Sonos Arc vs Sony HT A7000 which is a better choice?

As I start this Sonos Arc and Sony HT-A7000, I am left wondering just how many other soundbars are there for the mighty Sonos Arc to take on! I really thought that we would have a Sonos Arc 2 by now, they did release the Sonos Beam Gen 2 which was awesome so I have to think the Arc 2 has to be on the way. Today we have the Sonos Arc going up against the Sony HT-A7000 which is one of the top tier soundbars that Sony offer. These are both Dolby Atmos capable soundbars and two that are held in very high regard so this should be a lot of fun.

The Price

We are going to look at the current prices (well current as of writing) to start this Sonos Arc and the Sony HT-A7000 battle. These are two quite pricey soundbars, but the price can fluctuate pretty crazy on both of these soundbars!

Sonos Arc:

I got really used to seeing the Sonos Arc be sold for its RRP of $799.99 pretty much everywhere that had it for sale. It really kept its price well, but on Amazon, something strange has happened. The Sonos Arc is in really high demand or Sonos has scaled back production as they have something new on the way. As of me writing this, the Sonos Arc is listed at $839! Which is actually down from the over a grand it was listed on there last time I looked at this. Even on eBay, the Arc is very hard to get with many people wanting a thousand bucks plus for it!

Check price on Amazon

 

Sony HT-A7000:

There is a pretty big jump from the Sonos Arc to the price of the Sony HT-A7000. If we go to Amazon right now, they have this listed for $1,398 and it seems to be holding that price on Amazon as that was right around what it was last time, I looked at it. You can actually save a few bucks by shopping around for this as Walmart has it for $100 bucks cheaper at $1,298. It is certainly worth shopping around for this, but I will say that Sony make a subwoofer and a set of satellite speakers to go with this which some places such as Amazon do offer bundle deals on so that might be the way to go if you want a more complete home cinema system.

Check price on Amazon

 

The Verdict:

The Sonos Arc is the clear winner here, well it is right now that you can go on Amazon and get it for much closer to its RRP than it was a few weeks ago. I do not actually think that the Sony HT-A7000 is overpriced at all, but you might actually be better off spending more and getting one of the bundle deals where they throw in a subwoofer or a set of satellite speakers with it.

The Design

This is going to be a lot of fun to write and the category I am most looking forward to when I started this comparison article. These are two very cool looking soundbars and I am going to take a good look at the design of them both.

Sonos Arc:

Out of all of the soundbars that Sonos make, the Sonos Arc is the best looking soundbar that they offer. They went through a phase where they would use a fabric grill, but thankfully that trend got kicked to the curb with the Arc here as it has a very cool plastic grill that wraps around the curvy body. It is a really decent size as it comes in at 45” x 3.4” x 4.5” so you will need a decent amount of space near your TV or projector screen to have this near it. It has a very curvy look to it and the way that the soundbar looks more like a cylinder than it does your standard rectangle like most other soundbars really does gives this a lot of personality and style. It is also worth noting that the Sonos Arc is available in both white and black, usually, I prefer black, but I do actually think the design of the Arc suits the white plastic better.

Sonos have kept things nice and simple around the back of the Sonos Arc. You just have a power port and your HDMI port and that is that! “What if I want to connect this with an optical cable?” Well, first of all, you will use the Dolby Atmos functionality if you do that. However, if you do want to still use an optical cable, Sonos does throw in a really neat and handy HDMI to optical cable with the Arc. As far as the remote control goes, the Sonos Arc does not come with one. This is a real sore point for me as I feel at the very least it should come with a basic remote control. Instead, you control all of the functions of the Arc with the app or with Alexa if you want to talk to it.

Sony HT-A7000:

Before I give you my thoughts on this, check out this cool The Soundbar You Won’t Regret Buying – Sony HT-A7000 that goes into immense detail about the design of the Sony HT-A7000. This is one hell of a long soundbar and it is pretty big all around actually as the dimensions of this are 51.2” x 3.1” x 5.6”. The Sony HT-A7000 is one of the most awesome looking soundbars that Sony has ever produced. It has that epic Sony style and it has a real weight to it and feels like a very premium kind of products. Sony has used a metal grill for the front of the soundbar which I really do love. The top is very, very interesting and something that I really do love. In the middle, we have this glass top which helps give the HT-A7000 its premium look, however, it does not go all the way to the sides. Instead, protecting the up firing drivers we have a fabric covering which is pretty interesting. Granted, the top of this thing will attract dust and fingerprints like crazy, but I still love it.

As we look at the back of the soundbar we see that the Sony HT-A7000 is stacked with connectivity options. There is an HDMI Arc port as well as two other HDMI ports. You also have an optical, analog in, and a USB port as well. Sony has made sure that you can really take advantage of this as one of the main features in your home theatre or home entertainment center. Sony gives you an awesome remote control with this and what I love about it is that it is stacked with buttons, you can control everything that this soundbar has with the remote and it has a really good size and weight to it as well. This is one of the best remotes that Sony has made actually.

The Verdict:

I am a huge fan of the Sonos Arc; I really do think that it is one of the most stylish looking soundbars that Sonos has made and that is available in general. However, the Sony HT-A7000 takes this round as it is just such a sexy and cool looking soundbar that I am a massive fan of. It really is a showcase piece of tech to have in your home.

The Sound

Both of these are Dolby Atmos soundbars so that is going to make the sound round of our two speakers very interesting. To start with, you cannot go wrong with either one of these soundbars, but we have to pick a winner!

Sonos Arc:

The Sonos Arc is a soundbar that I am very familiar with. It is also a soundbar that I have come to love more and more each time I have used it. Have a watch of this Sonos Arc review: The Playbar upgrade we’ve been waiting for if you want to get a better idea of why so many people love the sound capabilities of this. For under a grand, the Sonos Arc has the best Dolby Atmos capabilities of any soundbar I have used, hell I have used many that cost over a grand and this still trumps them. Ready Player One is a movie that has a great Dolby Atmos track and it is perfect for showing off the Dolby Atmos and the general sound capabilities of the Arc. It really does give you the impression of surround sound and if you have the very expensive Sonos Sub Gen 3 to go along with it, you really are getting movie theatre quality sound in your home. In terms of value for money, I would have a hard time putting anything against this.

While I and many others are all about our 4K Blu Rays having a Dolby Atmos track, the fact is the Sonos Arc is awesome no matter what you throw at it. Even without a subwoofer, it has a lot of bass, and movies like Transformers really do have a real punch and power to the sound thanks to the Arc. The wife and I watched It: Chapter II through the Arc and it actually sounded better than in the movie theatre. The vocal clarity on this thing is astounding, but the vocal clarity never dips, even when something loud or action oriented is going down. The Arc really does have some of the most balanced sound you will get out of a soundbar!

Sony HT-A7000:

Sony always makes great audio equipment and the Sony HT-A7000 is no different. This is a fantastic soundbar and I found its Dolby Atmos capabilities to be very impressive, I actually watched the 4K Star Wars trilogy through this, and Star Wars: Return of the Jedi has a fantastic Dolby Atmos track, I think it is the best out of the 4K re-release of the original trilogy. Sony does a great job here with the Dolby Atmos and it certainly fires up really well and overall, I was impressed, but I have to say that at this price range, I have experienced better Dolby Atmos… and I have to say that I think the Dolby Atmos capabilities of the Arc are actually a bit better. That is not to say that this is bad, far from it, it is great. However, in a direct comparison, I do feel that the Arc has better Dolby Atmos capabilities.

Thanks to the subwoofer that is built into the Sony HT-A7000, you get a nice amount of power and bass when you are watching your movies. Underwater is a movie that I did not want to watch, but I freaking loved it and the Sony HT-A7000 really did make things even more atmospheric and the way it simulates surround sound really did make the experience of watching this movie even better. It also offers you fantastic clarity when it comes to dialogue as well. One thing I have to give Sony a ton of credit for is giving you so many ways to play around with the sound thanks to the awesome remote control.

The Verdict:

You could buy either one of these and be very, very happy with the sound experience you are getting. These are two fantastic sounding soundbars, but after testing them out back to back I have to say that I prefer the sound of the Sonos Arc. It not only has more power to the Dolby Atmos, I feel it has a much more balanced kind of sound.

What Is The Best Soundbar?

What is interesting about this Sonos Arc and the Sony HT-A7000 battle is that I really do not think that there is a loser here. I really do think that the Sony HT-A7000 is a great soundbar. It has a very cool and awesome look about it and it sounds fantastic too! However, I do feel that you get more bang with the Sonos Arc. I do not like the design as much as the HT-A7000, but I do think the more balanced sound and more powerful Dolby Atmos along with the much lower price point make it the winner of this battle.

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