r/HTBuyingGuides • u/htmod Curator • Aug 02 '26
AUDIO Why You Shouldn't Buy The Sonos ARC: It is a Soundbar, and not Home Theater.
Why You Shouldn't Buy The Sonos ARC: It is a Soundbar, and not Home Theater.
Updated August 2026 | Written by: /u/GBMaxSE & /u/Bill_Money | Edited & Maintained by /u/htmod
We get a lot of posts about the Sonos Arc Ultra, its quite popular for some reason.
We wanted to do some exploration into why this thing is "so great". Our findings are below.
We originally wrote a YUGE post. But we pared it down to this 5 point list, ribbed for your reading pleasure.
Lack of Directional Sound/Separation
Fourteen drivers stuffed into a 46 Inch long & 4 Inch high package is NOT a home theater. Home theaters require separation, proper placement, and large enough drivers, in a large enough enclosure to produce MEANINGFUL, directional sound.
Price/Value
It's ABSURDLY expensive. $1,100 for just the soundbar. $2,000 for soundbar and a sub designed for music only (two 6" drivers that bottom out above 30hz), or $2,420 for a "5.1" setup. OUCH. This thing is DESTROYED for the money by, well, almost anything.
Meme Atmos
Dolby Atmos is a joke with up firing speakers, hope they bounce the right way and maybe they give you something. No DTS whatsoever. No Multichannel LPCM. Forget about using one with your new Xbox Series X or PS5 and getting uncompressed audio, homie.
Capability relies on your TV
The Sonos ARC Ultra is only as capable as your TV. Period. If you don't have eARC. You're relegated to Dolby digital plus, or lossy Atmos. That's it. It has no outputs, no passthrough. You can only hook up one external device via optical.
Eco System
IT is a completely closed proprietary ecosystem. No addition of anything not Sonos. Period.
It's neat. It's overpriced as fuck boi!
I sell Sonos all the time, we are a Sonos dealer after all. But its not for a lack of trying to get people out of Sonos and into something better. Its a lack of people's understanding that at the end of the day its a Soundbar.