The Sonos Arc Ultra is the supposed name for the next elite Dolby Atmos soundbar coming from Sonos, and like many of the company’s new releases these days, it’s not exactly the world’s most mysterious device.
The Sonos Arc Ultra has had a load of leaks about possible pricing, images, claims of delays and then being brought forward, information about its cutting-edge new speaker tech, and – of course – its name.
The Sonos Arc Ultra will be the successor to one of the best soundbars (and one of the most popular) in the form of the original Sonos Arc, although given the high prices we’re seeing rumored for the Sonos Arc Ultra, it’s entirely possible that this model will come in above the regular Arc in Sonos’ range, and the first model will stick around.
In a nutshell, what we’re expecting from the Sonos Arc Ultra is an elite all-in-one soundbar that costs somewhere between $999 and $1,199, and features a new kind of speaker tech previously known as Mayht HeartMotion to provide much better bass without the need for a subwoofer, as well as much improved Dolby Atmos 3D spatial audio positioning effects.
Matt Bolton
I use a Sonos surround-sound system at home based around the Sonos Arc, so I’m extremely excited by the idea of the new and improved model – and I’ve tested every Sonos soundbar and home speaker released in the last five years. Here’s all the info we’ve collected so far, and my analysis and explanation of what it all means.
Sonos Arc Ultra: rumored price and release timing
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During September 2024 alone, there were two different prices floated for the Sonos Arc Ultra. First came a claimed screenshot of an accidental upload to Sonos’ online store of the product page, which appeared to confirm the name ‘Arc Ultra’ that had been previously revealed by regular leaker Arsène Lupin and promised a price of $1,199 (about £900 / AU$1,750).
However, almost immediately, Lupin returned to give his own take that the Sonos Arc Ultra would cost $999 (about £750 / AU$1,450) and to throw in some images.
As for when it should arrive, at this point it feels like it could land at any time, but it’s looking likely to arrive before the end of 2024.
There were reports that it had been delayed due to Sonos’ on-going issues with its new app’s reliability, but more recent claims say that it’s back on track.
Generally, companies want to get products like this launched not too far into October or maybe November, so they can catch people before they spend all their budget on Black Friday.
So while we have nothing specific about a release date so far, we’re getting close to when I’d expect it to launch.
Sonos Arc Ultra: possible leaked design
Given that several of the best Sonos speakers have gone through a redesign recently with a new, subtly changed, design language (see: the Sonos Era 100, the Sonos Era 300 and the Sonos Move 2), I was hoping for the same from the Sonos Arc. Especially since it’s such a tall beast, and that can be a problem with low-slung TV stands.
However, it looks like that won’t be the case. From the pictures we have so far (which are, to be fair, quite zoomed out because it’s a real long boy), it seems like the design will be extremely similar to the original Sonos Arc.
So you’ll have a round side profile, a hard plastic grille, the option of white or black finishes, and connections in a central recessed hub in the back.
Sonos Arc Ultra: rumored features
Sadly, I’m not expecting a drastic change in techy features compared to the original Sonos Arc. It seems clear that Bluetooth will be on board based on the current leaks, and the fact that Sonos is adding it to all its new products.
It’ll still be a Dolby Atmos soundbar, so will have the same HDMI eARC connection as the Sonos Arc, we can assume. But based on the spec and image leaks so far, it seems like it won’t support HDMI passthrough still – it looks like there’s space for only one HDMI port from images leaked at The Verge.
This is infuriating to me. When the original Sonos Arc came out, the fact that it that it had no HDMI passthrough was a mark against it. That was in 2020. Here in 2024, it’ll be borderline unacceptable. Other premium soundbars in this range (the Sony HT-A7000 and the Samsung HW-Q990D) feature multiple HDMI passthroughs that support HDMI 2.1 gaming features, such as 4K HDR at 120Hz.
It’s also a problem because many of the best TVs still only have two HDMI 2.1 ports, and one of these ports is usually the HDMI eARC port. This means that if you have both next-gen gaming consoles and the Sonos Arc (or Ultra), only one of your two gaming consoles can be connected with full 4K 120Hz support.
I’ve spoken to Sonos about this topic in the past, and the company said that it believes it is more user-friendly to have the simplicity of one HDMI connection. I really hope we’re all surprised and Sonos changed its mind for the Sonos Arc Ultra, but I won’t be holding my breath.
Beyond this, we can assume that the Sonos Arc Ultra will work with the TV Audio Swap feature of the Sonos Ace headphones. I really liked this feature when I tested them for my Sonos Ace review, and it seems like a slam dunk that it’ll be supported from launch.
I would also expect that Sonos’ new TruePlay Quick Tuning will be supported on Android, as well as its full Advanced TruePlay that’s available on iOS. This was released recently to use with the Sonos Era 100 and Era 300, and should help to tune the sound for your particular room, helping with detail and precision in the Dolby Atmos effects.
And that will be important given the new speaker tech inside, so let’s talk about that.
Sonos Arc Ultra: next-gen speaker tech explained
The most exciting part of the Sonos Arc Ultra will be the new speaker tech that it’s all-but-certain to use inside. This was developed by a company called Mayht, which Sonos then acquired – and the Arc Ultra looks set to be the first product to debut it.
Originally called HeartMotion – though Sonos’ version may be called Sound Motion if the store page leak mentioned further up is real – this tech can basically halve the size of speakers by using an innovative design that pushes sound from both sides at once.
When Mayht first introduced the tech, it used Sonos products as its comparison, claiming that something with the size and quality of the Sonos Five could be fit into the body of the Sonos One. Sadly, Mayht was acquired just before I ever got to have the technology demonstrated to me, but I discussed it with the company, and it was incredibly clever.
A major part of it is the way it drives sound from two sides at once, which has the advantage of reducing vibrations in the body, because the forces from driving in two opposing directions cancels each other out. This is a principle Sonos knows well, because it uses a ‘push-push’ configuration in all of its subwoofers – but that’s done by using two different speakers, so actually increases size and complexity. ‘Sound Motion’ should make it very small, and very simple.
This could have two potential advantages in the Sonos Arc Ultra. The first is a massive improvement in the bass power even without a subwoofer, because the company can simply fit much more woofer power into the same space with this tech. The best soundbar I ever heard for bass that didn’t have its own sub was the Devialet Dione, and that was achieved by having eight individual woofers arranged in a push-push configuration (so it wouldn’t vibrate right off your TV stand). This made it massive both in terms of its size and price, but it worked.
If Sonos can get close to that by using a smaller number of Sound Motion drivers, then the Arc Ultra could be something quite special.
The second advantage is that if the bass power can be achieved in a smaller woofer configuration than the original Arc requires, that leaves more space to use and add angled tweeters to help create convincing 3D sound to challenge the best Dolby Atmos soundbars.
I wonder if Sonos might even be able to use the same kind of pro-style compression drivers from the Era 300, which are fantastic at creating precise spatial effects.
Whatever happens, the promise is of a drastic improvement in dynamic range and surround effect, and given how far companies such as Samsung and LG have passed Sonos in this area since the Arc came out, that will be very welcome.
