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- Dec 21, 2018
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Just setup our new theater sound system.
Sonos Ultra - 2' in front of 120" projection screen
1 x Sub 4 - on floor beside the arc
2 x Era 300s - 12' back from front wall, 1' off side walls, slightly behind seating area
Room: 12 x 25 section of open plan 40 x 25 finished basement
Reason for going Sonos:
Past Experiences: 2 - Denon/Klipsch/SVS, 1 - Marantz/NHT/SVS Theaters in 3 different houses over the years.
Setup for Arc Ultra was painless, new firmware installed, tested out with Dune Prophecy, Avengers and a few TV shows. Dialog was very good, sounds was very good but wondered about separation since most of the sound comes from the screen. Decent side to side effect and some overhead.
Proceeded to add the Sub and ERA300s, firmware updates for all 3, then proceeded with Truplay advanced setup. All told, about 30 minutes to set it all up.
I knew going in that only the opening to Star Wars IV: New Hope would prove the system to me. Its first film my dad took me too, my first memory of getting swept away in a film and to this day, after hearing it a 100 times, never fails to take me back to being 11 years old. I was fully prepared to return this system if it didn't live up. So, here we go.
I looked around bewildered where the full symphony was coming from, I knew it was only 4 boxes but it might as well have been 20...I was in a bubble of sound. I go to Cleveland symphony 2x year, we get front row middle seats through work on several occasions...yes, it was like that, exactly like that. Then the small ship speeding towards the planet as the sub-bass of the cruiser comes in firing from overhead.
With God as my witness, the sound of the laser cannon made me duck and look up at the ceiling, hair on back of my neck standing up. this was better than any movie theater I've been in, it was ...immersive.
I sped through some favorite scenes, then went to some other movies and TVs shows. The effect is definitely dependent on the streaming service/source material...but with Dolby Atmos or 5.1 it was exceptional.
Update 1.12.25: More music I've listened to, less satisfied I've become. Also finding scenes in movies where not getting good pan from Left to Right. Opening a ticket with Sonos. I installed the latest firmware on their advisement last week (it didn't automatically install) and it seemed to have improved some things...but it may have broken others, see my note at top of this thread. I'm getting great surround and overhead effects from the ERA300s but Arc Ultra may have some flaws.
Update 1.28.25: Support has been very responsive. I discovered on my own that my Google TV Projector had enabled DTS DRC (DTS Dynamic Range Compression), not sure if it was by default or I accidentally selected it during setup. I'm scratching my head why a DTS setting impacts Atmos or DD5.1 but it does...with it off I have ambient music and sound effects back! While I can still measure the center channel being multiple decibels louder than FL/FR, the overall impact is much lessoned. I will continue to pursue with Sonos but with DTS DRC off, the experience is great for movies and TV. No qualms or hesitation.
Just setup our new theater sound system.
Sonos Ultra - 2' in front of 120" projection screen
1 x Sub 4 - on floor beside the arc
2 x Era 300s - 12' back from front wall, 1' off side walls, slightly behind seating area
Room: 12 x 25 section of open plan 40 x 25 finished basement
Reason for going Sonos:
- Simplicity of 4 units to get 9.1.4 system. No speaker wires, automatic setup, controlled through Projector remote
- Positive experience past 2 years with a Beam gen 2 in family room
- Amir's positive findings and opinions on Sonos engineering
Past Experiences: 2 - Denon/Klipsch/SVS, 1 - Marantz/NHT/SVS Theaters in 3 different houses over the years.
Setup for Arc Ultra was painless, new firmware installed, tested out with Dune Prophecy, Avengers and a few TV shows. Dialog was very good, sounds was very good but wondered about separation since most of the sound comes from the screen. Decent side to side effect and some overhead.
Proceeded to add the Sub and ERA300s, firmware updates for all 3, then proceeded with Truplay advanced setup. All told, about 30 minutes to set it all up.
I knew going in that only the opening to Star Wars IV: New Hope would prove the system to me. Its first film my dad took me too, my first memory of getting swept away in a film and to this day, after hearing it a 100 times, never fails to take me back to being 11 years old. I was fully prepared to return this system if it didn't live up. So, here we go.
I looked around bewildered where the full symphony was coming from, I knew it was only 4 boxes but it might as well have been 20...I was in a bubble of sound. I go to Cleveland symphony 2x year, we get front row middle seats through work on several occasions...yes, it was like that, exactly like that. Then the small ship speeding towards the planet as the sub-bass of the cruiser comes in firing from overhead.
With God as my witness, the sound of the laser cannon made me duck and look up at the ceiling, hair on back of my neck standing up. this was better than any movie theater I've been in, it was ...immersive.
I sped through some favorite scenes, then went to some other movies and TVs shows. The effect is definitely dependent on the streaming service/source material...but with Dolby Atmos or 5.1 it was exceptional.
Update 1.12.25: More music I've listened to, less satisfied I've become. Also finding scenes in movies where not getting good pan from Left to Right. Opening a ticket with Sonos. I installed the latest firmware on their advisement last week (it didn't automatically install) and it seemed to have improved some things...but it may have broken others, see my note at top of this thread. I'm getting great surround and overhead effects from the ERA300s but Arc Ultra may have some flaws.
Update 1.28.25: Support has been very responsive. I discovered on my own that my Google TV Projector had enabled DTS DRC (DTS Dynamic Range Compression), not sure if it was by default or I accidentally selected it during setup. I'm scratching my head why a DTS setting impacts Atmos or DD5.1 but it does...with it off I have ambient music and sound effects back! While I can still measure the center channel being multiple decibels louder than FL/FR, the overall impact is much lessoned. I will continue to pursue with Sonos but with DTS DRC off, the experience is great for movies and TV. No qualms or hesitation.
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