This Sony HT-A7000 and Sonos Arc truly is a battle for the ages as we have two soundbars that I hold in very high regard. The Sony HT-A7000 is actually one of the best soundbars that the good folks at Sony have to offer right now. It is something that has impressed the hell out of me and I think that it is a fantastic matchup for the always good and reliable Sonos Arc. When it comes to bringing Dolby Atmos sound into your home theatre, there is a very good reason as to why these two regularly feature on many best soundbar lists! Enough of this intro, let’s get to work and see which one of these titans is the best!
The Price
I have a feeling that our opening price category is going to be very important in this Sony HT-A7000 and Sonos Arc matchup. These are similar in many ways, but there is actually a pretty significant price difference between the two and I feel that is going to be ultimately what sways most people who are interested in both of these soundbars.
Sony HT-A7000:
Sony makes premium products and more often than not their products have a premium price to match and I would say that the Sony HT-A7000 stays true to that form. Currently, on Amazon, this is priced at $1,398 which is the RRP. It very rarely drops below that if you are on an established retailer like Amazon or Walmart for example. I do feel that it is worth shopping around as, over the last year, Walmart on occasion does knock $100 bucks off the RRP. You can look on eBay and the day I am writing this there is a brand new in box one on there for just over 1200 bucks which is a pretty decent saving, you could buy a lot of 4K Blu Rays with all that saved money!
Sonos Arc:
Off the top of my head, I do not think that there is another soundbar that has held its price as well as the Sonos Arc has. This since the day it launched has had an RRP of $799,00 and you will very, very rarely see this drop below that. I cannot think of the last time I saw a place like Amazon has this for a lower price. Hell, if anything, you can expect to pay more. With this being so popular it does go out of stock on Amazon from time to time and many 3rd party sellers will try and capitalize on this and ask upwards of a grand for it! I would never recommend paying that much, just be patient, Sonos always makes more of these so they will come into stock eventually. You can look on eBay, but if anything (unless you are buying a used one) you can expect to pay more than the RRP on there.
The Verdict:
I would never in a million years say that I feel the Sony HT-A7000 is overpriced, but I do think that the Sonos Arc takes this round. You are getting far better value for money with the Sonos Arc. If I am being brutally honest here, the Sonos Arc takes this round pretty damn easily.
The Design
Man am I excited to jump into the design category of our Sony HT-A7000 and Sonos Arc battle today. If you have read anything else I have written here on the site, you know that I love Sony, especially the way that they design their products. However, the Sonos Arc I am going to tell you right now is the best looking soundbar that the good folks at Sonos offer!
Sony HT-A7000:
The Sony HT-A7000 is a real beast of a soundbar. This thing comes in at 51.2” x 3.1” x 5.6” and that 51 inches of length is no joke so you will certainly want to make sure you have measured to ensure you can handle this! I just love the whole design of this, it is actually one of my favorite soundbar designs on the market, easily in the top three. It just has a very premium movie theatre kind of style to it that I fell in love with as soon as I took this out of the box. The best compliment I can give it is that I would hand on heart happily have this in my own home theatre. The first thing that impressed me with the design of the Sony HT-A7000 is the grill. Sony has gone for a metal grill which first of all, looks badass, but it also gives you more protection than a plastic or especially a fabric grill. Another aspect of the design here that I love is the top which has a glass covering. To protect the up-firing Dolby Atmos speakers on the top, Sony has gone for a fabric covering, I am not the biggest fan of fabric on a soundbar, but this does it the best I have seen it be used.
On the back of the soundbar, Sony has gone above and beyond to make sure you can connect all you need to connect the Sony HT-A7000. You have an HDMI Arc port in addition to two standard HDMI ports. There is an optical port, an analog port, and a USB jack as well. It is very impressive in terms of connectivity options. Like the majority of Sony products on the market, this comes with a tremendous remote control. This thing is loaded with buttons to make sure that you have all the control over your soundbar that you could possibly need. This is actually one of the best remote controls I have seen come with a soundbar!
Sonos Arc:
I think that the sexy design of the Sonos Arc is a major reason as to why it is so popular. It is by a mile the best looking of all the soundbars that Sonos currently make. Have a look at this fun Sonos ARC w DOLBY Atmos?! Unboxing and Overview video and you can get a real sense of why so many people love the design of this thing.
It is available in black and white, but I have only tested the white version. This is a fair bit smaller than the HT-A7000, especially in the width department coming in at 45” x 3.4” x 4.5” which might make this more manageable for some people. The first thing that really captures your eye about the Sonos Arc is its shape. Most soundbars have a more rectangular kind of shape, but Sonos makes their soundbars curvy and this is the curviest one they offer, it just looks so cool and modern. It is very easy to see why once people see this, they could not imagine having a rectangular soundbar in their home. It just has a very modern and sleek look and I love it. There is a plastic grill on here and it is great, it truly is, but man a metal one would really put this design over the edge.
When it comes to the back of the soundbar, the Sonos Arc is one of the simpler soundbars on the market. That is not meant as a “diss” or anything like that, but there is just a single HDMI port on the back of here. To be fair to Sonos, this is a Dolby Atmos soundbar and it is made with that in mind, hence why there is no optical port on the back of here. However, they do have you covered just in case you have to connect this to your TV with an optical cable as it comes with an HDMI to optical cable. Like the other Sonos soundbars, there is no remote! I have said this a million times, but I really do not like this! You have to use the Sonos App which is a great app, but I think they could have thrown in a basic remote that at the very least lets you turn it on and off and control the volume.
The Verdict:
Both the Sony HT-A7000 and the Sonos Arc are two gorgeous looking soundbars. They are also two very different looking soundbars. This means that this is all going to come down to a personal preference. For me, the Sony HT-A7000 is the better designed soundbar, I just love the way this thing looks, from the metal grill, glass top, and the classic Sony design in general. However, I could also see why many people would prefer the more modern and curvy look that the Sonos Arc offers.
The Sound
Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the main event of our Sony HT-A7000 and Sonos Arc contest. These are two soundbars that are designed with rocking your living room with Dolby Atmos, cinema like audio, and I have the hard, but fun task of picking which one of these I think offers the best sound.
Sony HT-A7000:
At this point in my life I have been using Sony products for over 30 years and they have never let me down. The Sony HT-A7000 is one of my favorite soundbars that Sony makes at the moment. Just check out this Sony HT-A7000 Soundbar Review: Best of the Best? video, this guy shares many of my thoughts about this soundbar.
As this is a Dolby Atmos soundbar, we have to start with that and a movie that has a great Dolby Atmos track is Ready Player One which is actually my son’s favorite movie. Anyway, I have watched this movie many, many times (including on the Sonos Arc as well) and I was very impressed with the way this offered cinema like sound. it truly does fill the room and the Dolby Atmos effect is very impressive and gives you that 3D type sound many soundbars claim they offer. Anyway, it is not the most powerful Dolby Atmos I have encountered, but I play around with soundbars for a living! I would say most people will be blown away by what this is offering and be convinced they are getting sound just as good as they are in their local movie theatre.
Overall, I think you really do get a great sound with the Sony HT-A7000, it does have a built-in subwoofer which gives your sound that extra bit of kick, I really noticed this with Ghostbusters Afterlife. It well and truly rocked and sounded really powerful, I think that the way the HT-A7000 balances sound truly is impressive, and I could have this in my home theatre or living room and be very happy with the sound that I am getting. I do also have to say that Sony soundbars always offer immense vocal clarity and that is the case here too. You will not be struggling to hear what people are saying, even if they are talking quietly. Sony also makes it very easy to tinker with the sound thanks to that fantastic remote control that they give you.
Sonos Arc:
At this point, I have lost count over the number of times I have sung the praises of the Sonos Arc. There is a very good reason why this features on so many best soundbar lists. At the asking price of the Sonos Arc, I will flat out state that there is no better Dolby Atmos sound on the market right now. The power and clarity of the Dolby Atmos you are getting here is phenomenal, while Captain Marvel is not one of my favorite movies in the MCU, it has an awesome soundtrack with some great Dolby Atmos and this soundbar showcased that very, very well. It also showed off just how good and balanced the sound the Arc provides is. Sonos manages to give you a very balanced sound here and even in a larger room like a home theatre , this soundbar is going to fill the room with sound and make you feel like you are being hit from all angles.
While there is no built-in subwoofer with the Sonos Arc, it does not lack in the power and bass department. However, it is worth noting that the Sonos Sub Gen 3 is one of the best subwoofers designed to go with a soundbar that I have ever seen, but I do have to warn you that it is very expensive. The wife and I love the Conjuring Universe series of movies and we watched the first two with the Sonos Arc and the sound was pretty much perfect. From the eerily quiet sections to the loud and suspenseful moments. The Sonos Arc truly never misses a beat and even after all the times, I have talked about it. The way Sonos was able to make a soundbar of this amazing quality and keep the price tag well under a thousand bucks is something that amazes me.
The Verdict:
Truth be told, you cannot go wrong with either one of these soundbars when it comes to the sound performance of both of them. However, when testing them out shortly after each other, I do feel that the slightly better Dolby Atmos performance of the Sonos Arc makes that my winner. But, this is not a one sided victory, the Sony does also offer some things that it does better, like having more punchier bass for example.
Which Is The Better Soundbar?
It is always great when one of these AND articles goes like this Sony HT-A7000 and Sonos Arc one has today. The reason I say this is that both the Sony HT-A7000 and the Sonos Arc are awesome! I could have either one of these in my home theatre or living room and be more than happy with it. If I had to do a list of my top ten soundbars that have Dolby Atmos, both of these would be on it and I think they would be in the top five actually. However, enough skating around the outside! Which one of these would I pick? I would have to say that I am 100 percent converted to the wonders of Dolby Atmos these days and because of that I do have to pick the Sonos Arc as my winner, but this really could not have been any closer!
