Sonos Arc Ultra

Sonos’ latest premium soundbar relies on new technology to improve audio quality and the upgrade delivers more than just a bass boost.

The Sonos Arc Ultra is the best-sounding one-box soundbar you can buy today for the price. It has seriously impressive bass for something so compact; it has superbly balanced sound with clear dialogue that fits naturally into the rest of the movie soundtrack; and it has convincing Dolby Atmos positioning and layering of 3D sound, with great width and excellent height. But it’s frustrating that it doesn’t have HDMI passthrough, and the lack of DTS is a shame.

The Sonos Arc Ultra is a triumph of audio hardware design but a couple of key omissions prevent it from being a Best Buy

The Sonos Arc Ultra is arguably the best-sounding single-box soundbar solution on the market right now, delivering five-star audio and giving a decent bash at immersion through virtual surround processing. As an upgrade over the original Arc its bigger bass profile, clearer vocal presentation, and broader soundstage all make it worthwhile.

Bringing a whole host of updates to the Sonos soundbar formula, the Arc Ultra is a spectacular-sounding soundbar. Dolby Atmos support is excellent too, and the whole package has a wide, spacious sound stage and decent bass depth. Combine it with just the new sub 4 and you’ve got a great surround setup for a medium to large room, and the Sonos app is now at a point where it actually works.