The Sonos Arc 2 could redefine TV audio

OPINION: We’ve been hearing about it for months but now it feels more concrete than ever – the Sonos Arc Gen 2 is coming.

According to the leaks reported by The Verge and previously Bloomberg, it looks like the new Arc could be using technology from a Dutch speaker company previously known as Mayht.

You’ve probably never heard of Mayht, but it was a company that came onto our radar in early 2022. I was invited on a trip to Amsterdam to see its upcoming technology (unfortunately I couldn’t make it) but the Cliff Notes version is that Mayht was founded by two brothers (Mattias and Timothy Scheek) who were making speakers at the age of eight in their bedroom.

They created Heartmotion technology, which allows manufacturers to create speakers that are ten times smaller, flatter, and lightweight without compromising the “sound quality, range or output”. After demoing the technology and receiving coverage at events including CES, they were bought by Sonos towards the end of 2022 for a cool $100 million.

Am I missing something?

Codemaned Lasso, the Arc Gen 2 looks like it’ll be the first product that uses this speaker technology. Though I’ll be honest and say that, based on the leaks I’m not entirely sure what the benefit of having the Mayht tech will have on the soundbar. Maybe I’m missing something here.

If according to leaks the soundbar is effectively the same size and profile, then it’s not really benefitting from having smaller speakers, which at the very least would allow the soundbar to shrink in length, depth, and height.

Considering the recent trend in the soundbar world of becoming skinnier and lighter so they can be wall-mounted, you’d presume that’s the direction Sonos would be looking at.

Regardless, all we have are little snippets of the soundbar and not the full reveal; so perhaps it is smaller and thinner or it allows more room for an integrated subwoofer within the chassis, which could help make the Sonos Lasso a better all-in-one soundbar solution without the need to add an expensive subwoofer for that cinematic bass performance.

I’ve read online the idea that with Mayht’s technology, you could get the performance of a Sonos Five speaker in the size of the One speaker but – and I could be wrong – that doesn’t seem like it’d apply to a speaker that’s already big in the Arc unless we’re getting a smaller, lighter model.

We can expect it to get all the features we’ve seen on the Era 100 and 300 speakers, which means Bluetooth streaming and the ability to disable the microphone, as well as being able to connect the Ace headphones for spatial audio tracking in the same (but hopefully even better way) as is possible with the current Arc.

The price doesn’t seem right

What does put a slightly bitter taste in the mouth is the mooted price – $1200 (which likely means £1200 / €1200); which is a fair premium on a soundbar that originally launched at £799 / $799 before it got bumped up to £899 / $899 a few years later.

Is the Mayht speaker technology, Bluetooth and integration with the Ace (headphones that already cost £449 / $449 – so they’re not particularly affordable in the grand scheme of things) enough to make people upgrade? Throw in a couple of Era 300 speakers as rear gunners and maybe a sub (in this case the 3^rd Gen Sub), and you’re easily looking at over £2000 / $2000 for a surround speaker package.

The impression I was getting from Sonos’ recent moves in the market was to move into new spaces (headphones and outdoor speakers), bring new tech to the table in a convenient form (Dolby Atmos); and expand its audience in the process.

The rumoured price doesn’t feel like it’s going to do that at all for the soundbar market. This is positioned as an upgrade for the old faithful, the hardcore Sonos fans willing to pay for it.

Will it work? I’m not sure. There have been a few unintended missteps such as the revised app, and the mixed reception to the Ace headphones, while the Roam 2 seems like it’s barely much of an upgrade – and also seems to have received very little marketing attention. It’s not as if Sonos is punch-drunk but it could do with a solid win.

And could we get actual DTS:X support this time around Sonos?