The Sonos Arc Ultra is the company’s flagship premium soundbar, released in October 2024 as a successor to the original Arc. It is a significant upgrade that incorporates breakthrough technology for more powerful and immersive spatial audio in a sleeker design.
Key features
Sound Motion™ technology: The Arc Ultra is the first Sonos product to integrate this revolutionary transducer technology, which was developed by the startup Mayht and acquired by Sonos in 2022. This innovation allows for smaller, more compact drivers to produce the output of much larger ones, which is key to the soundbar’s powerful performance and slim profile.
Upgraded acoustics: It features an all-new acoustic architecture with 14 or 15 Sonos-engineered drivers, depending on the source. This includes a dedicated Sound Motion woofer for deep bass, a new center channel for crystal-clear dialogue, and angled tweeters and upward-firing drivers for spatial audio.
Immersive 9.1.4 spatial audio: The Arc Ultra delivers a 9.1.4 spatial audio experience with support for Dolby Atmos, creating a massive soundstage that precisely places sounds all around the listener.
Enhanced bass: A major benefit of the Sound Motion technology is that the Arc Ultra can deliver up to double the bass output of the original Arc, reducing or even eliminating the need for a separate subwoofer for some users.
Bluetooth and Wi-Fi 6 connectivity: The Arc Ultra adds Bluetooth 5.3 support for direct streaming, a new feature not included on the original premium Arc. It also features Wi-Fi 6 for improved network performance.
Trueplay™ tuning for all devices: The room-tuning software Trueplay is now compatible with both iOS and Android devices, allowing more users to calibrate the soundbar to their specific room acoustics.
Refined dialogue control: An advanced Speech Enhancement feature is available in the Sonos app, giving users a greater level of control to clarify dialogue in movies and shows.
Sleek design: With a slimmer and more elegant curved profile, the Arc Ultra is designed to look sophisticated whether mounted on a wall or placed on a console. It is available in matte black or white finishes.
Sustainable manufacturing: Sonos designed the Arc Ultra with improved serviceability using more screws and fewer adhesives. Its packaging is also 100% recyclable and more efficient to ship.
Performance and market placement
As Sonos’s flagship soundbar, the Arc Ultra sits at the top of their “good, better, best” lineup, above the Beam Gen 2 and Ray.
While it can be used on its own, it can be combined with other Sonos speakers for a full home theater setup. Paired with a Sonos Sub (specifically the new Sub 4) and Era 300 speakers, it creates an immersive Dolby Atmos surround sound system.
The Arc Ultra is a more expensive product than the original Arc due to its advanced technology and performance improvements.