Arc or Beam (Gen 2)

I compare the Sonos Arc to the Sonos Beam Gen 2 to help you answer which current (at time of the recording) Sonos soundbar is best for your listening and budget

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[coffeebuzzard]

After having listened to multiple products I’ve concluded that the Sonos doesn’t sit on top of the list but it’s far enough up there that when considering the life-style pros it also provides, it was the best overall choice. No question. And I don’t regret the investment.

[blakerochkind]

Back to back comparison was by far the best I’ve seen on YouTube. Thanks!

[georgevillalvazo]

I own the Sonos arc with the GEN three subwoofer, and a pair of sono fives on my happy camper!😇

[fanli]

i bought the beam2 sets with sub3 and 2one sl for myself and i bought the ARC sets for my aunt in her big house. ARC sounds more space feel than the beam, and ARC sounds louder and better movie performance. sound bar dont have big size driver, and never sounds as good as a Hifi. but its good as a home theater and eazy to setup .

[mrgold]

I started out with a Beam Gen 1, Gen 3 Sub, and two Symfonisk bookshelf speakers for rears for my office LG OLED 55C1. Extremely happy and impressed with the system. Decided to go for broke and purchased the Arc, dual Gen 3 Subs, and two Fives for rear surrounds to replace my Nakamichi 7.2.4 paired to my LG OLED 77C1.

[TheStarsInHisHead]

Another excellent video. You've pushed me over the edge, and now I'm gonna get an Arc, and put my Beam in my bedroom. Thanks.

[mikewilson]

Best comparison ive seen of these two products. Thank you!

[Shaggy]

I fully agree on the fact the Sonos experience is 'unmatched', to me they're the Apple of the speaker world. They may not have the very best sound quality for the money, but they're very close. They may not have the best connectivity (e.g. aux, optical etc), you can get a (slightly) better sound experience from something else, but it'll be a nightmare to set up, will look ugly, will use lots of power, probably not be as reliable, and if it has issues then good luck diagnosing them. The Sonos bar in this case is the full package, where minimal compromises are made

[strkez]

I recently bougt a Sonos Ray, and after carefull concideration decided to return it. It simply did not live up to my expectations. Upgraded to the Beam Gen 2, and i have to say: IT IS GREAT!
If you are concidering the Beam Gen 2, go for it. It has plenty of power, decent sound, and works seemless with my TV.

[EliasAnto]

Great video, as always 👍
A great comparison and also good explanation of why Sonos is your “go to” brand. I’ve found the same after owning two LG flagship soundbars. Sonos is a quality of life improvement.
By the way, did Andrew really steal your description?

[jaimeguaderrama]

Amazing video! In the living room I have the Sonos Arc with dual Sonos sub Gen 3, play ones as rear speakers, and I truly love it. In my bedroom I have the Sonos Beam 2 and it’s a great soundbar. I’m still deciding to the rears.

[lamar]

I bought the Sonos Arc with 2 rears and the subwoofer for my living room and bedroom. I bought the Sonos Beam 2 with 2 rears and the subwoofer for my guestroom. I've had top of the line soundbars from Samsung, LG, and Sony and none of them match the Sonos sound quality for movies, music, sports, and gaming. Those other companies use cheap and inferior subs so music just don't hit the same. Lastly...Sonos keeps their products updated and they keep adding features.

[WhoIsAlexElliott]

When I heard in person the Beam was superior for music playback in my ordinal opinion. The arc was louder but I’d rather beam with the sun and surrounds so I have great focussed music and still an amazing movie experience compared to my sony XT-5000 lol

[Chooch]

ive got the ray which is solid. its for desk use so the beam and arc are super overkill. got it paired with the mini sub and hoping to get 2x one sl's as rear satellites. overall im happy with sonos so far

[HPMIKE]

Great job bro & look in to the all new Bowers & Wilkins Panorama 3! 😎👍

[PreparationdobleH]

I own a ARC SL and I account that for music it sucks, in the other hand I purchased a beam and for music is much better for me. Sound is subjective, for movies the arc nothing come close. Overall I’m happy with both of them.

[axiom-xse]

Great review and spot on regarding the overall Sonos experience. I went through several other soundbar and surround systems over the years. Some sounded amazing.. some sounded meh.. but all had major connectivity issues. Quality was uneven. And apps… ha, good luck with that. Bottom line, nothing I’ve used has comparable quality, ease of use, expandability and sound as Sonos.

[AJR]

Spot on review - I've had both bars "with friends" on a trial run for a couple of days and couldn't agree more with your observations. I thought there was something wrong with my ARC because I too, noticed the Beam did sound louder than the arc at almost every volume level, then I saw your review and realized I was in fact not imagining it.

[GOLFADDICT]

would the BEAM 2 + SUB MINI + ERA 100's be sufficient for a 12x14 foot room with 7.5 foot ceiling ? like to watch sports / movies / news channels or would just the ARC ULTRA by itself be just as good ? thx a bunch cheers from Canada

[joshfofer]

Great review, very thorough. I've subscribed! I, too, am "all in" on Sonos gear for the exact reasons you've detailed. One wrinkle I haven't seen mentioned when comparing these two particular soundbars (that actually ended up mattering to me) was the visual impact on "Ambilight" and other similar lighting effects. Just like the height of the soundbar matters... as it might block some of the screen... the *width* matters too, at least if you've got ambilight/bias lighting framing the full back of the TV. I realize this wrinkle is more about aesthetics than sound, but it does still matter. :) 

I also think many people assume, due to the price and size, that the Arc is doubly "better" than the Beam, and that's simply not true. At least not in all contexts.

As an aside, I would like to see Sonos release front right and left speaker support to add to their home theater setup. I already have a pair of rears and a sub, and I'd add a pair for the front (probably the IKEA Symfonisk Picture Frames) right away! Fingers crossed for that...

Anyway, thanks for raising the bar, this video was great.