Sonos Arc—Three months later (incl. Sound & Installation)
The excitement in late Spring 2020 was palpable. Sonos was debuting its most exciting product for years, the Arc ‘Premium Smart Soundbar’ ($799), successor to Sonos’ very popular and very fine Playbar.
Getting an Arc was a challenge, with (communication) hurdles at every level, corporate, distributor, dealer and mass market. I dug deep and found one nailed to the floor of my local ‘Sonos Platinum’ dealer. As usual, the staff were very kind and allowed me a long stretch with its sole Arc for the day. You can read my thoughts here.
Here we are almost three months later, with my own Arc professionally installed (purchased by me from Amazon for full price—my press/professional accommodation price request to Sonos Canada went unanswered), this time playing in concert with Sonos’ SUB and Surrounds (see pictures for my setup and install below).
The install
Be sure, to get the same sexy install Sonos has peppered throughout its promotional material is going to cost you money, expertise, time and most of all, patience.
Here’s my story.
Best Buy’s Geek Squad came to mount my new 65” Sony X950G XBR UHD Bravia TV. The proprietary Arc wall mount ($89.99) had not arrived, so, I arranged for our contractor to pop by when the mount arrived. He was very busy (seems during Covid, folks are spending gobs of cash on TVs, stereos, tech, renovations, and pro installations rather than on travel and live entertainment). The mount arrived a day or two before the Arc. Of course, we had to give it a shot immediately. Two days before the contractor arrived.
With two people, a pencil, a drill, a level, and some patience, mounting was not too difficult. Cable management and correct position? A whole different story. Our install was definitely a stop gap until the contractor arrived.
Be sure to mount the Arc at least four inches below the TV for best Atmos support. Along with Sonos’ ‘Trueplay’ tuning (on the Sonos 2 app), this is the best way to ensure the effective sound from the two upward firing Atmos drivers. Initially, my Arc was 2 inches below the TV. No good. Now, 3.75 inches and it makes a big difference. But, try for 4 inches minimum.
But, here’s where the problems begin.
Because of electrical code in progressive countries, including the US & Canada, you cannot run a power cable behind drywall. Low power cables such as HDMI or Optical, no problem. But, power cables, don’t do it. Pay the extra for a junction box behind the Arc and run code appropriate electrical gauge cable from the mounted TV junction box to the Arc’s new junction box. If above a fireplace is your preferred location, tile can present additional positioning problems if you don’t want a strained neck looking way up at a TV. Nowhere on the Sonos website, promotional material, etc, does it tell you about these difficulties or even instructions. If you go to Sonos’ own Community Forums, you’ll read many similar stories to mine.
In most Western countries, ‘to code’ means running proper electrical wire to a junction box to power the Arc. You cannot run a power cable behind drywall.
Local Victoria contractor Graham Collver is a creative and technically adept pro, and was proud of his work getting the junction box and cover plate in exactly the right (only) place with the very tight Arc mount (see below). We had taken into account the included, long C7 power cable with Sonos branding and slick termination and the impossibility of using it in such a tight space. As such, I ordered the shortest C7 power cable I could find on the internet (1 foot)—$2.45 for the cable, $28 overnight DHL! Hey, we were on a roll! Or, so we thought. The cable was now short enough, but the male was standard and would not fit behind the Arc. Doh!
We were all gloating. We did it! The impossible install! Oops, not done yet.
So, back to the internet. Another short C7 cable was located, this time with flat male. Personally, I don’t think this will work either. For code and with a standard junction box/plate, it is so tight back there! In the here and now, it’s to code and jury rigged, which robs it of its beautiful, pro-looking install, but the cables are invisible. What you can’t see…! I’ll let you know in the comments if the new flat plug fits.
My installation
Included in my large open plan upper level living space, are the two Surrounds on a credenza against the ‘rear’ wall and a SUB placed against the side wall towards the rear of the room (the SUB may be placed anywhere in the room as the sound it produces is non directional).
Sound
More technical problems.
The sound itself is as superb as I describe in my initial review. A very worthy successor to the Playbar. The Playbar is still popular and Sonos resale so good, you could probably get up to $400 selling it second hand. Then, only a 50% premium to get the Arc. It’s worth it.
The Arc’s sound is very refined and more powerful than the Playbar. Instruments and voices have a more realistic feel and imaging for a soundbar is excellent. The Arc is also future proofing— its DSP is very advanced and it plays beautifully with the SUB and Surrounds. I suggested in my original review you may not need a SUB or Surrounds in a small room. In my large space, the Arc really enjoys the extra dimensionality with both. They’re a great combination. But, if you’re strapped for cash, starting with the Arc is as good a place as any.
Sadly, after playing (the very effective) Dolby Atmos content (Tidal and Netflix, especially), the sound cuts out when switching apps (2019 Sony Android TV). I have not tested this on an Apple TV 4K. It also cuts out randomly between apps and in YouTube when playing content other than with Atmos support. It’s remedied with a TV reboot or switching from Auto 1 to 2 (not PCM) in the Sony settings (Digital out). At times, it’ll just sort itself out after a few minutes. Really odd. Very frustrating.
I’m thinking it’s a Sony problem, which a few corporate web suggestions say it is (they’re ‘working on it’) and the poor Arc is succumbing to new technical idiosyncrasies. The newish ‘eARC’ HDMI cable input is having a few teething problems, which may account for the anomalies. Yet, the aforementioned Sonos Community forums are replete with stories of the Arc sound cutting out with many brands of TVs, including Hisense, TCL, Samsung, LG and Sony. There was a well documented bass rattle problem with the Arc upon release that was acknowledged by Sonos and fixed quickly in a firmware update. Whoever bears this fault, I’m hoping it gets fixed soon. Both Sonos and Sony Customer Service say the same thing—reboot, unplug, get a new HDMI cable, blah, blah, blah! None of which, have solved the problem.
Summary
So, with my tales of woe, does the Arc still deserve a Star Component Award? Assuming the sound problems are caused by the ‘handshake’ between Sony and downstream, and can be sorted, it does. It’s a marvellous soundbar. Worth every penny. And if you’re placing it on a credenza, at least you’ll spare yourself the albeit fantastic-looking wall mount install. Yet, you may still have the technical glitches. Thus, I suggest grilling your local dealer before plonking down $799. There’s always a return, but once heard, it’s so good, you will not want to want to give it up.
Stay tuned and return to Comments below for plug size update and if the sound cutout is solved.
Further information: Sonos
