Sonos has announced Arc, a new premium smart soundbar that brings immersive, cinema-quality sound to your living room.
Arc will replace the Sonos Playbar which was created way back in 2013, as well as the more recently released Sonos Playbase.
Arc builds on Sonos’ industry-leading innovations in home theater, with software-driven audio that immerses listeners in dramatic detail, crystal clear dialogue and impressive bass, featuring support for Dolby Atmos.
The Arc supports 5.0 (left, right, dual center channels), but add a Sub to it and you’ll get 5.1.2, thanks to 2x upfiring speakers creating waveguides as part of the Atmos standard.
The setup experience is also now automated, so if you pair the Arc with a Sub and 2x Sonos One’s for rear speakers, it’ll be a much simpler, faster experience than before.
Sonos Arc can either be placed on top of a low-line unit, or wall-mounted with a new magnetic bracket which then enables Arc to fire more bass off the wall.
If you’re wondering about the name, Arc gets its name from the 270 degrees of speakers and that exterior is made up of an amazing 72,000 holes to both allow the sound out, but hide the magic inside.
This time, Sonos have thought of the little things, like a light sensitive LED, so it won’t distract from the screen in dim environments. There’s also Google Assistant and Amazon Alexa voice assistants, powered by 4x far field microphones. These enable you to control the device from across the room.
Alongside Arc, Sonos will unveil Sonos Sub (Gen 3) and Sonos Five, which offer the same iconic design and premium sound experiences customers have come to know from these products with updated internals.
Sonos Arc, Five, and Sub (Gen 3) will run exclusively on the new S2 app available June 8. S2 enables new experiences for customers, including support for higher resolution audio, an improved design, and more personalization including saved room groups.
Sonos Arc is available in white or black, for pre-order today and will ship on June 10th. The Arc has an RRP of $1399. Sonos Sub, with a new round connect button, will cost the familiar A$999 and Sonos Five A$749.
I have a Playbar and love it, but this new Arc definitely looks the business.
