At a price of about $360, the Sonos Arc Soundbar is one of the best sound systems you can get for the money. A Playbase is a worthy investment if you have the $660 necessary to get one. Because of the significant price difference between the two products, it is possible that a direct comparison between the Sonos Arc and the Sonos Playbase would not be accurate.
Some sources do not consider value for money when awarding their scores, and as a result, they tend to grade more expensive products higher. If you’re having trouble deciding between the Sonos Arc and the Playbase, you might find the following comparison helpful.
Sonos Arc vs Playbase
Sonos Arc
The Sonos Arc’s width of 114 centimeters makes it somewhat wider than the typical 49-inch TV sold nowadays. It also has a significantly bigger footprint than the Play bar (90cm). The Sonos Arc has the following height, width, and depth (HWD) dimensions and weighs 11.6 kilograms. 3.4 x 45 x 4.5 in (13.78lbs).The Arc’s frequency response will be altered to compensate for the fact that it is always facing the same way, and this will occur regardless of which way you try to place it. A custom wall-mount for your Sonos speaker may be purchased for £69 (around $79 or AU$99).
The Arc stands at a respectable 8.5 millimeters tall despite its curvy appearance in images. It has a ‘button’ that can play/pause the audio and two touch displays that can control the volume, both of which are context sensitive. It is possible to verify whether or not the Arc is actively listening for voice directions from Alexa or the Google Assistant by pressing the microphone button and observing whether or not the sole LED lights up.
Sonos Playbase
The logical course of action is to get the Playbase if wall mounting is not something you want to do. As its name suggests, this is a sound base, not a soundbar, which means it is designed to hold a television. However, certain televisions with feet at either end will straddle it perfectly.
Because of the height of the Playbase, this is possible. The fact that it is much broader and deeper than its tall gives the appearance that it was designed with functionality in mind, even though its height is only 5.8 centimeters.
It is attractive and well-made, and the carefully carved holes covering the gadget to ensure the highest possible level of air control are a particular highlight. Even though the Playbase doesn’t go as far as you’d expect it to, its bass frequencies’ integration, tone, and naturalness are all outstanding.
The Beam and the Playbar have an unrivaled tonal cohesiveness over the frequency range. A sound experience that is excellent in every other respect is let down by the Playbase because of its treble. It is strongly recommended that you stay away from Playbase.On the other side, the Playbar is a physically awkward and awkward proposal, and its aesthetic and feature set are beginning to show their age. It is also a proposition that is physically awkward and unpleasant. The absence of AirPlay 2 may be a deal-breaker for specific customers.
The Playbase has a defect in the form of audible treble that can be described as edgy and cutting. There is an overwhelming amount of sharpness and sparkle at the high end, which, after some exposure, may become annoying. On the other hand, Dolby Atmos is a proprietary feature only available on the Arc and allows for a more immersive audio experience than was previously achievable with older versions. This is more than just a soundbar because you can use your voice or an app to control it, and you can access practically every music streaming service there is.