Sonos Arc Ultra + Sub 4 review: Great sound and sleek looks, but it’ll cost you
The Sonos Arc Ultra and Sub 4 promise premium home theater sound in a slick and simple package, but they don’t come cheap. At nearly two thousand dollars, this combo’s got to impress to justify the price. I spent a week with the setup to see if the performance holds up. So, is it actually worth your money? Let’s find out in this Sonos Arc Ultra + Sub 4 review.
How has this article been updated?
This article was published on August 1st, 2025, and this is the first version of the article. Updates will follow as the market changes.
What I like about the Sonos Arc Ultra + Sub 4
The Sonos Arc looks right at home under your TV.
The Sonos Arc Ultra rocks the sleek, minimalist aesthetic Sonos is known for, with smooth curves and a low-profile shape that blends into most living rooms. This soundbar includes seven tweeters, six midrange woofers, and a built-in Sound Motion woofer for bass, arranged in a 9.1.4-channel layout. Compared to the original Sonos Arc’s 11-driver setup, the Arc Ultra offers improved spatial performance thanks to those extra drivers.
Despite the streamlined look, the Arc Ultra includes a few physical touch controls on the top for play, pause, volume, and track skipping. The wireless Sub 4 carries the same clean design language, with rounded edges and a solid, weighty build that feels premium. You pair it through the Sonos app during setup using the pairing button on the back, and once it’s connected, you shouldn’t need to touch it again unless you’re resetting or switching systems. It can stand upright or lie flat, giving you flexibility with placement depending on your room.
Regarding connection, the Sonos Arc Ultra connects to your TV using a single HDMI eARC port, which unlocks full Dolby Atmos support. It also supports Wi-Fi and Bluetooth for streaming music from your phone or tablet, but it’s worth noting that there are no additional HDMI inputs or optical ports.
The Sonos app makes setup and control pretty straightforward. I usually brace for some kind of bug or weird pairing issue with Sonos gear—something not showing up or the app freezing mid-setup. But this time, I got lucky. Everything paired up on the first try, and Trueplay tuning walked me through balancing the sound for my room and where I usually sit. It only took a few minutes, and I noticed an overall improvement in how the system sounded afterward.
Once you’re set up, the app gives you a bunch of useful features. You can toggle speech enhancement to make dialogue stand out more, and there’s a night mode that tones down sudden loud moments. There’s also a basic EQ, controls for height audio, and an option to adjust the bass level of the Sub 4 independently. That’s great if you want more low-end kick or need to dial things back for a smaller room. You can turn on spatial music for supported tracks, limit the max volume, and manage autoplay settings too. Although it takes a bit of navigating through the app to remember where everything is, there’s a lot in there once you start digging.
The Arc Ultra sounds great on its own, but adding the Sub 4 really fills things out. I pushed the sub level up while watching action movies like Heat, and the downtown shootout had a real physical edge to it. Rifle cracks hit with impact, and the reverberant tones of LA’s downtown setting could be heard bouncing around the room with good left-to-right separation. That said, it’s easy to overdo it with the low end. At higher sub levels, the bass can start to dominate, so it’s worth dialing it in to suit your space.
Interstellar was another strong example. The docking scene had solid spatial detail, with sound effects moving cleanly across the front stage and the score pushing real weight through the sub, all without masking any dialogue. It didn’t feel like a full surround setup, but it was more immersive than I expected from a single soundbar. Ultimately, the Arc Ultra and Sub 4 don’t try to fake a theater. You just get clean, well-separated audio that draws you in.
What I don’t like about the Sonos Arc Ultra + Sub 4
At 46 inches long, the Arc Ultra is best paired with TVs 55 inches or larger.
There’s a lot to like here, but a few design and performance quirks keep this from being an easy recommendation for everyone.
The Arc Ultra is pretty long at 46″, and while it looks great under a big TV, it might feel oversized if you’re working with a smaller setup or a tighter living room. The Sub 4 adds a ton of bass, but dialing in just right was tricky. Sometimes it’s super rumbly and atmospheric, but then it can fall short when you’re expecting that sharp, punchy impact during an action scene. And of course, the price is a real consideration. For what this setup costs, you could piece together a proper surround sound system with rear channels and more granular control.
It’s totally fair for people to be skeptical, given all the Sonos app issues that have made headlines recently. I have had my share of headaches, too. Getting the Roam 2 to update and sync properly was a frustrating mess. But with the Arc Ultra and Sub 4, everything worked smoothly. Setup was quick, the app stayed stable, and I did not run into any bugs during testing.
Should you buy the Sonos Arc Ultra + Sub 4?
The Sonos Arc Ultra + Sub 4 makes for a suitable medium-sized home theater.
If you’re looking for a clean, high-performance soundbar setup and you’re already in the Sonos ecosystem, the Arc Ultra and Sub 4 make a strong case. They look sharp, sound excellent, and offer plenty of rumble that can breathe new life into your favorite action scenes or summer blockbusters. You get decent immersion without the mess of a full home theater setup. That said, it’s pricey, takes up a fair bit of space, and you’re still not getting full surround unless you add more speakers. If you’re okay with that trade-off, this setup gets you most of the way there.
Alternatively, if the Arc Ultra and Sub 4 feel out of reach, the regular Sonos Arc () is a more affordable option worth considering. You still get the sleek design, Dolby Atmos support, and excellent sound quality. It pairs well with larger TVs and fits right into the Sonos ecosystem, making it a solid pick for anyone who wants to step down in price without giving up too much in performance.
Otherwise, if you don’t have the room or simply don’t want to spend a couple grand on a soundbar setup, the smaller, more affordable Bose Smart Soundbar is another option. It offers a compact design that’s much better suited for apartments or smaller TVs and still delivers solid performance for casual viewing. You won’t get the same level of bass or spatial detail, but it’s a good pick if space and budget are your top priorities. Find one for .
Sonos Arc Ultra + Sub 4 review: FAQs
