I tested the Sonos Arc Ultra soundbar and honestly, it's ignited a new passion for TV and music – the full, rich, and layered sound quality is addictive

A soundbar is an exciting gadget to bring into the home, elevating entertainment past what you thought possible. The right system will create an immersive home theater experience, and introduce layers to streaming and music that you may not have heard before.

The Sonos Arc Ultra is the brand’s most advanced soundbar yet – designed to bring cinema-quality audio into the living room without the clutter of multiple speakers. Supporting Dolby Atmos, Wi-Fi streaming, voice assistants, and expandable pairing with subwoofers or rear speakers, it's a sophisticated system.

But does it live up to its hefty price tag? I tested Sonos' flagship in real-world conditions in my own home across TV, movies and music to see if it's the best soundbar and honestly? I loved it.

My one-minute verdict

Whether you're watching tense dialogue, a booming action scene, or listening to music from any era, the Sonos Arc Ultra delivers detailed, full, and immersive sound.

It's one of the most beautiful-sounding systems I've ever used at home, and if you can afford it, I couldn't recommend it more.

And thanks to 14 built-in speakers, wide compatibility with smart home setups, and a seamless Sonos ecosystem with all of your streaming services and features in one place – it's hard to ask for much more.

Testing this soundbar has reignited a new passion in me for TV and film, and I can't wait to enjoy more.

Sonos Arc Ultra: Specifications

Sonos Arc Ultra: Setup

Getting the Sonos Arc Ultra ready is quick and painless. To set it up, all you need is:

• A TV with an ARC or eARC port (or an optical audio adapter and a standard HDMI port)
• The Sonos smartphone app (you need at least iOS 17 or Android 8.0)

Open the box, and the Sonos Arc Ultra is covered in a soft, protective sleeve. Sonos kept it simple, all you'll find is the soundbar itself, power cable, and HDMI ARC cable included.

Installation was as simple as connecting the HDMI ARC cable to the TV, powering it on, and letting the Arc Ultra do the rest. For most TVs with eARC support, it begins playing automatically, making it a smooth, effortless part of your smart home setup.

Pairing with the Sonos app is required, but the app walks you through each step smoothly. Instead of entering a fiddly pairing code, the soundbar emits an audio pin that your phone picks up.

Then, to maximize audio quality and mold it to the shape of your room, you can set up Trueplay tuning, where the Arc Ultra maps the acoustics of your room using built-in microphones. It analyses size, layout, and furnishings to optimize playback – tailoring sound so it feels balanced whether your room is a minimalist living space or a crowded lounge. It takes less than five minutes to setup, and after comparing the sound before and after activating Trueplay, the difference is huge.

For anyone who's not tech-savvy, this is as close to plug-and-play as a premium soundbar gets.

Sonos Arc Ultra: Design and features

Sonos has always favored clean, minimal design, and the Arc Ultra is no exception. At 46.38 inches wide, it’s ideal for TVs 55 inches and larger, but its slim profile means it won’t block smaller screens or dominate a crowded living room (just make sure it'll fit on your TV stand first). The matte finish and perforated grill blend easily into a modern living room, and the branding is kept subtle.

No Sonos remote is needed. You can control the Arc Ultra in full using the smartphone app, but it also handily connects to your TV so that you can use your normal remote to select the volume and output source.

Through the app, your TV and any streaming services can be linked directly, giving you full control over your entertainment in one place. There are touch controls on the soundbar itself too, though it's easier to rely on the TV remote, app or even the Sonos voice assistant that responds quickly to simple commands.

Sonos has also designed the Arc Ultra to blend into different homes. Night Sound can lower the heavy noises while highlighting softer ones, perfect if you live in a small space and have close-by neighbors.

Speech Enhancement adds clarity to voices, which is great during scenes with lots of background noise, and you can adjust it on a sliding scale from zero to four. And for optimal sound delivery, you can even adjust audio height, making sure that the Arc Ultra is directing the sound to wherever your sofa or bed is positioned.

This speaks to a wider approach by Sonos to create an auditory ecosystem. If you have any other Sonos products, like the best-selling Sonos Era 100, playback seamlessly syncs across devices, meaning you can move through your home and the music will follow.

Technically, this is a sophisticated sound system. 14 built-in speakers, including seven silk-dome tweeters for high frequencies, six midwoofers for midrange audio, and a powerful woofer that delivers impactful bass.

It's also WiFi and Bluetooth compatible, so you can use it without your TV being on, and it's compatible with the most advanced audio formats, from Dolby Atmos for surround-sound home theater, and FLAC for lossless music quality.

Sonos Arc Ultra: TV and movies

The Sonos Arc Ultra delivers tight, impactful, and full-sounding audio. Whether it's a busy action scene or an intimate dialogue, the Arc Ultra is certainly designed to handle range, albeit with a few slight criticisms.

The Arc Ultra's booming bass and wide soundscape, achieved using 9.1.4 spatial audio, make it perfect for big moments. In one of the beginning Avengers: Infinity War scenes, you can hear distant rumblings from outside the building the protagonists are talking in, and when the scene is taken outside, you can hear each extra's voice among a yelling crowd.

This is one of my favorite aspects of the Arc Ultra. Whether it's the train fight scene in John Wick: Chapter 2 or the climax of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2, booming action, explosions, and sound effects never drown out the finer details. Everything is crisp.

You can hear each impact: From spells cast to punches thrown, the Arc Ultra delivers each moment with complete clarity. Perfect for viewing fall movies to steal design secrets from.

I also tested the Arc Ultra before and after activating TruePlay to see how much of an effect it has. Wow. Moments that sounded off or shallow sounded immersive and rich afterwards. And as my soundbar is positioned above the TV, like with many media wall alternatives, it demonstrates the precision of the soundbar's audio height and sound projection.

However, when watching the final scene of season five, episode nine of Breaking Bad, a tense, delicate moment that moves from whispers to impassioned shouting, I found the voices sounded a little scratchy at times. Even after playing around with the EQ and Speech Enhancement settings, it never quite sounded authentic, but still a vast improvement compared to my previous Yamaha SRT-1000 soundbar.

But during The Trial of the Chicago 7, a Dolby Atmos-supported title, the dialogue couldn't have been more immersive. During high-octane moments with voices overlapping at varying volumes, everyone sounded clear, and I could pick up on the directions each voice was coming from. The Arc Ultra produces a surround sound experience that feels real and immersive.

And not only that, its range and detail precision are inspiring. Watching Our Planet, David Attenborough’s voice is clear while still picking up finer details like wings flapping, leaves rustling, animals diving into water, and individual animal noises within flocks and groups. When the music starts dramatically increasing, nothing gets drowned out.

My only major gripe with the Arc Ultra – and really, it's something I see in most soundbars – is the contrast when transitioning from a loud action scene to quieter dialogue. Multiple times, the immersive, booming action sequences were louder than they needed to be, causing me to turn the volume down, only to then have to turn it up to be able to hear people speaking afterwards.

But I say this as someone with close-by neighbors, and I haven't soundproofed my windows. Otherwise, I'd let the Arc Ultra's impressive sound deliver the true theater experience as loud as is needed.

Sonos Arc Ultra: Music

Every song I listened to – including everything from jazz to hard rock to electronic – sounded full and rich. I have four speakers from Audio Technica, Marshall, Beats and Lodge, and the Arc Ultra sounded so detailed and impactful that it ignited a new passion for the songs I’ve been listening to for years.

Of course, it costs 5-10x more than the speakers I already own, so this shouldn't come as a surprise. But as a self-professed audiophile who's listening to music at any given moment (especially with my beloved DALI IO-8 headphones at Amazon) – it's big to hear music sound so good.

The bass is strong. On hip-hop and electronic dance songs, the bass can occasionally be overpowering – but I say this as someone with joined next door neighbors and I worry about sound travelling (hence my interest in the quietest blenders and best cordless vacuums).

On Daft Punk's Phoenix, the bass comes through heavily, but reducing it on the app gentles the high impact while maintaining the effect, even on the lowest bass setting. It reached a point where I wasn’t concerned about it disturbing the neighbors or even the others in my house, even on a volume that’s louder than I’d need in the room.

The subtle warped synths (that can often be missed on lower-quality speakers) came through clearly, adding depth to the track that you don’t always get to experience. And when you max out the bass, it’s powerful. Sometimes, like when hosting parties, extra oomph is needed – and the Arc Ultra has the capacity to deliver.

On Erykah Badu's Didn’t Cha Know – full of subtle percussion rhythms and layered instruments alongside synths – each layer comes through as its own, showing off the Arc Ultra’s 14 speakers. Increasing the treble on the app really made her voice shine.

And like the bass, the trebles come through beautifully. Listening to Cocteau Twins' Pitch the Baby and Playboi Carti's Location, the Arc Ultra's seven tweeters are shown off in full. Everything from synths to strings to brass sounds bright, and adds stunning detail.

It's almost as if you’re watching each artist perform live, whether it's a full band or a DJ with a sophisticated sound system. It fills the room with the Arc Ultra's four up-firing speakers, sending soundwaves above and around your head.

The midrange isn't quite as pronounced as it could be. I say this as a minor criticism, only picking up on it as the bass and treble are so strong in comparison.

When listening to music with a strong midrange, like Big Thief’s Simulation Swarm, it can be beneficial to drop the bass or turn up the treble so that the sounds are more balanced, but once you do, it's pretty much perfect.

More importantly, you can hear every detail, including the tiny scratches as a guitarist moves up the strings, and the background crackling in A Tribe Called Quest's Oh My God. On older, non-remastered songs like Leonard Cohen's Suzanne, you can hear that it was recorded with old equipment, and to me, this added to my appreciation. It's nice to feel transported.

And finally, when using Night Sound (that muffles loud, harsh, and bassy elements, while highlighting quieter ones), you can hear the details clearly, but the sounds that have been amplified do sound a bit hollow. I noticed it mostly in midrange vocals, but again, this is a minor complaint, and much easier than soundproofing your room.

Sonos Arc Ultra: Price

At $1,099 at Sonos (or £999 at Sonos UK), the Arc Ultra is certainly an investment, but compared to other brands' flagship soundbars, it's relatively reasonable.

The Sony BRAVIA Theater Bar 9 costs $1,499.99 or £999 in the UK. It has 13 speakers, instead of the Arc Ultra's 14, and has similar spatial mapping, surround sound, and smart command features for immersive, seamless playback. But if you prepare with Sony Bravia TVs, you unlock extra features that can elevate acoustic audio and even have dedicated gaming settings.

The Bose Smart Ultra Soundbar is a little cheaper at $999, and has only nine speakers and two up-firing speakers for surround sound. Like the Arc Ultra, it can enhance vocal clarity using AI and adapt to your room size, and it supports Dolby Atmos and high-quality music formats.

Should you buy the Sonos Arc Ultra?

If you can afford it, yes. The Sonos Arc Ultra delivers on almost all of its promises. From immersive action scenes, to tense dialogue, to some of the best-sounding music I've heard outside of a live performance – it's hard to find ways to fault it.

Sure, the midrange could be stronger, and certain voices may sound a little off, but finding a soundbar without these minor criticisms is near impossible.

This is a future-proof investment, one that will continue to deliver pristine audio for TV, movies, and music, with software that is designed to blend seamlessly into our increasingly smart homes.

How I tested the Sonos Arc Ultra

I tested the Sonos Arc Ultra (in black) in my own home, in the biggest room of my house. As a space-saving solution, I test soundbars above the TV, while angling them downwards to feel the full effects of the up-firing speakers for Dolby Atmos and surround sound.

I use a set list of scenes and songs to standardize testing across each soundbar. For TV and movies:

• Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2. Fast-paced, loud, and busy action scenes, with dialogue, explosions, artificial sound effects (casting spells and mystical creatures), emotional scenes, and a dramatic score.
• Avengers: Infinity War. Transitions from distant loud noises to immersive action, with dialogue, crowds, artificial sci-fi sounds, and fight scenes. Ideal for testing spatial audio and hearing fine details during loud moments.
• John Wick: Chapter 2. Fast-paced action, tense music, and background noise (trains, crowds, traffic).
• Breaking Bad (season five episode nine). Intimate dialogue between two characters, switching between whispering to impassioned shouting.
• Arrested Development (season one episode one). Fast-paced dialogue in a casual setting, voices with different pitches, and background scenes.
• Princess Mononoke. Emotional sequences with rich musical scores and Foley (creating sounds for animation).
• Our Planet II. Ideal for testing audio range, with wide-ranging nature sounds, music (from dramatic to subtle), and narration.

And to test music quality, I listen to songs from different genres and times that highlight different frequencies, instruments, voices, and sounds. This list is roughly ordered from bass-heavy to high treble (listen to the playlist here on Spotify):

• Angel by Massive Attack. Trip-hop, electronic, slow build-up, percussion.
• Phoenix by Daft Punk. Electronic, dance, thumping bass, soft highs, cymbals, sampling, synths.
• Oh My God by A Tribe Called Quest. Hip-hop, overlapping voices, tight bass, vocal sampling, subtle crackling, jazz influence.
• Didn't Cha Know by Erykah Badu. Neo-soul, layered instruments, varied percussion, synths, smooth trebles, and strong midrange.
• Feel No Pain by Sade. Smooth soul, electronic, full audio range including low bass, strong midrange, soft highs.
• Three Drums by Four Tet. Electronic, dance, layered live instruments, soft drums.
• Simulation Swarm by Big Thief. Soft folk, melodic, full band, pure midrange, vocal trebles.
• Suzanne by Leonard Cohen. Old, low-fidelity, high-emotion, guitar, strong midrange.
• Ramble On by Led Zeppelin. Hard rock (with quiet moments), full band, slow-to-fast pace.
• Inner City Blues (Make Me Wanna Holler) by Marvin Gaye. Jazzy soul, trebles overlapping the midrange, with occasional low frequencies.
• The Sea by Morcheeba. Emphasized midrange alongside vocal highs and percussive lows.
• Robber by The Weather Station. Soft pop, subtle sounds, high trebles, brass, strings, isolated drums.
• An Ever-Changing View by Matthew Halsall. Jazz, chimes, brass, varied percussion.
• What If Nile Rodgers And Fela Kuti Were Friends by All Day Breakfast Cafe. Funk, breakdown, high energy, slow moments, smooth vocals.
• Pitch the Baby by Cocteau Twins. Dream pop, pure treble, synths, electronically altered voices.
• Set Fire to the Rain by Adele. Pop, booming voice, high emotion.
• Location by Playboi Carti. Hip-hop, high highs, electronic layering, trap rhythms.

Next, learn the other smart home must-haves that transform life at home.