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Sonos Unveils Its Most Powerful Soundbar Ever but Skips Two Obvious Upgrades

Meet Sonos’s new flagship Dolby Atmos soundbar: the Arc Ultra.

Sonos Arc Ultra soundbarSonos

By Tucker Bowe

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Surprise, surprise: Sonos has a new flagship Dolby Atmos soundbar. It’s called the Arc Ultra ($999) and it arrives alongside a fourth-generation wireless subwoofer, the Sub 4 ($799).

Thanks to the company’s app fiasco and the renewed commitment to “quality and customer experience,” the Arc Ultra wasn’t expected to arrive until early next year (despite leaks over the summer).

But that’s not the most surprising about it.

Though the new release sounds impressive on paper, and it introduces a new technology called “Sound Motion,” the Arc Ultra misses out on a couple of obvious wish-list features.

More drivers, new woofer

If the name didn’t give it away, the Arc Ultra is being billed as a premium version of the Arc — which Sonos will continue to sell (for now, at least). It’s slightly thinner and longer, despite extra drivers and some cutting-edge tech.

The Arc Ultra has a total of 14 drivers — three more than the original Arc — that include seven tweeters, six mid-woofers. Driving them are 15 Class D amplifiers. It also boasts an all-new “Sound Motion” woofer.

Sonos Arc Ultra soundbar
The Arc Ultra is actually a little longer and thinner than the Arc. (But it really looks quite similar.)
Sonos

Double the bass

The new woofer takes advantage of what Sonos is calling “Sound Motion,” a transducer technology developed by Mayht, a tech company Sonos acquired in 2022. According to Sonos, this technology “drastically reduces the size of the transducer while supercharging the bass.”

Sonos claims that the Arc Ultra delivers up to double the bass of the original Arc. And, thanks to the new center channel, it promises even clearer dialogue. That means it can deliver an immersive 9.1.4 experience all on its own.

Sonos Arc Ultra soundbar
Sonos claims the Arc Ultra can deliver a 9.1.4 experience all by itself.
Sonos

Missing features

The Sonos Arc Ultra promises to work similarly to the company’s other soundbars — for better and worse.

It supports Trueplay and can be configured with two virtual assistants: Amazon Alexa or Sonos Voice Control (still no Google Assistant). And you can group it with two surrounds (preferably Era 300s) and up to two subwoofers for the most immersive home theater experience.

But, just like the original Arc, it’s missing a pair of coveted features.

First, it still only has one HDMI eARC port, which is a bit of a bummer for users with multiple gaming consoles and playback devices (like a Blu-Ray player).

And second, like all Sonos soundbars, the Arc Ultra still doesn’t support immersive audio formats like DTS:X. It’s a Dolby Atmos soundbar through and through.

There’s a new sub, too

The Sonos Sub 4 is the company’s new flagship full-sized wireless subwoofer. Presumably, it’ll replace the Sub 3 (although Sonos is continuing to sell the predecessor).

From the outside, the Sub 4 looks almost exactly the same as the Sub. And it features the same design with dual force-canceling woofers as its predecessor.

The biggest difference is its new matte finish (for both white and black). However, Sonos says it features “increased processing power and memory, as well as new WiFi radios for better connectivity.”

Sonos Sub 4
Compared to the Sub 3, the biggest difference with the Sub 4 is its new matte finish.
Sonos

Price and availability

The Sonos Arc Ultra costs $999, which is a $100 uptick from the original Arc — but still considerably more affordable than the $1,400 previously rumored price.

The Sub 4 will cost $799, the same price as the Sub 3.

Both are available for preorder in white and black, with shipping from October 29.

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