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This sleek soundbar saves me so much money on movie tickets — and it syncs straight to your smartphone
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Sonos Arc Soundbar
Sonos Sub (Gen 3)
Sonos Premium Entertainment Set With Arc
In the current streaming age, more and more people are choosing to enjoy their favorite movies as well as new releases in the comfort of their homes. With this practice at an all-time high, fewer people are traveling to the movie theater to essentially pay for the same experience without the perk of personal comfort and security that comes with their own space.
I firmly align with the first group, and the customer-favorite and best-selling Sonos Arc Soundbar is one of the main reasons I’ve ditched the public theater room for my living room couch. This sleek soundbar has crystal-clear movie-theater-level bass and sound quality and takes mere minutes to set up from the downloadable app.
Before getting into why this soundbar from the world-class audio brand Sonos is the best I’ve used to date, here’s why you need a soundbar in the first place.
If you’re still using your TV’s native speakers as your primary audio output source, you’re not even scratching the surface of what you could be experiencing. Across the board, TVs have a pretty poor audio quality that ultimately discredits the full viewing experience. This is why soundbar sales have skyrocketed over the past two years, as they instantly give you that theater-quality surround-sound audio experience in a small package from the comfort of your living room.
Like most tech products, soundbars vary in quality. I’ve used the Yamaha Audio YAS-209BL Soundbar, the Yamaha SR-C20A Compact Soundbar with Built-In Subwoofer, the Polk Audio Signa S3 Ultra-Slim TV Soundbar and the Polk Magnifi Mini AX. Each had defining features that made them stand out from the rest. But the Sonos Arc amplified and perfected the best features of each and added more.
The Polk Audio Signa S3 Ultra-Slim TV Soundbar stood out as the best soundbar and speaker for must-listening and streaming at the time. It has built-in Chromecast functionality, Bluetooth and HDMI input, and a built-in preset for music listening.
The Sonos Arc has Dolby Atmos — a feature that the Polk Audio Signa S3 lacks. This feature allows you to feel the music literally surround you, no matter where you’re seated in the room. You’ll hear every nuance in the song you haven’t heard before, both in the background and foreground.
The Arc also lets you stream your favorite services straight from the app with support for the highest-resolution formats, including Dolby Atmos Music. In fact, Grammy-winning music producer and Sonos Sound Experience Leader Giles Martin shared considered music to be as important a factor as home theater sound quality when creating the Arc.
“When developing a soundbar, we treat music and home theater equally,” he said.
Dolby Atmos’ center stage performance in the Sonos Arc also sets it apart from the wildly popular Yamaha Audio YAS-209BL Soundbar, which only goes up to DTS Virtual:X virtual surround sound and doesn’t begin to compete with the impressive nuances and immersive quality of Dolby Atmos.
Just connect straight to your favorite streaming services like Apple Music and Spotify straight from the Sonos app and watch the best audio quality play from your soundbar — that’s it!
The Sonos Arc is also one of the only soundbars with Apple AirPlay 2 built-in. This lets you send sound directly from your iPhone, iPad or Mac straight to the soundbar, then ask Siri to turn it up from your device.
Another area in which other soundbars lack is the “smart integration” category. While most home theater speakers have built-in virtual assistants, they usually don’t perform very well and aren’t that intuitive or quick-responding.
The Sonos Arc has both Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant integration and pairs seamlessly with your smart home devices. I currently have my Arc connected to my Google Assistant devices, and it works as if they were all made by the manufacturer. From asking Google to “turn up the volume” to the Arc alerting me when someone’s at my front door, this feature ensures that there are no skips or bumps in its performance.
While the Sonos Arc is the most immersive and true surround sound soundbar I’ve ever experienced in both low- and high-end spaces, the best-selling Sonos Sub only amplifies its performance.
Subwoofers usually help you feel the bass and discern every detail in the music you’re listening to and movies you’re watching. The Sonos Sub is one of the few that does so without distortion or overtly distracting bass levels.
From every angle, you feel the powerful bass from the action movie or the live performance you’re watching on your TV or iPhone, whether lying flat on your side or sitting upright. T
With this beautifully designed (and extremely heavy) subwoofer, you’ll experience every rumble, roar and beat with whistle-clean bass no matter how low or high the volume’s set. You feel like you’re in the scene — it’s that realistic.
The only con I have for this subwoofer is its weight. It’s by far the heaviest I’ve used but is also the most artfully designed I’ve seen. Unlike most others, its sculptural shape and high-gloss finish make it a beautiful addition to your home. Lay it upright or on its side to fit your decor aesthetic.
Like the Arc, the Sonos Sub sets up in minutes with the press of a button in the Sonos app. No complicated wiring and configurations are needed! All in all, I set both devices up in under 15 minutes — and most of the time elapsed with me waiting for the setup to progress.
The No. 1 best-selling Sonos Arc Soundbar and the Sonos Sub come in black or white and are available separately, as shown above.
If you’re like me and love the full experience, the Sonos Premium Entertainment Set includes both devices, giving you that breathtakingly realistic, 3D Dolby Atmos experience.
If you’re looking for a premium soundbar thoughtfully engineered for the home theater, music and smart integration spaces, no others compare to the Sonos Arc and the Sonos Sub.
Though pricey, these are tech pieces you’ll never have to replace. Plus, like me, you’ll save so much money on movie tickets and trips with the best of the best right in the comfort of your home.
The Sonos Arc is available at Sonos and Amazon. The Sub is also available at both retailers (Sonos, Amazon).
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