Sunday, November 8, 2020

Comparing Sonos Playbar to the Arc - Straight across comparison

I recently replaced my Sonos Playbar with the Sonos Arc and want to share a concerning ear's perspective. First let me catch you up on my setup. TV mounted above the fireplace, a first generation Sonos Sub, two latest voice enabled Ones. Replaced the Playbar with Arc in exact same set up and location. Let me also state that I do NOT have a eArc HDMI enabled TV so not maximizing the capabilities of the Arc. Here is what I found. Simple to hook up. Had to pull TV from wall to get the optical out (Adapter included in Arc package) Adapter from Optical to HDMI into the Arc. I then did the Trutune process. One thing I noticed (Admittedly it has been forever since I have tuned my livingroom so) The Trutune had you first tune from where you sit, then the entire room. My opinion, the tune was much better. Better sound balance (High and lows - the old tune was a bit bottom heavy) One big difference in in the highs. The high hat cymbols are much more crisp. The sound stage is MUCH wider and filling. I would say the overall sound is a bit better but not dramatic. I utilize Alexa and moving from the ones to the Arch is a much better experience. Would I recomend this upgrade? Well depends on how you feel about the $'s. Not worth it just to do it. If I was purchasing new then absolutely.