Home audio specialist Sonos has just announced a new soundbar to bring a more immersive experience to your home theater. Called the Arc, it supports voice-activated commands and features Dolby Atmos — a first for the company.
The new Sonos Arc is already up for pre-order through the company’s website for US$ 799 with availability and shipping starting this June 10.
This new soundbar can be placed below, above, or in front of a TV since it features 11 separate speakers. It comprises of four forward-facing woofers, two for the sides, and another two pointing up.
For its Dolby Atmos setup, the mentioned height channels render all 5.1 channels accurately in order to fill the room with immersive audio. And when the signal from the source isn’t true 5.1, the said channels become support for low-end frequencies to give extra oomph for the bass. Finally, a trio of tweeters round up the set for those crisp highs.
As mentioned earlier, the Arc supports voice commands and this is done through Amazon Alexa or Google Assistant. With this feature, you can play music, ask random facts, turn on the TV, and adjust the volume without having to reach for the remote control.
Sonos is rolling out its new S2 software which promises support for higher-resolution audio among other useful features. The Arc soundbar has been built with this at its core and should be able to take full advantage of its offerings like music streaming for Spotify, Apple Music, Sonos radio, and more once it’s officially available in June.
In addition to the Arc, the company also introduced its new Sonos Five as an update to its Play:5 (Gen 2) and the third-generation Sonos Sub.
The Sonos Five, while offering improved components with design updates, builds on the success of its predecessor’s acoustic architecture and experience. Meanwhile, the Sonos Sub carries updated internals with the capability to pair with another Sonos speaker to amplify its overall sound performance.
Pricing for the Sonos Five is at US$ 499 while the Sonos Sub will retail for US$ 699. Just like the Sonos Arc, these two will be available globally starting June 10.
