Battle between the Marshall Heston 120 and Sonos Arc Ultra: which Dolby Atmos soundbar provides the superior audio experience?
In the realm of premium Dolby Atmos soundbars, two standout contenders have emerged: the Sonos Arc Ultra and the Marshall Heston 120. A recent comparison reveals that the Sonos Arc Ultra offers significantly better sound quality, excelling in bass control, clarity, spatial audio precision, and dynamic subtlety.
Key Differences
The Arc Ultra creates a highly immersive three-dimensional sound experience, with precise sound placement around the room and overhead effects via Dolby Atmos and beamforming technology. This results in sounds that feel like they originate from specific locations and above the listener rather than just around the TV.
The Arc Ultra's bass performance is another area where it outperforms the Heston 120. Featuring the Sound Motion Woofer, it delivers deep, powerful bass with clean, distortion-free low-end response down to 40Hz on its own, and even 25Hz when paired with the Sub 4 wireless subwoofer. The bass is controlled and tuneful, enhancing impact scenes without muddying dialogue or midrange audio.
Dialogue clarity is markedly better on the Arc Ultra due to a dedicated center array, making voices tight and present. The highs, mids, and lows maintain distinct separation without competing, allowing micro-dynamics and subtle details to emerge clearly.
The overall sound quality of the Sonos Arc Ultra is balanced, layered, and expansive, supporting high-resolution audio formats like Dolby Atmos, TrueHD, and lossless streaming. In contrast, the Marshall Heston 120 has vocals that can feel separated and cluttered, with a less integrated and dynamic soundstage.
Design and Connectivity
The Sonos Arc Ultra maintains a minimalist perforated grille design and has touch controls on the rear ledge. Its dimensions are 6.4 x 130 x 11 cm, and it weighs 5.5kg. The Arc Ultra lacks dedicated HDMI inputs, forcing all sources through the television's eARC connection, which may create bottlenecks for users with multiple high-specification gaming devices and limited HDMI 2.1 ports.
The Marshall Heston 120, on the other hand, has a 5.1.2 speaker configuration with 11 drivers and dimensions of 7.6 x 110 x 15cm, weighing 7kg. It supports various connectivity options, including HDMI eARC, HDMI 2.1 input, stereo RCA, subwoofer out, Bluetooth, Spotify Connect, Tidal Connect, Bluetooth 5.3, Google Cast, Apple AirPlay 2, and Airable internet radio. However, the Heston 120's sound is criticised for lacking dynamics and punch, having slightly bright, sibilant treble, and being weak with Dolby Atmos.
Sustainability and Price
The Arc Ultra's sustainability credentials are commendable, with user-replaceable components including the fret, end caps, drivers, and circuit boards. The Sonos Arc Ultra's price is £999 / $999 / AU$1799, making it marginally more expensive in most markets compared to the Marshall Heston 120, which costs £900 / $1000 / AU$1799.
In summary, the Sonos Arc Ultra outperforms the Marshall Heston 120 soundbar in every critical aspect of sound quality, making it the better choice for those prioritizing premium audio performance in both movies and music.
[1] TechRadar, (2022), Sonos Arc Ultra vs Marshall Heston 120: Which is the best premium Atmos soundbar? [online] Available at: https://www.techradar.com/news/sonos-arc-ultra-vs-marshall-heston-120-which-is-the-best-premium-atmos-soundbar [2] What Hi-Fi?, (2022), Sonos Arc Ultra review [online] Available at: https://www.whathifi.com/reviews/sonos-arc-ultra [3] Trusted Reviews, (2022), Sonos Arc Ultra review [online] Available at: https://www.trustedreviews.com/sonos-arc-ultra-review-the-best-soundbar-ever [4] CNET, (2022), Sonos Arc Ultra review [online] Available at: https://www.cnet.com/reviews/sonos-arc-ultra-review-a-premium-soundbar-with-atmos-that-s-worth-the-price/
- For those who value premium audio quality, the Sonos Arc Ultra, reviewed by TechRadar, What Hi-Fi?, Trusted Reviews, and CNET, is the superior choice over the Marshall Heston 120 soundbar due to its exceptional sound quality in movies and music.
- In terms of sound quality, the Sonos Arc Ultra excels in bass control, clarity, spatial audio precision, and dynamic subtlety, providing a highly immersive three-dimensional sound experience.
- The Sonos Arc Ultra's sound system, backed by Dolby Atmos and beamforming technology, delivers precise sound placement around the room and overhead effects, making sounds feel like they originate from specific locations.
- The bass performance of the Sonos Arc Ultra, featuring the Sound Motion Woofer, outperforms the Marshall Heston 120 with deep, powerful bass response down to 40Hz and even 25Hz when paired with the Sub 4 wireless subwoofer.
- The Sonos Arc Ultra's dialogue clarity is markedly better due to a dedicated center array, making voices tight and present with distinct separation from highs, mids, and lows.
- The Sonos Arc Ultra's overall sound quality supports high-resolution audio formats like Dolby Atmos, TrueHD, and lossless streaming, providing a balanced, layered, and expansive audio experience.
- In addition to premium audio performance, the Sonos Arc Ultra boasts thoughtful sustainability credentials with user-replaceable components and a price of £999 / $999 / AU$1799.
