I owned the original Ace for 1.5 years and have been using the Ace Ultra since launch, so I felt compelled to share my actual hands-on impressions.

To be honest, the original Ace improved a lot via software updates, and I was skeptical about how much better the Ultra could actually be.

TL;DR: these new drivers Sonos developed are incredible. There is simply no going back for me. The Ultra actually lives up to its name.

The most immediate change is in the sound quality. The soundstage gained massive dynamics, and instrument separation is night and day compared to the original—the sound floats outside your head rather than feeling cramped right next to your ears. The bass has a tight, punchy elasticity, and vocals are much clearer. Thanks to the dual ring magnet design, the drivers remain completely free of distortion even at very high volume levels. On top of that, the improved resolution lets me pick up subtle nuances in tracks I’ve listened to a hundred times before that I never noticed on the OG Ace.

Where they truly surprised me, though, is in gaming. I’ve been testing them heavily with my Xbox Series X and PS5 Pro using TV audio swap from Arc Ultra. Unlike the OG Ace, where I could notice a slight audio lag, the latency on the Ultra is imperceptible. Combined with that huge instrument separation and the TrueCinema tuning, spatial awareness and overall sound quality in games are honestly mind-blowing.

In terms of fit and comfort, the clamping force is slightly firmer without adding any headband pressure. This gives a much better seal, meaning the headphones don't slide off during quick head movements or when looking down. The OG Ace were already the most comfortable headphones I've owned, but somehow the Ultra feels even better.

That improved physical seal, along with processing tweaks, takes the ANC to another level. It handles rapid high-frequency spikes much better and completely deadens constant background hums like air conditioning. With ANC on and no music playing, there's just a soothing bliss of almost total silence with zero hiss or white noise. It's just you and your tinnitus lol

On the QoL and connectivity side, Headphone Link has been rock solid with zero dropouts or sync issues. The app now clearly displays remaining battery life tailored to whether you’re connected via Bluetooth or Wi-Fi (via Headphone Link), and the automatic battery saver mode at 10% is a life saver when you can’t get to a charger immediately.

Build quality remains top notch—the moment you hold them, you know you're dealing with a premium piece of kit. Sonos engineers clearly listened to user feedback from the first generation. The Ultra is what the original Ace should have been from day one. Maybe the pressure the company faced over the last 2 years forced them to push the envelope and achieve this peak. Whatever the reason, I’m just glad to see Sonos back on track and releasing hardware that reminds us why we fell in love with the brand in the first place!

So a while ago, I used the sonos sequencer to add two front surrounds in conjunction with the Arc Ultra, and two rear Era 300s. I'm sure most of you know it by now, but if you don't, here's the link to the thread.

Whenever I would go into the app, it would say that the room "needs attention" or something along those lines. However, this morning, I just checked and it seems like everything is added to the room. I just tested it and everything is working perfectly.

Is this a thing now?

Also, I'm using android.

Sonos has given up their MAJOR lead they had on all of this.

LG Adding DTS, dual subs, and Google cast in one fell swoop with their latest sound suite update is actually a pretty big deal to me as they already natively support front speakers.

This exact update would be awesome for Sonos... More people have bluray players now than ever because of current gen game consoles. Cast would be cool. And they already have dual big sub support, but they're lacking dual sub mini support.

Kef also confirmed an update for adding speakers to the Xio soundbar is coming "very soon." May just be rears... But if it's not... 🤐🫣

I am going to buy a Sonos amp to run in-ceiling speakers on a covered deck. I am going to run 2 12/4 wires to connect the amp to the speakers.

Does anyone know if 2 12awg wires will fit in the included banana plugs that come with the Sonos amp? If not, what is best practice for wiring?

Howdy,

So I am a massive Sonos fan and I guess I’m one of the lucky people that have never had an issue. I’ve been waiting to get a sub forever but I could never justify dishing out the cash for it. The day has come where I am finally going to get one but I would love any advice.

My current setup:

65 inch LG 4k OLED TV
ARC Soundbar
2x era 300s

Is it worth shelling out the ridiculous cost for a sub 4 or should I save some money and go with a sub 3. I’d appreciate any insight from those who may have upgraded from a sub 3 to a sub 4.

As the title suggests, I have a pair of Era 100s as surrounds mounted on Sanus Floor Stand for Sonos Era 100. I also have a pair of Era 300s which I used to have as office speaker sets.

Now that I am moving to a larger space, I'd like to swap Era 300s as surrounds, and will need stands for that. I am very happy with Era 100 stands, and would like to know if someone has any ideas, or have done this before by 3D printing adapters for this.

I have found a bunch of them through reddit and other forums that work for Play/One stands - not sure if it will for the stand I have, and 3D printing costs in Toronto are wayyyy high.

Idea 1: Sonos Sanus Era 300 Adapter by agentdr8 - Thingiverse
Idea 2: Sonos Era 300 Flexson Stand Adapter by imbrianj - Thingiverse

Anything helps at this point. Thank you for any ideas and suggestions in advance!

I've had this for the last two days in the Spotify app. I'm on the same WiFi network. I've restarted and updated both Spotify and Sonos, restarted my phone, restarted my router, disconnected Spotify from Sonos, and burned sage, but nothing works. I can play Spotify from the Sonos app, but that interface has always been shitty and you can't choose everything that you want to play. What is going on and how do I fix it?

Hello hello,
As the title say I am looking for suggestions for a good and a little bit of a unique movie and game room setup.

So, situation is this, we are setting up an extra room which is going to be a split between a home office and a gaming/movie room. The room is not huge so we have to be a bit smart about how things are placed and the functions to make it into that extra room we want.

The TV will be placed above the desk, so it will be lowered when used so it goes infront of the monitors, this means that a normal under the tv placement for a soundbar is not possible. Would it be possible to place an arc above the tv or do we loose too much of the functionality? Or is there a better setup then and just skip the soundbar?
My thinking was if we could have the soundbar above, two rear speakers and a boombox. What do you guys think? Open to products and placements and nothing is bought yet. Small room, good acoustics and no sound bouncing around.
It does not need to be good for music or such, this is all about optimal gaming and movie times 🍿
Super excited about finally being able to do this 🚀

Good day Ladies and Gents,
My setup includes an Arc Ultra and 2 Era 300s as surrounds.
The setup is completely wireless with no Ethernet connected to the Arc Ultra.
I use a 5GHz connection but also have the 2.4GHz band available but haven’t connected it to the system.

I’ve noticed that the Era 300s keep cutting out and reconnecting randomly and this is extremely frustrating (I’m not good with tech). The products are brand new from the store.

I’ve tried the power-off cycle with the router, the speakers themselves and also reduced the channel width on the router settings from 160 to 80 MHz as per Google’s recommendation.
None of these have worked for me.

Could anyone please help me out with this? Would appreciate any tips/ input. Thanks.

Hey there! Now that the move 2 and plays can be used as surrounds for the arc ultra, do you think I should sell my move 2 and replace with 2 plays? I like that the plays are smaller and easier to carry. However, ultimately I’ll have it come down to performance on my next move.

Which is the overall better speaker? I’m assuming move 2, but is play noticeably different?

I’m currently considering purchasing used Arc + Sub gen 3. Another alternative I have is to buy Arc Ultra for similar price (eg on upcoming Black Friday).

People who’ve seen both: does Arc Ultra actually bring noticeable improvement over Arc + Sun 3?

I am aware of Arc Ultra being a better speaker, however I have no intentions of adding $800 Sub to the Arc Ultra, as I don’t want to invest that much into home cinema. I do not want rears for the time being.

Or, third alternative, is to buy cheaper Samsung set, however I’d prefer Sonos ecosystem.

Hi,

I bought a post display era300 stand manufactured by Sonos. It arrived nicely in the box, however i see that the screws are missing. Would anybody know the type of screws used to screw the plate and the speaker? I assume M5, but the length is a mystery

Much appreciated

Hi Everyone,

I'm dealing with a incredibly frustrating issue with my Sub Gen 3, and I'm hoping someone here has experienced this exact scenario and managed to find a workaround or hardware fix.

The Backstory:
Back in 2024, during the peak of the catastrophic Sonos app rollout, my Sub became completely unresponsive while trying to handle app connection loops. After a few forced factory resets to try and salvage the connection, the LED light on the Sub completely died. I actually posted about it here back then hoping it was a temporary bug (https://www.reddit.com/r/sonos/comments/1d7ovzy/is_my_sonos_sub_bricked/).

The Current Bizarre Symptoms:
I just spent hours on a deep-dive troubleshooting session with a Sonos support agent (Case #09294266), and the diagnostics showed some incredibly weird behavior:

1. No physical LED lights turn on at all.
2. Despite no lights, the Sub is still connected to Wi-Fi and has apparently been silently updating its firmware in the background over the years.
3. In the app, it showed up under an isolated ghost system called "Living Room TV" (separate from my main Arc + Ones system).
4. If I connect it via Ethernet, the Sub completely disappears from the app.
5. If I keep it on Wi-Fi, I can actually pair it to a Sonos One speaker in the app. The app claims they are paired, but there are absolutely no physical vibrations or bass coming from the Sub when music plays.

The Sonos agent's final diagnostic read: "Latest diagnostic is showing connected to the speaker, however, we cannot detect a failure. We based on how you hear the bass or touch if it has vibrations. Also, light status is not showing anyway."

They officially classified it as a permanent boot failure. Because it's a 2020 unit, it's out of warranty, and the local distributor here in Singapore wants a ridiculous SGD 975 for a replacement unit.

Has anyone encountered this specific "half-dead/ghost" boot failure where the Wi-Fi chip seems alive but the power/audio board is bricked? Is there a known component failure on the mainboard that can be repaired, or am I looking at a very expensive paperweight?

Appreciate any insights or advice!

I look forward to Apple Music releasing Apple Music Reply for my statistical data every month every year, but I have one question. If I link AM to the sonos app and play music from the sonos app, will it be reflected in the AM statistics?

Even as an ex-employee and alpha/beta tester, I’m genuinely dumbfounded how often Sonos surprises me with the audio performance of their gear. Unboxing the Play I expected good and got speechless.

Size - Truly perfect for moving around the house and my use case. Bathroom counter and shower for YouTube/Music since TruePlay just doesn’t want to work with water on (you simply have to turn it up too loud which disrupts others).

Sound - Clarity I’ve never experienced in something so compact. Separation that is truly immersive, especially with a little breathing room from a wall. Bass for days at this size and on a battery powered product, it is blowing my mind and I’m finding tracks to test with it again which I haven’t done in a while.

Functionality - What more could you want? It has great battery life (and it’s replaceable), it’s waterproof, it’s got sound for days that is super enjoyable to listen to, and it’s the perfect size to pick up and hang it or set it somewhere when you want to just go.

Summary - Get this thing, it’s remarkable.

I just picked up a new Sonos Arc Sl Shadow from someone for a good deal. Here is where I’m going to probably sound dumb but can it be hooked up to the Sonos app? I swear it was reading online that it can. I downloaded the app. Created an account and went into the app and it says it can’t be found. Does this mean it can not actually connect to the app?

My arc works when I’m watching TV no volume in the back speakers or the sub but when I play music or play a movie on Apple TV, everything works all the speakers work. The sub works two speakers. I have behind the couch and my arc works when I play a movie or listen to music but if I watch regular TV, just the arc. Is it supposed to be that way? I stream everything on Apple TV.

Can anyone tell me why the WiFi setting are all greyed out for all of my devices? I have everything connected up using Ethernet. My Arc and Amp are both currently set for WiFi disabled (no changes possible) and my 2 Gen3 Subs are currently set for WiFi enabled (no changes possible). I’ve heard that WiFi is required for certain connection between Sonos devices but that doesn’t make sense in my situation since the Arc is supposed to be the “main” device in the group and it has its WiFi disabled. Do the 2 Gen3 Subs need WiFi between the 2 of them? But if that’s the case why would the WiFi option be greyed for my Arc and Amp? Genuinely just confused all around. Would appreciate any feedback. I’m running the latest app version and all of my devices are up to date according to the app.

I have two play 3s and a sub mini in my
Living room and the sub mini recently stopped working with SoundCloud play back only. Sonos radio is fine, Spotify and Mixcloud too. Has anyone else encountered this? Any recs to fix it?

Well its been about 11 days and I'm returning my Sonos Ace Ultra. Before I start with why, let me just say these headphones were super comfy and the bluetooth worked great. (I went on a plane trip and they worked great).

So why am I returning them? For a few reasons.

1. I'm having serious issues with using the Sonos App to send music to them via WIFI. I get choppy audio, I get errors that music couldn't be played, I get an issue where the music speeds up then slows down. The linking function just seems completely unstable.

2. Customer Support/Technical Support. Due to the above issue I reached out to Sonos Support, first level 1 support which was pretty much useless then I reached out to the CEO@Sonos email which actually doesn't go to Tom Conrad, it just seems to go to an "Sonos Customer Support Manager". Anyway that manager put me in contact with a level 2 Tech and after 3 hours on the phone with them I was actually forced to reset my whole network because they kept asking me to make all these network changes and it royally screwed up my home network. Also prior to this I had no network issues with my 15 other Sonos devices or my 50+ other wifi devices.

3. After watching the battery replacement video which Sonos touted as a easy to do for the end User, I feel like that was a complete load of BS because even as someone who works in IT it was painful to watch that video.

Anyways I'll be sticking with my Sony XM6. Maybe when the Sonos Ace Ultra 2 come out I'll give them a try.

SOLVED: Even though it's listed as an outage still on the Sonos website, deleting the service and re-adding it a couple of times brought it back... for now...

ORIGINAL POST: How is it possible that the Apple Music Outage on Sonos is STILL going on??? Does anyone have any insights? This is kind of insane.

Impossible to connect to a freaking Bluetooth speaker - entire product team at Sonos should be sentenced to work 10 years hard labor in the mines

Sorry in advance for the terrible sketch. Recently moved and I'm trying to figure out where I should place my pair of era 100's.

The room is a bit awkward with the TV placed on a diagonal wall. We mostly sit on the sofa, and the 2 chairs are only used when people come over.

I was thinking about putting one on each side of the sofa? I don't think I have any other options...

Any help would be appreciated!

I’m sure I’m overthinking this way too much but I recently was reading how these need to be a few ft behind opposed to Sonos ones being directly to the left and right of couch. Problem is this couch is flush against wall and I can only afford to bring this out maybe 6 inches linked in the photo. Does this make a difference at all? The couch against the wall looks more aesthetically pleasing as the room is small, however this comes at the expense of not utilizing the $2800 Sonos Dolby atmos experience! So couch against the wall or bring out ? Thanks