Sonos Is Phasing Out One of Its Most Important Speakers

The nearly five-year-old speaker is the cheapest it has ever been.

Sonos Arc soundbarsPhoto by Tucker Bowe for Gear Patrol

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Earlier this month, Sonos started discounting its Arc soundbar and posted a “Last Chance” label on its product page. This indicated that, after a nearly five-year run, the multi-room speaker giant was discounting its hugely popular once-flagship Dolby Atmos soundbar.

At the time, Sonos was discounting the Arc by $150. Fast forward to today, and it has dropped the price of the Arc by another $100.

Sonos is clearly trying to clean house and sell out of its remaining Arc inventory. But this isn’t exactly a surprise, as the writing has been on the wall for the Arc for several months now.

Sonos Arc soundbars
With the introduction of the Arc Ultra (left), it was also likely Sonos would phase out its Arc (right) soundbar.
Photo by Tucker Bowe for Gear Patrol

Writing on the wall

The Arc’s days have been numbered ever since Sonos introduced the Arc Ultra — essentially a newer and better version of the Arc — this past fall. Predictably, it doesn’t make sense for Sonos to sell two soundbars that are so similar.

The Arc and Arc Ultra are basically the same size and have most of the same capabilities, but the “Ultra” features more drivers (thanks to new transducer tech) and sounds better … but it’s not a night-and-day difference.

In fact, in my review of the Arc Ultra, I stated it has more bass and delivers crisper midrange when working as a standalone soundbar, but when paired with Sonos’s wireless bass, the Sub, the differences between the two soundbars weren’t all that striking.

Throw in the fact that the Arc (typically) costs $100 less than the Arc Ultra, and it’s a little complicated to justify the difference.

Sonos Arc phase out
Sonos currently has the Arc labeled as “Last Chance.”
Sonos

Last call

Sonos is currently discounting the 2020-released Arc by $250. The normally $899 soundbar is going for $649 on the company’s website, which is the best deal Sonos has ever given it.

However, Amazon is selling the Arc for significantly less right now — you can buy it for $603 (but only the black model), which is the lowest price Amazon has ever offered.

For those having a difficult time justifying a nearly five-year-old soundbar, I get it — unfortunately, Sonos isn’t offering a similar incentive on the Arc Ultra.