Sonos Arc Ultra: Premium 9.1.4 Spatial Audio Soundbar
Sonos Arc Ultra: Premium 9.1.4 Spatial Audio Soundbar The Sonos Arc Ultra is a flagship spatial audio soundbar engineered to deliver full-scale home theatre surround sound from a single, low-profile chassis. Operating as an evolution of the original Sonos Arc, the Arc Ultra introduces an upgraded internal acoustic design powered by 14 custom-designed drivers and a 9.1.4 spatial channel configuration. It is built specifically for large-screen TV deployments where expansive Dolby Atmos reproduction, clear dialogue, and deep bass are required without adding physical satellite speakers. Sound Motion Transducer Architecture The primary engineering breakthrough inside the Arc Ultra is the debut of Sound Motion technology. Developed by Sonos, Sound Motion utilizes a flat, four-motor, dual-membrane woofer layout that generates double the bass output of the original Arc while reducing the physical transducer depth. By compressing the woofer footprint, internal cabinet space is freed up to accommodate three additional drivers. The final array houses 15 Class-D digital amplifiers driving 7 precision-angled silk-dome tweeters (including upward-firing height channels and side-firing beam formers), 6 mid-woofers for vocal clarity, and the Sound Motion bass engine. This driver complement creates a wider soundstage with precise spatial audio placement across Dolby Atmos, Dolby TrueHD, and Multichannel PCM audio tracks. Advanced Dialogue Enhancement and Connectivity Dialogue performance is augmented using an AI-driven Speech Enhancement engine. Operating directly on the internal processing core, the algorithm isolates human vocal frequencies from background sound effects and score tracks. Users can adjust speech clarity across four distinct intensity levels via the Sonos app. Physical and wireless connectivity has also been expanded. In addition to its primary high-bandwidth HDMI eARC connection, the Arc Ultra adds Bluetooth 5.3 for direct, local wireless audio streaming from mobile devices. The soundbar supports Wi-Fi 6 (802.11ax) for multi-room streaming, Apple AirPlay 2, and Sonos Voice Control / Amazon Alexa via a far-field microphone array. For personal viewing, the unit supports TV Audio Swap, allowing operators to instantly transfer home theatre audio from the soundbar to a pair of Sonos Ace headphones with dynamic head tracking enabled. Room Calibration and System Expansion Acoustic tuning is handled by Sonos Trueplay, which uses iOS or Android mobile device microphones to analyze room reflections, wall boundaries, and furniture placement, automatically tailoring the soundbar's EQ curves to the environment. While designed to operate effectively as an all-in-one system, the Arc Ultra integrates into larger surround-sound ecosystems. It can be paired wirelessly with subwoofers like the Sonos Sub 4 or Sub Mini, along with rear surround speakers such as the Era 300 or Era 100, forming a full multi-channel surround installation. Technical Specification Overview Feature Detail Amplification Architecture 15 Class-D Digital Amplifiers Driver Array 14 Custom Drivers (7 Tweeters, 6 Mid-Woofers, 1 Sound Motion Woofer) Channel Configuration 9.1.4 Spatial Audio Audio Decoding Support Dolby Atmos, Dolby TrueHD, Dolby Digital Plus, Multichannel PCM, DTS Digital Surround Physical Connections 1 x HDMI eARC, 1 x RJ45 Ethernet Port Wireless Interfaces Wi-Fi 6 (802.11ax), Bluetooth 5.3, Apple AirPlay 2 Voice Control and Mics Far-field Microphone Array with physical privacy switch Room Calibration Trueplay Tuning (Supports iOS and Android) Dimensions (H x W x D) 75 mm x 1,178 mm x 110.6 mm Net Weight 5.9 kg See manufacturer website for specific product warranty information.