Update: The Sonos Arc Ultra is finally official! Read everything you need to know in that story.
The Sonos Arc Ultra soundbar will deliver 9.1.4 channels of Dolby Atmos sound from 14 drivers that include Sonos‘ new Sound Motion speaker tech – plus Trueplay tuning for Android, and a new adjustable voice enhancement feature.
That’s all according to the latest big leak, this time from US retailer B&H Photo Video, which posted an article about the launch, presumably a little early as part of the retailer’s pre-launch prep. (This was spotted by the ever-vigilant r/sonos subreddit.)
This makes me think the soundbar is seriously imminent, perhaps even launching today, though we’re expecting a release date of October 29th based on the previous leak.
I’ll go through what’s in the leak just below, but first here’s a teaser video placed (and then seemingly removed) from Facebook to really get you in the Arc mood.
The key new Arc Ultra leaks explained
The leak once again confirmed that we’re expecting the Arc Ultra and Sonos Sub 4 to launch alongside each other, but contains a load of information we didn’t have before.
First and foremost is the speaker setup. Here’s what B&H Photo Video has to say about it:
“The Arc Ultra houses a whopping fourteen drivers—three more than the Arc—consisting of seven tweeters, six midwoofers, and a built-in subwoofer. Each driver, engineered by Sonos, is precisely placed and angled within the soundbar to deliver 9.1.4 channels of sound all on its own. Fifteen class-D digital amplifiers, perfectly tuned to the soundbar’s unique acoustic architecture, power each driver individually to optimize the sound for every channel.”
The original Sonos Arc was rated by Sonos as a 5.1.2-channel system, so we’re taking a big jump up here – and it’s notable that basically none of the best Dolby Atmos soundbars bother to claim four up-firing channels from the bar itself, so Sonos is potentially pushing the tech forward there. I say ‘potentially’, because we’ll have to wait to see whether that’s four separate upfiring channels, or a system like the one used by the LG S95TR‘s fifth upfiring channel, where another channel is duplicated for extra clarity.
The leak also confirms that’s Sonos’ long-awaited next-gen speaker tech is on board, and that it will be called ‘Sound Motion’:
“Designed with their new Sound Motion technology, the Sonos Arc Ultra envelopes you in precision sound from every direction. With Sound Motion, Sonos has found a way to deliver improved and more dynamic sound in a sleeker design.”
Sonos bought a company called Mayht a few years ago that had developed a tech it called ‘HeartMotion’ at the time, which was basically a way of making powerful, high-quality speaker tech at a much smaller size than traditional drivers. I’ve been excitedly anticipating that the Arc Ultra would be its first appearance – I only wish this leak gave us more info about exactly how it’s used.
B&H says: “To further improve accuracy and clarity, integrated microphones and Sonos Trueplay software allow the Arc Ultra to “listen” to your space and fine tune the EQ based on the room’s acoustics. With the Arc Ultra, Trueplay tuning is not just available for iOS, but for Android devices as well.”
It’s unclear if we’re talking Trueplay Quick Tuning here, which has been available on Android since the launch of the Sonos Era 100 and Sonos Era 300, or a new version of high-quality Trueplay that’s finally available on both platforms. My guess is the latter, because the copy refers to multiple microphones within the Arc – I think we’re maybe moving past iOS users waving their phone around the room (though perhaps that will still be an option – Sonos has told me it’s a very accurate system for room analysis).
B&H also revealed “a more advanced adjustable dialog enhancement feature will help you never miss a word.” I like the idea of a tweakable set of speech-enhancement tools, rather than the dialog aid just being turned on or off; that would be a balance between the needs of ailing ears and the desire to keep movies as close to intended as possible.
It all sounds like the Arc Ultra will be a formidable contender among the best soundbars when it comes to audio – perhaps we’ll finally get confirmation soon.
