If you want a soundbar to enjoy movies and video games, then go with the Sonos Arc soundbar because of its surround-sound feature.
The Sonos Arc and the Bose 700 are the two most premiere soundbars out in the market. A soundbar is an audio gadget used in the living room or the theater space. The soundbar is especially useful for individuals or families who love watching movies or playing video games as it gives a near-cinematic audio experience.
In summary, if you want a soundbar to enjoy movies and video games, then go with the Sonos Arc because of its surround-sound feature. However, if you're an audiophile and are quite particular about the technical aspects, such as the bass sounds and the audio performance, then you're probably better off with the Bose 700 with its attention to detail in terms of these aspects.
Now let’s take a closer look at them.
Features and Specifications
One of the most important parts of a soundbar is its audio features, such as surround sound capabilities. The Sonos Arc is the clear winner because certain features in the Sonos Arc are not even available with the Bose 700 soundbar. This gives Sonos Arc a huge advantage over the Bose 700 in terms of available audio features.
The Sonos Arc has a total power of over 540W and weighs around 25 pounds. The main feature that Sonos Arc boasts of is its surround sound capabilities. This is perfect for individuals or families who love watching on Netflix as it offers an audio experience akin to watching a movie in the cinema.
The Bose 700 soundbar has 770W power and is slightly lighter at a little over 10 pounds. It falls short in the audio features because it only comes with a stereo system.
Check out the User Guide for Sonos Arc on sonos.com.
Sound Quality and Performance
Have you ever noticed that there often tends to be quite the opposite opinions about a speaker?
I can understand this for more "personal taste" kinda products like clothing, for example.
But for engineering products like speakers? Personal tastes and preferences probably still play a role. But shouldn't it be less?
Why is it that we can't set a universal metric for sound quality?
First time I asked this question to myself has been a pivotal day.
Because it turns out that in the mid 90's, Electrical Engineer PhD Floyd Toole came up with a method called Spinorama. This is exactly what he accomplished with this. Turns out that his book Sound Reproduction is like the bible of audiophiles.
Put it simply, Spinorama is a set of measurements that gives a comprehensive overview of a speaker's performance from various angles.
It allows you to compare the performances of different speakers before even laying your ears hands on them.
Isn't that amazing?
This is why Spinorama was apparently groundbreaking news for audio industry. Hence in the mid-late 2010's, most brands and magazines began publishing Spinorama measurements, despite the challenges of making such measurements.
Fortunately, now we have the Spinorama data for a bunch of quite popular speakers. Pierre Aubert put all this untidy data together and put it into https://www.spinorama.org/. This is a stunning source. Pretty valuable stuff from him right there.
All good up to this point.
Now there comes a caveat.
Since the sound speakers propagate are in the form of omnidirectional waves, all measurements are obtained in anechoic or semi-anechoic chambers (a super-quiet room where soundwaves don't bounce back, here's how different that room sounds [a mind blowing time-adjusted video]).
This is a problem because it means that Spinorama alone, unfortunately, won't give us all we need. Placement and reflections play an equally important role there too.
This is why most A-class brands (like SVS, Bang & Olufsen, etc) often come up with room correction features, adjusted either manually or automatically. The EQ adapts itself to the placement (room, corner, center, etc) for a better (deeper and more accurate) sound. Which is great.
Additionally they often emphasize the importance of placement, here is an example: https://www.svsound.com/blogs/subwoofer-setup-and-tuning/75365187-the-art-of-subwoofer-placement
Anyways...
The source code under Pierre Aubert's work is licensed under GPL (General public license). He didn't perform any of the measurements himself, and instead he compiled all of them into one place, so that makes sense.
At this point, I thought that if there was a tool that combined both the Spinorama with the room acoustics data, it'd be extremely useful.
Unfortunately, it turns out that there wasn't any.
This is where I stepped in and partnered with an Acoustics and Audio Engineering PhD in order to achieve this.
We combined Spinorama data with room acoustics and came up with Soundton. A very simple, 2D online tool that allows you to:
- Reveal optimal speaker positions in a room,
- Test with real speakers from real brands,
- Compare different speakers and different positions in the room.
It can be very valuable for the vast majority.
The colormap provides you the locations with the best (green) and worst (red) listening experience.
It works the best with subwoofers since Soundton processes low frequency response waves only.
- Soundton is going to be, say, 80% accurate. Not 100%.
- Because, other parameters such as the age/materials of the building, furniture/windows in place also have an impact on room acoustics.
- If you want absolutely the most detailed room analysis, then what you need is an acoustics consultant. Mind you that's going to require deep pockets and patience though... assuming you find the right person and they get the job done.
Anyways...
With sound quality and performance, the Sonos Arc and the Bose 700 go neck-and-neck in this aspect. It is quite difficult to determine the clear winner between the two regarding sound quality and performance, so we will break it down even further.
Suppose you are buying a soundbar solely because you want to enhance your audio experience when watching movies or playing video games. In that case, the Sonos Arc is the choice for you because of its surround sound capability.
If you buy a soundbar because you want to hear the crispness of tunes for your favorite music, go for the Bose 700. It gives you excellent stereo quality balance and provides clarity. So, if you are into music more than movies, then Bose 700 should be your choice.
When it comes to bass and volume performance, we will call it a tie between the Sonos Arc and Bose 700, as both soundbars perform well in these aspects.
The Bose 700 soundbar has 770W power and is slightly lighter at a little over 10 pounds. It falls short in the audio features because it only comes with a stereo system.
Connectivity
Bose 700 comes out victorious in Bluetooth connectivity compared to Sonos Arc simply because Sonos Arc does not have a built-in Bluetooth connection. However, you can still use both of them wirelessly via certain apps and smart assistants.
Both support Alexa and Google Assistant so that you can rely on both of them. Do note that Sonos Arc is not compatible with Android apps which can limit its user coverage.
Here is a User's Guide for Bose Smart Soundbar 700.
Aesthetics
There is no clear winner when it comes to aesthetics because the choice depends entirely on you. If you want a futuristic techno aesthetic, then go for Sonos Arc. If you want a soundbar that has all the classic and sleek finishing, then the Bose 700 is the one for you.
Price
As of writing these lines, the Sonos Arc is priced at $899, while the Bose 700 costs $799. Sonos Arc is priced slightly higher than Bose 700, but we want to emphasize that this is not a deal-breaker because both soundbars are reasonably priced. And truth to be told, you get value for your money for both soundbars, so the price should not be a deal-breaker.
You might also want to check out Sonos Upgrade, an exclusive program that makes it easier for our long-time listeners to get the latest Sonos experience.
Conclusion
In choosing the perfect soundbar for you, you can base it on your needs. If you purchase a soundbar because you want to enhance your audio experience, go for Sonos Arc. But if you want to experience music with crisp tones and clear bass, then go for Bose 700.