Sonos announced the Arc Ultra soundbar in October, succeeding the Arc but not replacing it. It sits at the top of the company’s soundbar portfolio and it’s the most expensive speaker it offers, but there is good reason for that – it is excellent based on what we found in our Arc Ultra review.
There are a couple of features and settings that are a little tucked away though, including the adjustment of the Speech Enhancement levels. With that in mind, if you want to make sure you are getting the most out of your soundbar and access to all the features, here are our 9 top tricks for the Sonos Arc Ultra.
Also read: Sonos new app tips and tricks
Use Trueplay tuning
Sonos introduced Trueplay back in 2015, offering a simple way to tune Sonos speakers and soundbars to a room using an iPhone or iPad. When the company introduced the Era 100 and Era 300 in 2023, it announced Quick Tuning, that uses the microphones within certain Sonos speakers to do the tuning, rather than requiring an iPhone or iPad.
The Sonos Arc Ultra supports Quick Tuning, but we really recommend you borrow a mate’s iPhone or iPad and do the Advanced Tuning method. It only takes a couple of minutes and it will adapt your Arc Ultra to whatever room you have put it in to make sure you get the best sound performance.
Open the Sonos app > Tap on the settings cog in the top right corner > Tap on the room your Arc Ultra is in. Trueplay tuning should be a prompt within these settings if you didn’t do it during the setup process.
Connect a Sonos Sub and surrounds
The Arc Ultra is an excellent single-box soundbar, but if you really want your living room or media room to give you some, add a Sonos Sub. The latest is the Sonos Sub 4, which has a lovely matte finish, but you could opt for an older Sonos Sub if you can find them cheaper.
It’s also worth adding a pair of rear surrounds if you want the best experience, though this of course gets expensive. A pair of Era 100s will do a solid job though, or if you want the best experience Sonos has to offer, you’ll want a pair of Era 300s.
Once your Sub surrounds are setup in the Sonos app, open the Sonos app and tap on the settings cog in the top right corner > Tap on the room your Arc Ultra is in. From here, there should be an option that prompts you to ‘Connect Sub’ or ‘Set Up Surrounds’.
Add voice assistants
The Sonos Arc Ultra doesn’t offer Google Assistant support, but it does have Amazon Alexa support and it offers Sonos Voice Control too. Sonos Voice Control is good for controlling the Arc Ultra itself, while Alexa means you can ask your Arc Ultra anything from trivia questions and weather reports, to controlling Alexa-compatible smartphone devices.
To setup Alexa and Sonos Voice Control on the Sonos Arc Ultra, open the Sonos app and tap on the settings cog in the top right corner > Tap on the room your Arc Ultra is in and scroll down until you see the ‘Add a Voice Assistant’ option. Tap on that and follow the instructions for Sonos Voice Control or Alexa, or both.
Quickly pull your Arc Ultra into a Sonos group
This is a classic Sonos trick that doesn’t just work on the Arc Ultra but all of the Sonos speakers. Press and hold the play/pause button on the Arc Ultra and it will pull your soundbar into an existing Sonos group. It means if your Era 100 in the bedroom and Sonos One in your living room are belting out Queen, your Arc Ultra can too without you even having to open the Sonos app.
Adjust Speech Enhancement levels
For other Sonos soundbars, Speech Enhancement is a single setting that gets turned on or off and that’s it. For the Arc Ultra, you can choose the level of Speech Enhancement you want but while you can turn the feature on or off from the Now Playing card, you have to go into System Settings to adjust the level.
Open the Sonos app and tap on the settings cog in the top right corner > Tap on the room your Arc Ultra is in and scroll down until you get to the Home Theater section. You’ll see Speech Enhancement here, tap on it and choose between Low, Medium and High.
Read more: How to change the Speech Enhancement level on Sonos Arc Ultra
Turn on Night Sound to keep neighbors happy
Night Sound is another feature you can turn on or off on all Sonos soundbars, not just the Arc Ultra, but it’s a good one to know about. It reduces the intensity of loud sounds and increases the level of quieter sounds to make dialogue clearer without having to turn up the volume. It means if you’re watching a film late at night when little ones are asleep upstairs for example, you reduce the chance of disturbance from a sudden action scene.
Open the Sonos app and tap on the settings cog in the top right corner > Tap on the room your Arc Ultra is in and scroll down until you get to the Home Theater section. Toggle Night Sound on or off. You can also do this from the Now Playing card.
Also read: Sonos tips and tricks
Turn on TV Autoplay
TV Autoplay is worth turning on if you use your Arc Ultra for music when you aren’t watch TV. With this feature on, the audio will automatically switch to TV audio when you turn on your TV, even if other music is playing.
To turn TV Autoplay on, or off if you don’t want that to happen, open the Sonos app and tap on the settings cog in the top right corner > Tap on the room your Arc Ultra is in and scroll down until you get to the Home Theater section. Toggle TV Autoplay on or off, depending on your preference.
Change EQ settings
We all have different preferences when it comes to sound and if you know what yours are and the Sonos Arc Ultra isn’t quite hitting the mark for you, then you can adjust the EQ settings to see if you can find your sweet spot.
Open the Sonos app and tap on the settings cog in the top right corner > Tap on the room your Arc Ultra is in and look for EQ. Tap on that and move the sliders to what you think is right for you. You can change Bass, Treble and toggle Loudness on or off.
Change Height Audio
The Arc Ultra supports Dolby Atmos and spatial audio, using a combination of cleverly placed speakers and virtual processing to create a more immersive experience. You can adjust the height channel on the Arc Ultra during playback of immersive audio formats if you want more or less height.
Open the Sonos app and tap on the settings cog in the top right corner > Tap on the room your Arc Ultra is in and scroll down the list until you see Height Audio. Tap on it and move the slider to where you think is more appropriate for your preference.
