Sonos' latest home audio products are why I'll never spend another dollar at the movie theaters

Nothing beats the audio experience of watching a movie in the theater. However, I love being at home more, which is why I’ve spent most of the year watching movies with the Sonos Arc soundbar. 

The Sonos Arc overtook my fireplace mantle under my living room TV and became the most prized item in my house. I was sure Sonos couldn’t get any better than the Arc until I met its successor, the Sonos Arc Ultra. 

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The Arc Ultra sports a new look and audio technology, but one thing remains the same from the Arc to the Arc Ultra: it’s still an incredibly large soundbar. Still, with the audio technology Sonos is bragging about, it’s an engineering feat that such components can squeeze into one device that can even fit in your house.

This soundbar retails for $1,000, so if you splurge on it, it better be for good reason. The Sonos Arc Ultra won’t suit everyone, so here’s what you should know about it before purchasing.

Like I said before, the Arc Ultra is a colossal soundbar, measuring 46 inches long. It’s noticeably slimmer than the Arc but also noticeably longer. Sonos says the Arc Ultra is best suited for larger TVs, and if your TV is smaller than 50 inches, its length may look awkward. 

In addition to a slimmer and longer profile, Sonos upgraded the Arc Ultra to sport touch controls on the front left of the soundbar. These controls consist of the same touch strip on the Era 300 speaker, which plays, pauses, and skips audio and summons your preferred voice assistant. 

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The Arc Ultra debuts with seven silk-dome tweeters managing high-frequency sounds, six midwoofers adding warmth and depth to midrange sounds, and an internal subwoofer for bass. Additionally, it is packed with microphones for voice control and 15 digital amplifiers.

The Arc Ultra’s audio playback is noticeably more transparent, bolder, and more robust than the first-gen Arc, and Sonos attributes this upgrade to its latest technology, SoundMotion. In 2022, Sonos acquired Mayht, a company specializing in audio transducers. This company would provide Sonos with SoundMotion tech, a redesigned driver with tiny transducers that create the same audio output as speakers three times their size.

The smaller size allowed Sonos to increase the number of speakers inside the Arc Ultra and arrange them more accurately, making the Arc Ultra remarkably louder and clearer than the Arc. According to Sonos, the Arc Ultra’s new center channel configuration enhances dialogue, two upfiring tweeters create crisper higher frequencies, and the new soundbar delivers double the bass compared to the Arc. 

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I queued up Leave You Alone by Jeezy in my Apple Music library in the Sonos app, and all of the rapper’s verses were as clear as ever. The skittering basslines gave the song an enjoyable bumping heartbeat, and the smooth, dreamy instrumentals were vibrant and groovy. If you don’t like using the Sonos app to access your music streaming platform, you can stream from your app of choice to the soundbar via AirPlay.

The Arc Ultra can access a host of home theater audio formats, including Dolby Atmos, Dolby TrueHD, and Dolby Multichannel PCM. However, these formats are only compatible with eARC-enabled TVs. With Dolby-encoded audio, the Arc Ultra can achieve an impressive 9.1.4 audio channel configuration, meaning nine speakers supporting left-right channels, one subwoofer, and four height channels to create a front-facing spatial audio experience.

But if you want to take the Arc Ultra to the next level, you’ll want the new Sonos Sub 4. The Sub 4 is Sonos’ newest external subwoofer, which adds more depth to your Sonos soundbar’s audio output.

The Sub 4 is squoval shaped and sports an elongated donut hole in the middle. You can orient it upright or flat on the floor, whichever fits your space. The Arc Ultra sounds excellent on its own, but the Sub 4 brings the rumbly, boomy bass you can feel while watching movies and TV shows. Movies as goofy as Despicable Me 4 were as immersive as ever, while films like Dune: Part Two were as intense, suspenseful, and engaging to watch in my living room as in the theater.

You can add the Sub 4 to your Arc Ultra system in the Sonos app, where you can access features like TruePlay, which tunes both devices to your room’s acoustics. The Sub 4 has automatic EQ settings to balance output with paired Sonos home theater speakers. 

ZDNET’s buying advice

The Sonos Arc Ultra is a fantastic, all-encompassing soundbar that will upgrade your home audio setup. It’s equipped with all the premium features, such as voice controls, AirPlay, spatial audio, and Bluetooth and Wi-Fi connectivity. The new Sub 4 boosts your Sonos soundbar’s listening experience, and you can hear the added depth even at lower volumes.

However, the Arc Ultra and Sub 4 are for larger TVs and listening areas. The Arc Ultra is a very large and loud soundbar, and the Sub 4 shines at louder volumes. Therefore, I don’t recommend spending a combined $1,800 on this pair if you’ll bother your roommates or neighbors once you really get these two going.

If this soundbar is on your radar because it brings spatial audio into your home, your TV must have an HDMI eARC port. If not, your TV cannot encode audio in Dolby Atmos, and optical connections can’t deliver Dolby Atmos content. You’ll miss the Arc Ultra’s most excellent capabilities without eARC, so check your TV ports before purchasing.