Sony HT-A7000 vs Sonos Arc vs Bose 900 which is the best?

Sony HT-A7000 vs Sonos Arc vs Bose 900 which is the best?

As a huge wrestling fan, I am always down for a triple threat match and that is exactly what we have today with this Sony HT-A7000 and Sonos Arc and Bose 900 match up! Three awesome Dolby Atmos soundbars going head to head as I try to figure out which one I like the best. To tell the truth, you could not go wrong with either the Sony HT-A7000, the Sonos Arc, or the Bose Smart Soundbar 900. I would say if I were to do my own personal list of the top five soundbars that feature Dolby Atmos, all three of these would make an appearance on it! Trying to pick a winner here is going to be tough, but it is also going to be a lot of fun as well.

 

The Price

As we start this Sony HT-A7000 and Sonos Arc and Bose 900 contest off by looking at the price, you can see that two of these are very competitive with each other whereas the other is a bit more expensive!

 

Sony HT-A7000:

 

Sony HT-A7000 7.1.2ch 500W Dolby Atmos Sound Bar Surround Sound Home Theater with DTS:X and 360 Spatial Sound Mapping, works with Alexa and Google Assistant

When it comes to Sony soundbars I think that you could make a good argument that the Sony HT-A7000 is the most premium one Sony currently offers.  Out of the three soundbars we are looking at today, this one here is the most expensive. It comes in at $1,398 and that tends to be the price it stays at. I have seen it drop a tad below this on Walmart before, but for the most part, this keeps its RRP very well. There are some savings to be had if you are willing to use eBay as I have seen it on there a few times for a couple of hundred bucks cheaper.

 

Sonos Arc:

 

Arc - Black

Not many soundbars have been able to keep their price as well as the Sonos Arc has managed to. 99/10 you are looking at the standard price of $799 for this soundbar and you know what? That is actually a hell of a deal, I think that when it comes to bang for your buck, the Sonos Arc is one of the best Dolby Atmos soundbars around. Even though many great soundbars have been released after this, the Sonos Arc is still one of the most popular, and if anything, you can expect some 3rd party sellers to try and sell it for more than the usual $799 asking price! Just check out this Is Sonos Arc Still Good in 2022? | Dolby Atmos Soundbar Review video and you can see why it has remained so popular for so long.

 

Bose Smart Soundbar 900:

 

Bose Smart Soundbar 900 Dolby Atmos with Alexa Built-In, Bluetooth connectivity - Black

I think that it is fair to say the Bose Smart Soundbar 900 is the main rival of the Sonos Arc. Bose had great success with their 700 soundbar and this was what followed that. You are looking at $899 for this and that tends to be the price at most retailers. I think that the asking price here is very fair, especially when you consider that at the time of me writing this, the Bose 900 is still fairly new. With it being so new, I have not actually seen it drop below the RRP yet and with how well the Bose Smart Soundbar 700 kept its price, I am not sure we will very often!

 

The Verdict:

I do think that this round is very close to being a tie between the Sonos Arc and the Bose 900. The Sony HT-A7000 is a great soundbar, but I just do not see it being worth as much as 500 bucks more than the other two. For me personally, I do think that the Bose Smart Soundbar 900 is well worth that extra 100 bucks and that by a hair, is taking this round.

 

The Design

Out of all the categories on this list, the design is probably the one I am most excited to talk about in this Sony HT-A7000 and Sonos Arc and Bose 900 contest! I say that because these are three of the best looking soundbars on the market right now, actually I would go as far as to say these easily are my top three best looking soundbars!

 

Sony HT-A7000:

As I have been a Sony fan since the 80s, I very rarely do not like anything that they design. The Sony HT-A7000 is the longest of the three soundbars we are looking at today. Coming in at 51.2” x 3.1” x 5.6”, you better make sure have the space to handle this! the first thing that captures your attention with the HT-A7000 is that metal grill. I love a metal grill and it gives this thing a very premium kind of look to it, actually, the whole thing looks like a very high-end piece of tech! On the top of the soundbar, we have a very interesting design, like what Bose has done, they have covered the top with glass which looks awesome. However, instead of covering the entire top, there is a little bit of fabric on each side where the up-firing Dolby Atmos speakers are. Even though I usually complain about fabric on soundbars, Sony makes it work.

If you check out this Sony HT A7000 Review 2022 video, you can see why I am such a huge fan of the design of this soundbar. Sony has made sure that you are well and truly taken care of in regards to connectivity options. You have your HDMI Arc, but there are two other regular HDMI ports as well. Sony also has an optical port, an analog port, and a handy USB port as well. Sony also gives you an amazing remote control that is a very impressive size and packed with all the buttons you could possibly need so that you can get the sound just the way you want it.

 

Sonos Arc:

I have talked about the Sonos Arc so much that I feel like this is a soundbar I know inside and out! Coming in at 45” x 3.4” x 4.5”, the Sonos Arc is a great size, it is a bit longer than the 900, but not as long as the HT-A7000. The best way to describe the design of the Sonos Arc is curvy. Most other soundbars go for that angled look, but Sonos here has made it more rounded and it gives the soundbar a more modern and sleek kind of design. I would wager that it is the design that makes many people decide to go for this. It is available in both black and white, but I have only ever played around with the white version. There is a plastic grill on here and the curvy nature of it is something that I think is very cool. This is a real showcase kind of soundbar that would look awesome in any home theatre or living room.

Out of all the companies that make soundbars, Sonos tends to have the most simplistic design when it comes to what is happening around the back. Here you will find just one HDMI port, but they do also include an HDMI to optical cable inside the box if you decided to hook it up with an optical cable (which you would be crazy to do) instead. As is the case with other Sonos soundbars, there is no remote control included which kind of drives me nuts if I am being honest with you. However, the Sonos App is one of the best soundbar apps that I have ever used, but it does mean that you will need to have your phone or tablet with you all the time when using it!

 

Bose Smart Soundbar 900:

Before the Bose Smart Soundbar 900 was released, I would have said that the Bose Smart Soundbar 700 was my favorite soundbar when it came to the design. However, now I have to say that the 900 takes that spot. When it comes to the length, this is the shortest as it comes in at 41,14” x 2,29” x 4,21”. It is worth noting that like the Arc, this can be purchased in black or white, but I am specifically talking about the black version. Bose has basically taken what they did with the 700 and made it better. You still have that metal grill that covers the front and the sides, it is the best metal grill I have seen on a soundbar. On the top, we have a very stylish glass covering that I love, but there are two sections for the Dolby Atmos speakers that are protected with that same metal grill style as the front, it is a very, very cool effect.

On the back, Bose has gone for pretty much the same style as they did with the Bose Smart Soundbar 700. You have your HDMI Arc port, a standard HDMI port, an optical port and they also have a port called bass which is intended to be used with one of their subwoofers such as the Bose Bass Module 700 which is what I use. The only part of the design here which is a downgrade from the 700 is the remote, the 700 has one of the best remotes I have ever used, but the one here is much more basic. If you want to use all of the features the soundbar has, you will have to use the Bose app.

 

The Verdict:

As I have the Bose Smart Soundbar 900 in my home theatre, you probably know what one I am going for. I really do think that the 900 is the best looking soundbar on the market right now. I would put the Sony HT-A7000 in second place and then the Sonos Arc in third. However, I do have to say that I love the design of all three of these soundbars!

 

The Sound

We come to the main event of our Sony HT-A7000 and Sonos Arc and Bose 900 battle for the WWE Universal Championship. I have watched a ton of movies with these soundbars and below are my honest opinions on each one. These are all great, but I have to pick a winner!

 

Sony HT-A7000:

I really do not think I have ever been massively disappointed by a Sony product… apart from when I imported a Sony Mini-Disc player back in the mid-90s. Anyway, the Sony HT-A7000 is a great sounding soundbar. The Dolby Atmos on offer here is not the most powerful, but it still manages to hold its own. To put that Dolby Atmos through its paces, Avengers: Infinity War was the first movie I watched and it sounded great. It filled the room with sound and as the HT-A7000 has a built-in subwoofer, it has a lot of bass to the sound. I think that Sony has done a great job here and the way you get that kind of surround sound effect here is going to really impress you and make you feel like you are sitting in a movie theatre.

As well as rocking some great power for action movies, the Sony HT-A7000 does have a pretty impressive balanced sound. I think the vocal clarity you get here is truly next level stuff and when watching one of my favorite comedies, The Burbs I was very happy with the way the soundbar handled the dialogue. When it comes to playing around with the sound, thanks to that awesome remote control, Sony makes it as easy as can be to tinker with the sound and get it just the way you want which is something I consider to be a pretty big advantage. As of me writing this, the Sony HT-A7000 is the best sounding Sony soundbar on the market.

 

Sonos Arc:

The Sonos Arc regularly appears on the best soundbar lists and anyone who has had the pleasure to use this will know why. When it comes to Dolby Atmos performance the Sonos Arc is one of the best you can get for under a grand. I watched Avengers: End Game (as I watched Infinity War before) and it well and truly rocked. The way that this handles Dolby Atmos is movie theatre like. It is so, so impressive! The way that the Sonos Arc throws sound around the room is phenomenal and while I am not a believer that you can get surround sound from just a soundbar, this comes pretty damn close to making me think that it may just be possible. I have played around with the Sonos Arc many times and watching a movie with a Dolby Atmos track always blows me away.

As you would expect, you get a very balanced sound with the Sonos Arc. While there is no subwoofer built in here, I do not think you will notice this and think that there is a lack of bass or power. Sonos does have their Sonos Sub Gen 3 which is one of the best subwoofers around, but it does cost a lot of money. Adding that to the Sonos Arc would be a real dream! Watching something that is more dialogue heavy with the Arc is great, the wife and I watched The French Dispatch and were very impressed with how clear everything was. While I do wish this came with a remote, the Sonos App is one of the best around, and the way it lets you play with the sound and get it perfect for your room is pretty awesome.

 

Bose Smart Soundbar 900:

I have talked about the Bose Smart Soundbar 900 here on the site before about how I have this along with the Bose Surround Speakers 700 and the Bose Bass Module 700 in my home theatre so there may be a bit of bias going on here. However, I really do think that this is the best Dolby Atmos soundbar you can get for under a thousand bucks. We are sticking with the MCU as the movie I want to talk about is the phenomenal, Spider-Man: No Way Home. This is just amazing, it truly is movie theatre quality Dolby Atmos you are getting here and even without the bass module or the rear speakers, this is going to fill your room with sound and even when you have the sound cranked all the way up, it remains balanced and very clear. Check out this Bose 900 Soundbar Review: A Dolby Atmos Beast? video and you will see why I love the sound that this thing produces.

Speaking of clear, any dialogue scenes are so much easier to follow with this. I watched No Time To Die with this and I think it was a great showcase of how having something like this that has such a great balanced sound can really enhance your movie watching experience. I really could not be any happier with the Bose Smart Soundbar 900 that I currently have in my home theatre. It is a tremendous upgrade from the, so much so that I actually think you would be insane to buy the Bose Smart Soundbar 700 over this, especially considering it is only 100 bucks cheaper.

 

The Verdict:

While I am picking the Bose Smart Soundbar 900 as my winner here, I can hand on heart say that I would be cool with any of these soundbars handling the sound in my home theatre. However, I just feel that the 900 goes that little step further and gives me the sound that I want.

 

Which Is The Best Soundbar?

Putting together this Sony HT-A7000 and Sonos Arc and Bose 900 has been so much fun. I know this is cheesy to say, but I do not think there is a loser here as the Sony HT-A7000, the Sonos Arc, and the Bose Smart Soundbar 900 are all tremendous soundbars. As I said just before, I could happily have any one of these in my home theatre and be happy with it. However, I do have to say that for me, the Bose Smart Soundbar 900 takes this. I was already a huge fan of the 700, but this takes it to a whole new level thanks to the Dolby Atmos performance.

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