Those in the know know that deliveries of the new Sonos Arc Ultra started yesterday. The Sonos superfans on Reddit crave the first reviews, which usually appear before or on the launch date of a new Sonos product, but aside from a few YouTubers giving their first impressions, there are no reviews.
The reason is that Sonos sent out review samples later than usual, so we (and the other publications lucky enough to be in the first wave of the review program) got ours yesterday – the same day as those who pre-ordered early – instead of then a few weeks in advance.
That’s more than fine, of course: the way Sonos approaches its review programs is its prerogative and we’re happy to be involved. We are among the first in the world to get our hands on the Arc Ultra, and that is certainly nothing to complain about! But it’s an interesting change nonetheless.
In video game reviewing, late delivery of review ‘code’ notoriously means the game is pants. That fairly well-known piece of wisdom, combined with the reputational damage Sonos has suffered in recent months, has led many people on the internet to draw some very negative conclusions about the Arc Ultra’s performance. However, the truth is probably much more favorable.
Sonos is in a very contrite mood after the mistakes it made this year, especially during the big botched app update, and that if anything contributed to the decision to take a more muted approach to this launch than we expected. are used to. of the brand. Personally, I think that’s a mistake – the Arc Ultra is a huge product and the perfect opportunity to launder the company’s reputation – but of course it’s not my decision.
There’s a much more practical reason Sonos took this less proactive approach to Arc Ultra reviews as well: it wanted to make sure the software was ready. The Sonos app received a major update on Monday – the day before the new soundbar went on sale – and a Sonos system update was released yesterday. Given recent history, there’s a good chance that Sonos wanted to test and tweak its new software until the last minute.
There’s also always a chance that Sonos simply wants to change its approach and not deliver new products to reviewers ahead of launch. That would obviously be a shame from my biased point of view, but it would be completely within the brand’s rights – there is no obligation to provide review samples to anyone at any time, let alone before products go on sale.
Reviewing takes time
Whatever the reason or reasons, as of this writing we’ve only had the Sonos Arc Ultra for 18 hours or so. We unpacked it, updated it via the app and connected it to a Panasonic Z95A TV, which in turn was connected to our Oppo UDP-203 disc player. Currently playing Chapter 2 of the Blade Runner 2049 4K Blu-ray on repeat – which hopefully doesn’t disrupt the images Which hi-fi? Towers guard too much.
This break-in period is important. While break-in has become quite (and bizarrely) controversial in recent years, our listening tests confirm that most audio products, especially speakers, change noticeably in character in the early parts of their lives. Ultimately, we don’t think it’s worth it to rush into critical listening.
After a few days of constant playback, we’ll run through the Arc Ultra’s Trueplay calibration before delving into the proper testing. That will consist of hours of movies, TV shows and music, and a huge amount of experimenting with the limited but important EQ settings until we’re happy to get the best out of the soundbar.
We’ll then compare the Arc Ultra to the previous Sonos Arc, the new Sony Bravia Theater Bar 8 and Bar 9, the Samsung HW-Q990D, and any other soundbars that we think will teach us something new about Sonos’ latest. We’ll also be testing the Arc Ultra in conjunction with the new Sub 4 and a pair of Era 300 speakers as surrounds, to give you an idea of whether that’s worth pursuing. Every time we add components to the Sonos system it needs Trueplaying again, and every soundbar we compare it to needs to be unpacked and calibrated before we can do any serious listening – and that all takes time.
That approach to testing isn’t unusual for us – in fact, it’s par for the course – but it does mean that our reviews tend to take longer than those of some rivals. So while reviews of Sonos Arc Ultra will be coming soon, we currently expect to publish ours in about a week. We’re confident this review will be worth the wait. With any luck, so will the Arc Ultra, but only time will tell.
MORE:
Everything you need to know about the Sonos Arc Ultra
Comparison time: Sonos Arc Ultra vs. Sonos Arc
These are the best soundbars you can buy now
