Powerful Sonos Arc premium soundbar, Sonos Five speakers and beefy Sonos Sub coming to Malaysia
There’s only a few names in the audio business that come to mind for top-shelf wireless audio kit and US-based Sonos is somewhere on the top of that list on account of their array of solid soundbars, subs and other kit that seamlessly work with each other without the need for a snake pit of wires.
Seeing that we’re mostly stuck at home these days, it’s timely that Sonos is unleashing a new premium home theatre soundbar for Malaysia that they’ve dubbed as the Sonos Arc along with the new Sonos Five standalone speaker and a new Sonos Sub wireless subwoofer.
Sonos Arc
Intended as the successor to the Playbase and Playbar and as a more powerful upgrade to the Sonos Beam, the slim and sleek Sonos Arc is impressively appointed in either a sleek black or white finish with a height of about 8.5cm and a length of about 114cm which makes it sufficiently flat enough to perch under most widescreen TVs and wide enough that it doesn’t look absurd doing so. Alternatively, you can also mount it on a wall though you’ll need to buy the wall mount separately.
Like its predecessors, the Sonos Arc has a minimalist look about it but packs 76,000 microscopic holes across its chassis for superior sound dispersion from 8 elliptical woofers spaced with four in front, two emplaced on the top and one on each end along with 3 front-firing tweeters of which two are angled to fire diagonally upwards.
Of note is that the Sonos Arc also has Enhanced Audio Return Channel (eARC) support via the rear HDMI 2.1 port to ensure uncompressed high-quality audio signal reproduction along with the capability to tackle Dolby Atmos sound to make it an immensely capable soundbar indeed.
Combined, all these drivers in the Sonos Arc offer a 5.0.2 arrangement without the need of plunking in extra speakers all over the room. You can however plunk in the new Sonos Sub that’s an upgrade over the previous generation to add a bit more extra thump to your audio.
The Sonos Arc doesn’t just kick out sound willy nilly though. Like its predecessors, the Sonos Arc has its Sonos Trueplay tech that optimises the Arc’s acoustic signature to best fit your room dimensions. This requires you to use an iPhone and a special downloaded app. Unfortunately, Android smartphone users are still left out in the cold for this feature. Other mod-cons include Alexa and Google Assistant support though the former doesn’t work in Malaysia. We managed to get a review sample of the Sonos Arc and you can check out our review of the Sonos Arc here.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yu1NiZUbukA&feature=youtu.be
Sonos Five and Sonos Sub
The Sonos Five is the intended successor to the Play5 and is a curvy, squarish speaker that you can plonk sideways or straight up depending on your home setup in your choice of either black or white. The housing houses six drivers which consist of three subwoofers, a center mounted tweeter with two additional side-firing tweeters, all of which have a Class-D digital amplifier. This setup is akin to its predecessor but the Sonos Five is a bit more futureproofed with updated hardware compatible with Sonos’ S2 operating system for their current generation of devices.
The Sonos Sub is like its predecessor in function and works in a similar fashion as a beefy wireless subwoofer that you can use to complement any of Sonos’ audio setups like the Arc.
If you’re very well heeled, you can add a pair of Sonos Fives up to the Arc as rear surround speakers and the Sub too.
The Sonos Arc is slated for arrival this coming 10th July in Malaysia at a price of RM4,499 with preorders starting from today until launch day. The Sonos Five will retail for RM2,999 with the black variant available on 10th July while the white variant will be available in August. The Sonos Sub for RM3,999 and will hit stores at the same time as the Arc and black Sonos Five on 10th July . To preorder the Sonos Arc, Sonos Five and Sonos Sub, check out their official distributor at https://trysonos.my/