How to place the Sonos Arc for best Atmos effects (Quick Guide Chart provided!) 

For anyone out there that's interested in sonos arc, keep reading. If you're lucky and you stumbled upon this videos among your first in your research, you're lucky cause I'm about to save you some time. I'm super interested in SONOS Arc. So I've been watching ...honestly at this point i stopped counting. But surely over a three dozen different videos with people doing reviews and general recommendation of soundbars, comparisons, standalone reviews of sonos arc, ...literally I watched most of the sonos arc content. And I still have about 10 tabs opened. I am watching tab by tab by tab... Now please pay attention what I'm about to say. This is the FIRST video with concrete information and I wrote this at minute 8 of this video. Now that I finished watching the entire video. Be sure to watch it to the end. The most and useful information about sonos arc content you will find on youtube. Everything else is just so iterative, nothing new... This man deserved a sub and so much more. Well done Pete.

Absolutely incredible video. Thank you, Peter. Just what I was hoping to find!

Peter, this is absolutely the most comprehensive video I've seen on placement of the Sonos arc. The amount of hours you had to put in to provide us so much detail is phenomenal. Thank you so much for your hard work and enthusiasm!

I saw no other person on youtube reviewing sonos products in such a detail. Amazing work Peter, thank you and well done :)

Thank you Peter! I mounted my sonos arc with your tips yesterday. It sounds really good! Can’t wait to upgrade my TV!

Thanks so much Peter! I'm waiting on my ARC and Sub Gen 3 to arrive. I can't wait to start setting this up in my house.

All I did was retune TruePlay according to the suggestions and it has improved the positioning of Atmos for me. Before the height audio can be heard above but a bit further in front of me. Now the Atmos effects are happening right above my head. Big thanks for this video.

This video is a must view for Arc owners, amazing!!!!!

Point at the arc during tuning made a night and day difference. Thank you!

Once again you really put together a great video with great content. I really appreciate the time and effort you put into these videos.

What a game changer your video has been. Thank you Peter!

Thanks for the excellent explanation of speaker placement. Learned a lot. I'll be changing the placement of sound bar tonight!

Excellent advice. I just discovered your content earlier today...excellent work ...thank you for sharing.

Incredibly useful informaiton about Arc placement. I have always placed mine near the rear of my TV cabinet, until now. :)

Wow. You are incredible! Sonos should pay you royalties. It’s because of your thorough review that I will purchase an Arc to match with my 65” LG OLED TV.

Fantastic! The vocal on my arc sounded a little muddy before. I had voice enhancement and treble pretty high. I no longer need to make any adjustments to the EQ after following this video. Well done and thank you!

It’s a great advise in a perfect room. Unfortunately 98% of Arc owners have plants, curtains, ceiling lights, fans and other stuff in their living rooms. Sonos did a good job with the Arc to make it fit in all those rooms and still manage to create a impressive sound stage from the Arc

This is an amazing video! Thanks Peter!

So fantastic. Thank you Peter!

Incredible insights and clear explanations! Thank you!

Love the vid Peter. Thank you for such great content!! 👍👍👍

Thanks for all your work, 👍

Thanks Peter, really helpful advice.

I appreciate the time you took to show all the info for a ignorant guy like me how to properly use this system. Since I got interest in it your videos have been my eyes to see what I would need to know

Phenomenal analysis!

Thanks Peter, this has been very helpful. After having given it some considerable thought, and doing what research I could, I have in the end decided to not even try the ARC as a replacement for my Playbase - which I have been very happy with anyway. I've had Surround Sound since the mid 90s and this is the best it has ever been. The restriction I have in the ARC placement would - I think - compromise performance. I'd likely hear the upward firing sound direct from the ARC before it is ever reflected from the ceiling. For me, the ARC would need to be where the Playbase is now - 46cm BELOW my seated ear height - 215cm below the ceiling and 200cm from my seating position. There are also, I guess, the possible unwanted reflections (7:27) from the unit that the ARC/TV MUST sit upon. I feel that getting an ARC on the 100day return option direct from SONOS, setting it up - testing it and trying to formulate a (concise) conclusion might just be a waste of time and may even just add it's own level of confusion or even frustration - for me at least. I guess I'll just need to wait to see what SONOS comes up with next.

This is the channel to subscribe to, for real information and help to optimize your Sonos experience. LG

Hey Peter - great job. Making me love my Sonos system!

Great review I was wondering why my arc setup didn’t sound with its full potential well I just found out why I did my truplay tune wrong I went to close to the Arc now I know can’t wait to retune it later 😝

Well done, sir! Thank you!

Amazing video, thank you!

WOW... An actual technical video by someone that clearly knows their subject matter and not just making it up or going over basics...

This is so helpful, thank you!

Hi, Peter. Love your videos. I followed your TruePlay suggestions and since you asked viewers to comment on their experiences, here’s mine. I have the Arc, Sub and Ones. Did TruePlay your way and for a couple of weeks observed that movies had very little, if any, imaging. Outside of stereo, sound was rather flat. The bass was slightly muffled. I chose Dolby Atmos titles like RRR, Formula 1 Drive To Survive and Our Planet. Worse yet, when I play Dolby Atmos on Apple Music, several songs sounded bad, particularly the mids. For example, Petty’s vocals on Mary Jane’s Last Dance, Gaye’s on What’s Going On and others’ sounded subdued. I’m very familiar with these tracks and they didn’t sound right. So today I redid TruePlay the conventional way - walked around the entire room and pointed the iPhone up, not toward the Arc. The result: a more acceptable, i.e., “normal” sound imaging in both movies and music. Mind you, I don’t have your tech gadget and expertise. I merely rely on my trustworthy ears. So for now I’ll keep these settings until I hear from you or others. Thank you, buddy.

Thanks very much. Very good content for a new Sonos owner.

Be Very Careful to secure Arc if you like listening to loud bass sounds when you wedge soundbar from behind.....I had an electrician install two Sonos One's high up on my walls with the wiring going through the ceiling to hide. While in the attic of my bungalow he asked me to to turn up the volume to test. I ended up catching my Arc about 2 inches from the floor narrowly avoiding catastrophe when it vibrated and fell off wooden tv cabinet....Saying that I still thank you for the wedge idea. It really makes a difference. I have simply made a long chamfered piece of nylon which I glued to my tv unit and then mounted my Sonos Arc to the nylon using sticky back velcro. Thanks for the idea and time

Awesome video I sincerely hope you grow your channel! Subbed!

Nice charts Peter!

Very helpful information. I found the chart to be exactly what I needed to optimise the best listening and viewing experience. Just wish I had my own cinema room to which I would soundproof. The downside to true play is it is not compatible with android phones. Which I find very annoying as I don't have an apple phone. After speaking to Sonos they said the mic on apple phones is the same and android depending on make and model varies too much to be able to have software to be able to do true play. Have now added a pair of Sonos ones for surround effect.

Superb!

Peter, this did it for me! Subbed!

I followed you chart on how high the ceiling vs how far I sit and how much to angle the arc........ HOLY SH*T it’s a huge difference. Thank you very much liked and subed

Subscribed! great video

Extremely useful

Nice explanation, thanks for the effort

Great Video!

Great stuff! I attached laser pointers to my arc to map out the sound directions. For the ceiling, I attached mirrors to the ceiling to gauge where the sound is being bounced to. Got the idea as I was flying and someone from the ground pointed lasers into my cockpit. Maybe you can try that Pete! I indeed had to elevate the back of the arc by about 1.5cm to get the best ATMOS.

Amazing, thanks to you I have realized on how much quality I am missing out on. My Arc is currently wall mounted over a sideboard. So the tv and the wood underneath both obstruct the sound. Luckily I'm moving soon, so in the new place I can put everything to the optimum :D

THANK YOU!!!!!

Hi Peter 👋 I bought the Sonos Arc, Sonos Sub, and Sonos Five and I am very satisfied, thank you for your videos 🙏 they help me with my decisión I want another Sonos Sub regrets from Mexico 🇲🇽

Thank you!

Interesting video. I just bought the arc last week, and was rather underwhelmed by the whole thing. Tried watching some atmos content but didn’t experience anything special. At £900 was expecting much more. Fortunately was able to return it.

Great info thank you

Great work this I’m gona try at home !!!

Good job! I haven’t tried following your advice ( 6am in flats) but will update on success or failure once I have. Makes me wonder why Sonos didn’t either put adjustable feet on Arc or do a similar video. Perhaps Sonos could use your knowledge professionally!

Honestly have to ditto so many others here. Watched a ton of videos as to how to set up my Sonos system and the most simplistic aspects (placement) and more technical components (spacing, ceiling height,, etc.) are great to know. I have an 85” Sony 95j with sub and 2 back ones. Still playing with it and this helps a ton. If any specific help for a 18x12 room whereas the direct front viewing is about 8 ft. From the soundbar/sub and 4ft and 6ft from the respective surrounds, with a 9ft ceiling and soundbar roughly 32” high! Am welcome to listen.. much appreciated.

Great video help me place my setup. Another content idea: I think you should make a user submission video series where people submit their setups and you critique it.

Hi Peter, great content. Learn a lot from yours. I have a LG CX65 and a ARC, if i put the TV at optimum height, the center of the TV should be about 90cm from the floor. However, in order to have the optimum sound effect from the Arc, it is also 90cm from the floor. Some how eye level = ear level, how i can work this around? Really appreciate your content and your video. I never expect i can learn so much from them.

Awesome suggestions, can't wait to try them. I'll have to make some measurements. what do you recommend using to wedge the rear of the arc to get the necessary tilt of the atmos speakers? Also, what media did you use to test your setup?

Muchas gracias, hice mi mejor esfuerzo para entender. Sería bueno que mostrara ejemplos de lo que dice, por ejemplo la posición del TV con la Sonos Arc

Thanks for this, Peter. I wanted to ask what do you use to elevate the rear of the ARC at an angle?

Another great post, this video was awesome. I did have a question - how would I position the Arc in a room with vaulted ceilings (varying ceiling height)?

Thanks for the great video! Now that you can change the volume of the height channels, does this change how you would do True play in terms of holding the phone or walking around as you mention in the video? Is there an ideal way to hold the phone or where to walk to help increase the center channel too? Thanks!

Hi Peter... Firstly I must thank you for being absolutely the best guru on all things Sonos! and Audio!... Now my questions and I really hope you can help me with some guidance. I am using the Soundbar with a Optoma Short Throw Projector. The screen has a slim frame. Now I also ordered the Sonos Wall Mount for the Arc soundbar. Q1 - Will the screen frame interfere with the upward facing speakers? Q2 - Can the angle of the upward facing speakers be increased beyond 15 degrees when wall mounted? Thanks so much in advance!

Subscribed! 10 thumbs up, what a great set of recommendations! As an aside, I wonder how I can wedge the back of the soundbar if I wall mounted it? 😆

I wouldn't say this is a slim soundbar. Almost 9cm tall. Great videos are always. love your work!

Wow! Thanks so much for this video you've got a new sub! Thanks for all the hard work. Has anyone had to tilt their arc? Of so what did you use to tilt? I need to get mine tilted by 2/3". TIA

This comes right up to my geek level! I will lose days trying various different things! 😂

Wedging the arc forward a bit will be great for me because I have the LG CX and the stand it sits on will act like a perfect tool for that!

I love this guy ,

Great video! Love the detail. I have a Playbase now with sub and 2 Ones for surround. Thinking about the Arc but am worried about the placement. The TV is in the corner but the couch is facing straight ahead, so I’m kinda looking at it on an angle. Will that affect how well the Arc works? Thanks again for the great videos. Following.

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

Another TOP video THANKS. I sit 12 feet away so have gone for a full tilt(15degrees) with about a 9ft ceiling. To me it seems the angle enhances the front drivers and doesn't send sound into the floor (ARC 2ft off ground and pulled to front of unit ).

Legend

Great Video Peter thank you. I've owned my ARC now for about a month but I just picked up the sub yesterday and I'm still trying to figure it all out. My room is HUGE and open. The ARC sits off center in the room where it's 7.5ft (center of ARC to wall) on one side, 13.5ft (center of ARC to wall) on the other side. It's approx. 5.75in from the ceiling and 13 feet from my sitting area. It's a large room and behind the sitting area is no wall, it's my open floor plan kitchen. My assumption is that I'd have to tilt this ARC pretty substantially to get the "optimal listening angle". Does angling the ARC too much have any affect on the forward firing speakers? (no, I haven't done true play on it yet as I don't have access to an iPhone...but I plan to soon) Any thoughts? Thanks!

Thanks!

Thank you for the video Peter. Just got the Arc the other day. I am noticing though that the unit seems louder or favors the left side of the bar, especially with voice tracks. I found others who experienced this too on the Sonos forums. Any ideas what could cause this? I will say, the bar is closer to my left wall than right, so I don't know if this is just acoustics bouncing back.

Pete you the man! Thanks again for yet another well informed vid and tips!

Hi Peter. Super informative video. I just got an LG CX OLED (77 inch) that tops out at 65 inches from the floor. I am thinking of getting the Arc but I do not want to put it in the cabinet below the TV for obvious reasons. There is no room on the cabinet to place the Arc in front of the TV which has pretty massive base stand. I am thinking of putting the Arc above the TV on a shelf. The ceilings are 12 feet tall with a MLP 9 feet from the TV. Would having it that high above ear level be an issue? Also, how much should I wedge the rear of the Arc for best effect?

Love this content. I’m thinking of installing a TV and Arc above a fireplace in the livingroom. Based on your content would you recommend sitting the arc on the mantel to enable it to be angled, instead of the wall bracket as it’s fixed and would project the sound above us when we are sitting on a sofa.

This is great. I understand tilting helps get the top facing speakers pointing in the right direction, but doesn't it make the forward facing speakers now pointing in the non optimal direction?

Any chance you can do a demo video of the trueplay tips you mentioned? :)

Thanks Peter for the advice . I was going to buy the wall mount for my arc and get the television put on the wall above it . Do you know if you can tilt the angle of the arc when connecting it to the wall ? I also sit about 8 feet from my television.

Do you happen to know the firing angle of the drivers that produce the virtual surrounds? (the second and the one before the last one). I can’t get them to impact on the rear wall, so I’m suspecting the room might be too big, making them to impact on the side walls.

6 feet away for listening distance is way too short. My couch is at least 8-9 feet away. Who sits 6 feet away from a 65” TV?!

I dug deep in my trigonometry memory bank"! LOL. Time to join as a Patron!

Thanks for the great tips as usual, Peter! Question, do you think placing sound absorbers/diffusers on the ceiling for acoustic room treatment would interfere with the Arc's Atmos capabilities?

Hi Peter, great video...very detailed...QUESTION - I always see that the Sonos Arc is. placed below the TV - what about if I place it above the TV? I am sitting on a couch about 8ft away - so ears about 3 feet from the floor...I have the SONOS wall mount which as you noted goes flush to the wall, so that is about 3 inches further back and behind the tv which is on a wall mount....I was therefore wondering if the better way to enable the upwards pointing speakers to do their thing is to mount the soundbar flush on the wall above my TV? My room ceiling is 9ft. The to of my TV is 5ft from the floor. What would be your advice?

Thank you this was very helpful. My ceilings are sloped downward and are 11ft where the tv is, and 8ft where our couch is (which is about ~10 ft from tv). Will lifting the rear of the arc solve this issue, or should I just look into surround sound speakers? - new subscriber

Good evening Peter. I am a New subscriber to your channel ans just love your video. I have one Silly question. I just bought the Sonos Arc and following your placement guide, i need to tilt the Arc by 1 inch. What Do you recommend to use for lifting the back of the sound bar?

Excellent recommendations! I had been tilting my Arc forward over a month already to get the most height effects. It does make a difference. I will try next to trueplay by not pointing the phone mic upwards.

Great video Peter waiting for my arc to come in . I saw a previous person ask about the wedge. How did you secure it for the advanced angles? Also does the volume cause it to be periodically adjusted? Thanks again

Well learned something today... I’ll need to redo the TruePlay. Two things I did wrong... the instructions stated to point the mic (bottom of the iPhone up) and the second wrong thing... i stood in front of the Arc and went well in front of my MLP.

Hi Peter, loves your videos. I am currently planning to wall mount both my TV and arc. My LG C1 bottom to the ground is 95 cm and with 6" distancing, the sonos is only 74 cm from its center to ground. Is this too low from our ear level? Will the LG C1 slim enough to allow distance less than 6"? Also read from the manual, the sonos mount needs additional 1.5", hence total 7.5" from top edge of the mount to TV bottom, is that correct?. Appreciate your advice.

Great tips, Peter. Very detailed!! Just wondering if one wedges the back of the Arc to increase the angle of the top firing speakers, then would not the front speakers also become tilted downwards accordingly?

Thank you for the amazing video! Question: I am trying to set up my projector and do NOT want to cut holes in my ceiling to connect my Arc with the projector. Can I place the arc behind my seating and point it upwards, or does it always need to be in front of the viewer?

Hi Peter, thanks for your great coverage on the Sonos Arc and all the valuable insights. I've been debating on whether to place my Arc around 2ft BELOW ear-level (i.e. 1ft above the floor) to increase the Arc's headspace and in turn to increase the reach of the up-firing speakers. I've done some basic calculations and arrived at roughly 12ft reach, when tilting the Arc 1 inch and having 9ft between Arc and ceiling. Would you advise against this? Thanks!

Great content. Are you also gonna test other products than Sonos?

Peter , just got my new sonoe arc set up . Hooked up my apple tv 4k to tv , sonos to tv on earc but can’t get dolby atmos work.. Pls advice 🙏🏽

When you say to not move too close to the Arc, how close is it? My listening distance is approximately 8 feet and on one side there is a wall and on the other side there is an L shaped couch back to the wall. So should I move for example half way to the Arc or just sit there and move from one sitting place to the other? Thanks and great video.