like the features, setup was difficult for some of my devices (August Door lock, ru-vid.comUgkxhB5YOMNj04GuoAosExygP4cH-dKeb4aB Bose speaker)... but all switches and outlets (5), thermostat, tankless water heater. Unfortunately all I can do is turn on/off Bose. It doesn't support volume or changing channels, but I believe that is due to the particular speaker I have.... Worth getting if you already have other devices to use it with... I don't sit around and ask Alexa questions much so that doesn't really matter to me....
I bought the Sonos system just before Arc was released. The simplicity and ease of set up, and the ability to connect to additional rooms to make one system at the pressing of a button did it for me. I have put together several music streaming systems, because I would never pay the price of the original Sonos. All those non Sonos systems are now defunct, but my friends Sonos systems are still going strong. You pay for quality and continued support! Enjoy the simplicity, your lover, wife, kids, baby sitter and even parents will thank you.
It’s expensive, but you’re buying into an ecosystem. From here, you can build a Sonos whole-home multi-zone music system. No one else does this or integrates this like Sonos does.
You are absolutely right! I guess the only other brand that can do something similar is Yamaha with MusicCast, but I don't think it is near as good as the Sonos ecosystem.
Um...pretty sure sonos dropped support in tbe last few years for a massive range of products. They willerally abandon eveyr device they have ever sold few years after lauch. Good luck in 3 years.
You can do this with even much older AVRs and a few active speakers. It's not as user friendly but more flexible if you are into tinkering. Another option would be to toss a few Chromecast into some active speakers. Again, a little more know how involved but you have the ability to achieve a better quality of sound for way cheaper. I like what Sonos is doing but I'm disappointed with some of the proprietary practices.
@@dalechalfont112 They dropped non security related support from 6 products. Each of the products are over 10 years old now and they are still usable with non s2 products.
Dale Chalfont no products were abandoned. They were just split into version 1 and 2. Everything still works just the really old stuff uses a different backend system.
In Australia, this set up costs us $2,936. I know because I just bought it. I have to say that it is incredible! I think what isn’t touched on enough is that the sub is SUPER LOUD but it doesn’t rattle your windows as the sun itself doesn’t vibrate at all. Incredible design/manufacturing
I have the arc, sub 3 and 2 x Symfonisk Sonos from IKEA. From tear down videos, the insides of the symfonisk is identical to the insides of the sonos 1. Saves nearly £200 on a set of rears
Unfinished footsteps I have my main system which is traditionally made piece by piece, wired to a receiver etc... Then I have a Sonos system wireless throughout my house. That’s what I would recommend. Plus many people want a good system that is easy and sounds great, that is the niche for Sonos.
@@unfinishedfootsteps1404 Sony $500 A/V receiver. ELAC Debut 2.0 reference, 2 pairs at $200 per pair for front and rear surround sound. Center channel is $160. Get an ELAC sub for $200 and you're good. Total cost is about $1300 with the wires.
I have both. I will say my traditional sounds better but the Sonos sounds great. If your a tech guy and enjoys immersing yourself in audio and don’t mind the extra space taken up then a hifi system is great with a lot of versatility. If your someone that likes a plug and play with very good sound and to save space then Sonos is a great way to go. Either one you can spend the money. My AV receiver alone was $1400. That’s not even high end.
@@Iceman-xe7jo Sonos does not support DTS, so I will most likely get an Amp and speakers, which I’m sure will give me a great sound from all my blu rays DTS audio
To be honest, I didn’t think this video would answer my very specific questions I had about this system. To my pleasant surprise, you covered mostly everything I wanted to know! So thanks so much for an in-depth review that covered pros, cons, and real life scenarios! Much appreciated! This is pretty much exactly the video I needed. I’m sold on this! Thanks!
Just a note, AV receivers started using room calibration Audyssey way back since 2004, with Audyssey MultEQ XT32 having 32 points/measurements for optimum room calibration. Though having said that, still, Sonos did a great job of embedding that feature in their system.
Wireless things have their place but when it’s possible to run wires Sonos is awful compared to a conventional 5.1 home theater system. It does a crappy job of simulating surround from codecs that aren’t 5.1. There are no options if it comes through in two channel that’s all you get and surround channels do nothing. There also is no option for taking anything including music from your TV and playing in all channel stereo.
After a year of research and reviews, I purchased the Sonos arc w/ sub and one SL rears… could not be happier. I was worried coming off of an older Bose wired system that I loved for 10 years. I didn’t think a sound bar could do the trick, but I’m blown away. I was so happy to get rid of my wired system! This with an LG OLED is just breathtaking. If you are on the fence, just do it.
@@corgicorgi2455 Hi no I hadn’t, just reviews. Since I came from a Bose system my biggest complaint with Bose was dialogue clarity, I feel Sonos is slightly better with crisp clear dialogue.
I think you hit the nail on the head about the shape of your living room. Atmos cooperates in a variety of settings, but the ideal environment is one with corners not overly far away at each end, and ceilings not too insanely high to allow for a really nice sound bounce. Again that's just the ideal environment. Just enhances the feeling of object-based sound around you. That being said, I've also listened to the Arc and Sub 3, standing 10 feet away in an open showroom at only 75% volume and it slaps hard. It's crisp and has excellent sound separation. And that bass thumps good and proper. IMO, if you're big on streaming your content, and your tv quality is hitting the high-point of 4K Dolby Vision and you're looking for an easy way into Dolby Atmos, this would be a highly solid option. As mentioned, it's adaptable and upgradeable. Kept it objective-great review.
I bought it and love it. Several Sonos One SL speakers for music throughout the house. Couldn't be happier. Definitely worth the money. Sound Bar and Subwoofer about $1700. Best Buy delivered and spent two hours setting up everything at no extra charge.
This is an excellent review Jonah. You should also stress on the importance of Trueplay tuning. I have a Gen3 Sub + Beam setup and Trueplay made a big difference. I do not own anything from Apple so borrowed by nephew's iPhone to do the tuning. Also, the Sonos S2 app is available for Windows and Mac, so you can use that on your Macbook/PC. I intend to grab the One SLs later on. However, I do not think you can get a great traditional setup for $1800 alone. I have been gifted/cursed with analytical hearing by birth and from that standpoint I would at least need a Denon AVR-X2700H for example, and that alone costs $850. Add a Klipsch reference set to that plus wires and the price goes to decent levels. IMHO Sonos is among the top of the line in consumer grade devices and though it seems pricey, from an overall experience it did not feel overpriced to me. In perspective, a Senheiser Ambeo comes in at a wallet-busting $2400 for a single soundbar! The cats look smart and intelligent.
I own both the Bose 700 and the Sonos Arc. I love both of them. The Arc sounds great with movies, but sounds terrible with music. I keep the Arc in my movie room. The Bose sits in my family room. The Bose is also excellent for movies as long as you get the sub AND rears. The Bose without those sounds terrible. But if you complete the whole system it sounds amazing!! Especially with music. If you only want a soundbar (without sub or rears), then Sonos all day. If you can afford the whole system, then I would say go Bose.
Thanks for this, you've answered a question I've been struggling to get answered. Looking to get the Arc and sub for movies, and a couple of 5s for music (as apparently the 5s are great for this)
I have this same setup minus the sub and agree with all the points! Great video and thorough/honest review! The only thing I would add is that you should consider leaving the sub out if you live in an apartment as that can overdo what your walls can block out (if you wanna be a considerate neighbor). The reason I went all in is because it truly is just that easy to set up. As someone that has to move every few years, this makes the process that much less painful and I can still enjoy a high quality surround sound/music experience. Paired with Sonos Ones or Fives throughout your home, the immersive experience and ability to seamlessly walk from one room to another with music playing is truly incredible. 10/10 recommend if you can swing it. P.S. hidden perk is that when you play audio through Sonos speakers, your phone audio isn’t pushed through so no more random video sound bites blasting through your speakers or interrupting your music which is incredible 👏
Hey I had the same setup and I wanted to let you know that when I just upgraded to the sub gen3 it changed the entire sound of the rest of the system. It feels like a marked upgrade. Just an fyi. Also, I live in an apartment too and it actually isn’t as noisy for the neighbors as you’d think.
@@VincentVanBro I appreciate the insight into the sub gen3! I've had a lot of reservations about using one in my current building due to what others had told me/reviews, but I think I'll give it a second thought. Definitely something I've been wanting to add to the setup for sure!
I have the Playbar, 2 Play 5s and the Sonos Sub running on my LG CX OLED, I recently went to Bestbuy to get there opinion between the playbar and the Arc, 4 out of 5 people said they prefer the playbar over the Arc.
@@Shdzbj3mb Yes i wanted the Arc as well but i also read the Arc is having Dolby Atmos problems and until the Update comes alone the Dolby sounds terrible with the Arc
Good video Jonah. My video is about to drop and this just came up in my feed... so, bravo. I disagree on being able to build a system for $1800, pretty hard to do from a contractor who does this. You'd pay over $2k easy for products and then another $1‐2k for install and connectivity.
Ive done it with way less. Right now soundwise I have 1250 dollars with 2 SVS SB2000 and SB12NSD ... Klipsch RP5000F line front stage and ATMOS speakers in ceiling as heights Sony SSCEs and Onkyo TXNR686. All in all 1350 dollars INCLUDING the wire (oxygen free copper), banana plugs and wall plates (my wires run through the basement joists). I can include what I spent on a 65" TV and still come at same price.
How can you tell which generation sub you have? Asking because my dad handed down his old Sonos set up to me and he went back to a traditional wired set up. Not sure if Sonos arc will work with the sub or if it only works on newest sub. I have their old playabar, sub, and one sl setup.
We just upgraded our tv and decided to give our speaker system an overhaul as well. I’ve got a Sonos system already in my studio and I love it so we were ready to go wireless in our living room. Just waiting on the Arc to arrive and we’ll be all set.
Jonah. Thank your for your great review of the full SONOS surround system. I just tested my ARC bar last night and had a blast watching batman begins. Gen 3 sub coming today along with SL speakers. Regarding price , it is indeed steep ,but I think this is the highest quality easy to use and setup "wireless" system out there by far based on reviews. That is what you are paying for at the end. Finally, I really enjoyed the cats at the end. Keep it up..
I just got the sonos arc white one from best buy one of the managers return it because he wanted the black one for his setup instead of the white one. it was open box I got it for 679.00 instead of 799.00 I was soo happy i already haveva lg sk9y soundbar but the subwoofer cuts off once in a while its annoying. I can't believe the sonos arc bar by itself sounds just as good or better then the whole setup of my lg sk9y soundbar with subwoofer and rear speakers. now I see why it cost as much as it does for music it sounds awesome.
@David Mander Oh dear, someone does have a problem with people who can afford to buy quality products. If (as I have just done) I'm going to drop 2K on a Sonos system its not because I want to be ripped off, its basically because I have done my research well and can afford it.
@@TheHeavyend81 sorry but sonos is far from quality sound.... Its fine for normal audio sources like spotify because of the very low bitstream of it, but if you want the best sound you simply need a good hifi system. But yeah sonos is really simple to use.
Great video! Very helpful…just purchased all 4 pieces! Love this system…I have an iPhone…so I don’t have issues with the system. The setup was easy…should only take about 15mins but I like to play around with electronics…so it took me an hour 😆. I don’t like that it doesn’t have Bluetooth but if you shove out an extra $800 for the Bluetooth Wireless Speakers then you can go into your Sonos App and merge them with your already setup unit.
What is the benefit of Bluetooth? All streaming services are built in and the app allows you to play local content from your phone over wifi. Bluetooth is such an awful standard for a soundboard.
I know this is an older video, but it’s probably the most helpful one I’ve seen as I’ve researched buying into Sonos (planning to get a beam and 2 era 100s). This helps me feel good about the upcoming purchase even though my living room won’t be the perfect shape for surround placement. Thank you for being practical and straight to the point. Most Sonos videos and reviews seem to be geared toward guys who think it’s normal to spend $2000+ on an audio system and then put surrounds on stands in the middle of the living room. I think for most of us all we really want to know is 1) Does it sound like it’s worth it? 2) Which pieces should I prioritize? 3) Will this look good enough in my home that my wife will allow it?
Jonah,ordered your exact system.pairing it with an 85 inch LG OLED tv,their best one.your video was awesome bud.getting it set up on Feb 24.you’ve got me pumped
Hey Jonah just wanted to let you know your video was very impressive! Super detailed and proffesional. Great job reviewing the speaker, I'm currently in the market for one at the moment for my living room so you definitely helped a lot in making my decision. Please keep up the good work and tell your cat to stop staring into my soul.... Haha
I would second this comment. Your videos played a major factor in my decision to purchase this system. Tomorrow I’m running out to get the one SLs to complete the setup for my wife’s loft area (she-cave). Thanks for the great videos.
I have the same set ups in both my family room and master bedroom...except instead of the Arc I have a Playbar and Beam. It sounds amazing in both rooms. It was serious gut check buying both the subs, but don't regret it. I enjoy my shows that much more...and we can rock out the whole house when all speakers are connected! It is the way it should be.
Just to throw my $.02 in. I've had the Arc, gen 3 sub and two 1 SLs as a system for a bit under a year with an LG 77" OLED CX. Very happy with the Sonos. Prior to this I had a set up with Magneplanar speakers and a decently high end sub (in a different location city). I am happier with the Sonos than I was with the system that cost several times that. One of the big pluses to me is the integration of the sub. I don't hear it. That's a good thing. I don't want to hear it. I want it to integrate seamlessly, which it does. After a few months of listening with the system as described, I cut the rear 1 SLs out to see what difference it made. To my ear, not a whole lot. The Arc is just so good, I'm not sure you need the rears. I moved the 1 SLs to my bedroom where they perform well. I also have a Sonos Move in my kitchen which I often move outside into the garden when needed. Great speaker. I had a single Sonos 5 in my sunroom for about six months, listening in mono. Last week I treated myself to a second 5 to pair with it. What a difference! My Marantz AV 7704 which used to run my AV system with a Emotiva power amp is sitting unused in my study.
Excellent review. I wish I’d had the opportunity to buy the Arc but the Playbase was the latest and greatest when I bought my system, along with two sonos ones and a sub. I’ve got other sonos speakers dotted around my business and home with a mix of old play 1’s, a move, some play 5’s and honestly yes collectively that’s thousands of pounds worth but in my view the entire sonos eco system is completely worth the money because they are so much more than just a surround system or smart speaker. It’s a radio, I listen to podcasts on it, it’s my alarm in the morning, I can stream audio from my iPhone, iPad, MacBook Pro from anywhere in the house, my play 5 has a turn table hooked up to it and the audio from that can be streamed to any room or everywhere if I want to. Night mode and speech enhancement on the Playbase is perfect, no more overly loud adverts or muffled speech with loud BGM due to bad mixing with a quick toggle in the app the sound is perfect. I’ve used other surround sound systems that supposedly have this feature and it never really works. I can go from a full theatre sound stage to quiet night time viewing in seconds.
I recently purchased this package thanks to your review during Sonos 20% off sale. I was looking for a system primarily for music. I am enjoying it beyond expectations. Thank you ! 🙏
Great review man! I originally bought a Sennheiser Ambeo Plus with the Sub and it wasn’t reliable at all. Returned both for a Sonos Arc and Sub mini then added two Era 100’s and man, this thing kicks ass! Atmos content and regular 5.1 content sound ridiculously good. I’m a quasi Audiophile and it even sounds great with music and I’m a snob for an old school 2.1 system. This setup just kills it with stereo separation and the Era 100’s add some nice ambient sound effects with music. I can safely say I’m a Sonos fanboy now and plan to add more to my current ecosystem in the future.
Nice review. I ordered my Sonos bundle today using their trade up scheme. Can’t believe, I got the entire bundle (Arc, sub & 2 x SL) worth of £1,856 for just £1,299.
Assuming room shape etc, I'm intrigued to know, given that 1 sl speakers have no upward firing drivers how the Atmos 'bubble' compares to say the Samsung Atmos bars with rear surrounds.
The surrounds are good... you can live without them but the sub is 100% necessary. When you turn the SLs on and off during scenes, you notice a little maybe adds 10-20% more. The sub is 50% better at least.
Hey Jonah, glad you like the Sonos kit. I listen to music frequently and would dj at home just for fun. I almost went with Sonos but ended up going with the Klipsch Reference 5.1 powered by a Sony receiver. The receiver is able to scan the room and fine tune the speakers to the room’s acoustics. I mainly use them to enjoy studio quality music, but I also enjoy watching movies. Way better than any movie theater experience. Also enjoyed having classic looking tower speakers hooked up to a modern receiver. I have been debating if I should get a Sonos system for my bedroom as I another Klipsch sound system would be too much. But you may have sold me with this lol
The beauty of Sonos is its simplicity. Easy set up and amazing sound. Sure you will pay more but I listen to my Playbar every day for the last 3 years and I have never regretted buying it. My only regret is not buying the sub.
David C. I’m perfectly happy with the playbar. It really sounds amazing so no need right now. If I purchased another tv for another room, definitely would buy the arc.
Have had mine for over 1 and a half year...FUGGIN LUV IT! One of my best purchases. Was a huge IMAX fan, now would rather stay home and crank out that volume to my movies with an 86 in tv.😍
Great review and I love my Sonos too. I bought the AMP before the ARC came out, and love the setup (Two Klipsch bookshelves, Klipsch Sub, and 2 Play 1s). I’ve heard the ARC in a few stores and it sounds amazing but I really wish they would’ve added the ability to add a wired Sub like the AMP because that $700 price for the Sonos sub is ridiculous.
Yeah it would be nice if they added a sub but Sonos tries to do most things wirelessly so I understand why they don’t have that support. The Sonos sub is amazing… I’ve heard a lot of other subs and it really stands out in its looks and sound.
I totally get the appeal of sound bars, basically it’s an evolution of Bose, especially Sonos. It’s simple easy and doesn’t take much tweaking. As a home theater enthusiast however, I can’t believe the price on the Sonos sub! You can get a HSU sub for that price, and it absolutely mops the floor in terms of performance, your talking actual movie theater levels of bass, with things digging down 12.5hz on their subs. Again I totally get it from what most people want, but it kills me what people are missing out on if they spent a little time and research. I’d even come over set up someone’s home theater for them if I can steer them away from sound bars.
I have an arc - I use a gen1 matte sub, I really don’t like the piano black finish of the new ones. Then symfonisk as rears (the Sonos 1’s are overkill imo) I found it a bit better when I tilted the arc forward slightly. But I’m happy with the sound. I have to turn the sub off for late night listening though 😝
Paid $1600 for sound bar, 2 play 3 satellites and sub woofer six years ago. System would skip audio when listening to music - which bummed me out. Never overcame this issue. Completely wireless though the sound bar was hard wired to router.
I have this same system and I love it. Can you do better for less $$$ ? Yes, but you’ll have wires all over the place. This system sounds amazing and is super clean.
Not truly wireless so you still have wires to plug into power and if you don't have an outlet near by you are running an extension cord. No different than running speaker wire which can easily be hidden.
Excellent review, I think you are very fair with your comments and detailed in your explanations without making yourself inaccessible to people with less knowledge. One one thing i'll say with regards the Sonos, I agree about the trueplay and their reasoning, however ironically a lot of people are finding varying results with trueplay using different devices to tune. With people using newer Iphones finding the tune very treble heavy and a bit harsh. I used a borrowed Iphone 7 and that appears to be a bit flatter. On the whole though I enjoy the system, it's expensive yes but it allows you to add to your system over time, potentially when and if Sonos add upward firing rear speakers that will be an upgrade option rather than replacing the whole system like other systems.
If you have an older Sonos component, you get a 30% discount through their Trade-Up program. And you can keep the old component which wasn't the case when the program was unveiled. So you get this lot for $1299. Seriously contemplating it as a Sonos user since 2007.
I just bought the ARC and the Sub Gen , It comes in 3 days I CANT WAIT. My SONY SB Sub Blew out and I cant live with out good audio. Decided to spend big this time.
@@gmotsjr13 definitely worth you will be very happy with those two combos, would definitely recommend either picking up two ones for the rears or play 5s depending on the size of the area.
@@mattyb9521 I wanted to, but I’m my living room the way it’s all laid out, I wouldn’t know where to put them. I’ll have to play around with it. Thanks!
@@gmotsjr13 just seeing your response, assuming you already got the arc and sub in. Hopefully they’re sounding great! I will say after spending 6 months with my setup so far my con is I wish there were two hdmi ports on the arc to run more stuff through the actual speaker. I will say I heard Sonos is eventually coming out with an adapter to where you can plug in two HDMIs into the Arc. I do enjoy however I can I run music through my TV either via RU-vid or Apple TV and enjoy sound all over my house in Addition to my play 5s around. Very nice how they all magically wirelessly connect and are most of the time very in sync
Only worth it for home audio imo. I have a Sonos one in 3 rooms. It’s great for music, podcasts, virtual assistant. But definitely not worth the money for a home Theater set up. Love Sonos and always will. They make quality stuff! But they’re for a certain type of audio
@@davidgorman1671 middle of a tv should be around 45 inches off the floor for a variety of reasons. Fine the fireplace screws that a bit but still, dipshit here puts it another foot and half higher. Pretty strange
@@Bubbles99718 Hey, this is Jonah's girlfriend... I see how it's strange when you don't know the backstory of it, but it's actually because we live in an apartment, and I would keep picture frames of our family and holiday decor on the mantel before he started creating these videos. Our lease is ending soon, so we didn't think it was worth messing with since we'll be hopefully moving to a house soon. So that's why the tv is so high... Because I wanted room for my stuff and not because he's a "dipshit".
Bro, to get the most out of this setup you need to fix two things 1 :wall mount the arc 5 inches below tv for better upfiring speaker effect and better filling of room 2: have the one sl be higher at ear level. You can get stands or wall mount them aswell
Jami S 8, 83, 810 and 803 - around $800, Denon AVR-X2700H - $900 Guess he was right, you could put together a really good system for this much money. Still, I have the Sonos Arc with in-ceiling rears running off a Connect:Amp I and love it.
My Sonos ARC arrived yesterday and I set it up today. Setup was a snap. Even my wife, who is about as far from technical as you can get, could do it by herself without any help. Kudos to Sonos for ease of setup. I have spent the last several hours listening to it to make a determination on whether or not I want to spend more money on Sonos gear or return the ARC. I will be be sending it back on Monday. My problem with it is that I didn't find it suitable even for casual listening. The soundfield coming from this device has very nice upper midrange and treble response. But what you hear just lacks body and presence. And while adding a sub might cure the deficiencies with the sub bass extension, the lower mid range is still going to be woefully under represented in the sound. I just wasn't wowed enough by what I was hearing to make me get out my credit card and spend another $700 on a sub. As a point of reference for comparison I have a pair of ADAM Audio A8x studio monitors and they blow the Sonos Arc out of the water. If forced to chose I would prefer to watch movies with surround sound downmixed to stereo and pumped through a pair of ADAM studio monitors over a complete Sonos system with compromised sound. That may seem like a harsh judgment, and it is fair to say that I haven't heard a complete Sonos setup. What I have heard of the ARC left me very unimpressed, and I have heard and own a pair of ADAM A8x studio monitors. It is not even a fair contest. While the Sonos might be a good competitor against other soundbars it can't hold a candle to a decent pair of studio monitors.
I thought I would post an update (not that anyone cares what I think. Lol). I know I was a naysayer but since I already had the Sonos Arc I decided to add the Gen 3 Subwoofer. If I still didn't like the system then I would return both pieces. I installed the Subwoofer yesterday and retuned the setup with TruePlay. The subwoofer is a game changer for this system. I still don't think it competes with a good pair of stereo speakers or studio monitors for music listening...but it doesn't have to. It is more than enough for movies and casual music listening. If you're a critical music listener then you will need something else. So I have done something of a reversal and plan to keep the Sonos setup for movies. All that being said, if you buy the Sonos Arc then I strongly recommend you get the Gen 3 subwoofer to go with it.
I'm kinda late to this party, but here goes... First, I'd never heard of Airplay until I saw it mentioned here, and since I have an iPhone I immediately checked it out, and I love it! Also, among the cons of a "traditional" surround sound home theater system that I never hear mentioned, is the friggin' HEAT that an amp puts out. I thought that the reason my den was so hot in the summer was because of the TV, but once I got rid of the amp and got this Sonos system, I was amazed at how much cooler the room was! Maybe it's just me. And finally, gotta love the cats. :)
I’ve had my Sonos system for about five years. I can’t think of a thing I would change! My rear room surround sound speakers are a set of wall mounted Bose though that I had from a former Bose system. I purchased the Sonos amplifier to drive them.
I’m not sure if I’m right but from my understanding only one unit needs to be hardwired in (or connected to wifi) and then from there the sonos system creates its own mesh network reducing the latency significantly.
For anyone with an external input that doesn't have a TV with eArc/HDMI 2.1 this means you can't get full Dolby Atmos sound which makes a real difference. I got an Arcana Fury which is designed for this exact problem as it splits the video and audio. I don't have the sub yet but watching the Matrix on 4k and it felt like being in the cinema. I've never heard anything like it. It is top quality tech but unless you're playing HD quality music or taking full advantage of Atmos via a console or blu-ray you may not be getting your money's worth.
We have the Sonos 5 on our system. You can combine it to the playbar and Sonos on sl but you have to control it’s volume seperate. The true tune app of whatever it’s called can only be done with iphone
I really recommend connecting your Sonos system to a 5Ghz wifi channel (depending on the sonos location) This seems to be working really well and I sometimes had minor latency issues over 2,4 ghz. All gone when I setup the Sonos on 5Ghz channel.
The one HDMI is not that big a deal as long as the TV has several. Just plug PS4/xbox/appletv in the other HDMIs on the TV and the Arc in the eARC and you are good to go.
Regarding your Cons: Why would you add a Blueray player in the future? With streaming becoming the norm, additional input devices are becoming a thing of the past.
OMG, man. I was 100% confident to buy Harman Kardon Citation system before I saw your reviews. Now I'm so much in between))) If you will have a possibility, plz review the Citation series.
Thank you for the video. I am going to start with Arc and Sub 3. It is for my family room. My main theater room has a full HT system so will watch there if it is going to be a big movie night.
Comment on Arc not having more than one HDMI input, it is an audio device only and should be thought of in that way. Let your TV (or receiver) be the switching hub for your HDMI sources. The reason they do have multiple HDMI inputs. Most newer TV's can/will auto switch inputs based on signal and the Arc will play the audio of whatever source is playing. Also, check out the Zonos app for Windows.
If you want to add sound from your computer, use a Sonos Connect (get a 2nd hand gen2, if you want S2 support) or a Sonos Port. That will let you do that. Personally, I actually stuck a playbar ( a beam would probably have done) in my office and connected the fibre port to the computer ... that works, too. It can be done, but you have to think a bit outside the box.
Oh for sure. I know it can be done, but to use it with a computer, it shouldn't cost that much extra. It just doesn't make financial sense to do that. It would make more sense to invest in a $400 set of studio monitors. Just a small thing that annoys me about Sonos. Still in love with their products though.
The biggest appealing fact is that it gives a receiver system sound and multi room capabilities. Getting a 5.1 with a receiver that can handle multiple rooms will cost loads more money! Take 5 mins at a theater store and you will know a tradition setup will not be the same cost.
great review....we can now have 2 subs.....woohoo...i have the ARC soundbar / 2 subs / and the One SL's as rears.....thinking of getting the 5's for rear instead....mmmmm what to do what to do.....room is 14x22 so that should really fill the room....don't get me wrong the current system is awesome ....but the 5's could be the icing on the cake....cheers all and be safe
2:26 Reminds me of a similar experience I had with my uncle, when I was first introduced into the home theater game! He showed us the infamous downtown shootout scene from the movie "Heat" and omg was it awesome! Then I had a similar experience afterwards when I first got my Vizio soundbar and played Black Ops 2 on it lol
It might be a good soundbar system but it’s not home theater. Too many people seem to confuse soundbar (with surround speakers or not/Dolby Atmos) with a home theater. A traditional speaker system with an AVR and optional amplifier is a much better system. It’s upgradable, and sounds much more precise. No soundbar can match the depth and dynamics of a traditional hone theater system. Yes, soundbars are convenient, but that’s about it
One thing I've never understood from certain manufacturers, i. e. Sonos for one. If they are are.. truly after the... art of sound, why do they force me to use only their subs? To me, like Focal, and many others they take the mentality of, hey you can use, no sub, our sub, or hey, your own sub! What a concept. No company, especially speaker companies, make the best of it all. Even Wilson, as phenomenal as they are, to me, fall short in a few areas. Bottom line, always allow you customer the option of buying your other gear. Not forcing us. Great channel, great review.
I don't think Sonos is after the art of sound. I think they are more concerned with user experience while also providing good audio quality. They have all of their stuff built into the Sonos ecosystem. Similar to how Apple is. I agree, it would be nice if you could use any sub you want, but that takes away from their user experience of how simple everything is to setup and use. Thanks for the comment!
I have great, no, unbelievable news!! I was able to use the arc, the sl 1's. And, are you ready? I bought the amp, which allows me to use my subs!!! I couldn't believe it worked! Yeah, I have to chuckle that I paid 700 bucks, to gain access to my own subs. But, when I have 2 krell subs, they cannot just sit there waiting to be used in our 9.4 4 system. Happy, happy camper!
This is my set up, except I have Play:1s. Have an open living room that opens to the kitchen. Sounds great. Got the Arcana after watching your video and the difference of atmos compared to 5.1 is something
