and tuning To set up the Sonos Arc, you’ll need the new Sonos S2 app. Position it in front of your TV. Watching an action blockbuster mixed in Dolby Atmos, such as 6 Underground with Michael Bay’s signature grandstand moments (where the camera pans around a central character), it sounds like you’re right in the middle of it all as bits and carnage fly over the top of you. Well, maybe a tiny, weeny bit more. It really comes into its own with music, though, completely blowing away competitors. Dolby Atmos adds a height element for an improved surround sound experience so that when a helicopter flies overhead on screen it really sounds like it’s above you, rather than in front or to the sides. The Arc looks like all recent Sonos speakers - just longer. Experience the sensation of rich, low-end sound from Sub, combined with the remarkable clarity of the Arc or Beam soundbars. Also, it has a better-balanced sound when playing Atmos and surround content. It really isn’t that far off a dedicated 7-speaker surround setup and is a significant step up from the Beam. The centre tweeter and woofers are hidden behind the Sonos logo. At $799, it has more powerful audio than the cheaper Sonos … The front and top of the bar are covered in a tightly-wrapped fabric, and the rest of the bar is made of plastic. For comparison, the Sonos Beam costs £399, Sonos Sub costs £699, a Sonos One costs £199, the One SL costs £179 or the Five costs £499. The £799 Arc replaces the old Playbar and Playbase, sitting above the £399 Beam as Sonos’s top-of-the-line home cinema soundbar. Only in some tracks with super-deep artificial bass lines, such as Lindsey Stirling’s Crystallize, would you even know there wasn’t a big sub hiding somewhere. Back to Product List. Some details: Only devices I can test with are an Xbox One S, Xbox One X and the built-in Samsung TV Apps. Watch your TV as you normally would and the Arc will switch on and play sound. When a product is discontinued or no longer popular, we sell the purchased products locally in Montreal, Canada. Open the Sonos app on your Android or iOS device and follow the instructions. Using ARC makes it simple to connect but invites the same infuriating lipsync issues that can plague other soundbars, particularly with TV services such as Sky and Virgin in the UK. 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