When I review audio equipment, the most important thing is the sound quality. I know, it seems like the most obvious statement in the world, but I say it because many of us end up buying speakers, headphones, and sound bars based on promised features or impressive sound specifications. After all, if you can't go to a store to hear the product in person, what else do you have to do?
This trend is reinforced when looking at two similarly priced products from two different companies, each with a strong reputation. A great example is the Sonos Arc Ultra ($1,099/£999/AU$1,799) and the JBL Bar 1000 MK2 ($1,200/£899). Both are high-end Dolby Atmos soundbars, priced within $100 of each other.
All in one or future expansion?
Leaving aside the key issue of sound quality for a moment, it's worth thinking about what you want from a soundbar in the first place. Are you looking for a one-stop solution where you open the box, set up the system, and never think about your home theater sound again? Or are you more progressive and want a great soundbar that you can add to over time as your budget allows and as your needs change over time?
If you're in the latter category, Sonos is the best option. The Arc Ultra doesn't include a subwoofer or surround speakers, but it is compatible with multiple Sonos products that can fulfill those functions. This allows you to choose the right components for your home theater system instead of having to use what comes in the box.
This is a more expensive route to a multi-speaker setup, but it is much more versatile. The Bar 1000 MK2 only works with the sub and surround included with JBL. If you don't like your performance or your needs change, you're stuck.
How much music?
The main objective of a sound bar is to get better sound from the television. But if you're going to spend a lot of money on a speaker, it should do more than make your movies stand out: you should expect it to also be a capable music player.
Again, sound quality should be the most important factor (I promise I'll get there), but you should also consider as you want to play music. If you're a Spotify user, don't have a personal music collection on a computer, and have no interest in subscribing to any other service, the Sonos Arc Ultra or JBL Bar 1000 MK2 will work well for your needs. You can access both directly from the Spotify app; easy.
On the other hand, if you use multiple services and have an extensive personal digital music collection, the Sonos platform is more powerful and versatile than JBL's One app. The Sonos app works with virtually every music service natively, including Apple Music and Spotify, letting you search and stream from a variety of sources within a single app. Additionally, you can create playlists from multiple sources that combine tracks from each service into a single list.
Still, as savvy audiophiles will remind you, Sonos lacks support for Google Cast and Tidal Connect, meaning some music services won't be able to stream at their highest level of quality (for example, at sample rates higher than 48kHz). With the Bar 1000 MK2, you can transmit up to 96 kHz.
And what about the rest of your house? Sonos is, first and foremost, a multi-room wireless streaming platform. Adding new devices to new rooms in your home takes less than three minutes and each new speaker can be controlled from the Sonos app. Multiroom is not JBL's greatest strength. Setting up new JBL Wi-Fi speakers is a breeze with the JBL One app, but if you want to control them from a single interface, you'll need to use Google Home or the Amazon Alexa app, neither of which are as easy to use or as powerful as the Sonos app.
Dolby Atmos music
One of the most interesting parts of having a Dolby Atmos soundbar is listening to Dolby Atmos Music. Both the Arc Ultra and Bar 1000 MK2 can play Dolby Atmos Music, but only the Arc Ultra can play these tracks without the use of a smart TV or a standalone streaming device like an Apple TV 4K.
If you have an Apple Music or Amazon Music account, you can stream Dolby Atmos Music tracks directly to the Arc Ultra through the Sonos app. For Tidal, you still need to use a smart TV or streaming device with the respective version of the Tidal app for that platform.
One input to govern them all?
Sonos focuses heavily on simplicity. That's a mission I can get behind, until I limit what I can do with a product. The Arc Ultra's connections are as simple as they come: one HDMI ARC/eARC port. That's all. No HDMI inputs, no analog inputs, and no optical digital inputs (although you can purchase an optical to HDMI adapter if you need one).
On the one hand, a single connection makes things easier. On the other hand, if your TV only has three or four HDMI ports, you will now only have two or three ports for all your HDMI-connected devices.
The Bar 1000 MK2 alleviates this problem and actually increases the number of ports available with its three HDMI inputs. If you're still using an older, non-Dolby Atmos TV, this arrangement has a hidden benefit: By connecting a Dolby Atmos-compatible streaming media player to one of these inputs (instead of a TV port), you get the best of both worlds: Dolby Atmos in quality up to Dolby TrueHD and 4K HDR video with Dolby Vision support. Arc Ultra can only work with the audio signal it receives from your TV.
It would have been nice if JBL had made the Bar 1000 MK2's optical input discrete, but unfortunately it can only be used as an alternative to the HDMI eARC port.
surprise sound
With its included subwoofer and detachable surround speakers, it would be reasonable to assume that the JBL Bar 1000 MK2 has better sound quality than the single-speaker Sonos Arc Ultra, but that's not what I found when I compared these two systems head-to-head.
The biggest surprise was the low frequency sound. I'm not claiming that the Arc Ultra can play as low or as loud in the bass department as the Bar 1000 MK2's subwoofer with its massive 10-inch driver, but the Arc Ultra's bi-amplified, dual-diaphragm, quad-motor, dual-diaphragm Sound Motion woofer is amazing.
While it stops short of window-rattling, the Arc Ultra's bass is truly cinematic, giving action scenes a sucking immersion. It's so powerful that I recommend Arc Ultra owners consider purchasing surround speakers. before Invest in a subwoofer.
Speaking of immersion, it's impossible to overlook the role that two discrete speakers placed on either side of your listening position can play in the movie and TV viewing experience. With the Bar 1000 MK2's detachable units set to their highest level, I enjoyed surround sound moments more than I did with the Arc Ultra. That said, the Arc Ultra does an impressive job with virtual surround sound and its Dolby Atmos height channel effects are better defined than those of the Bar 1000 MK2.
Where Arc Ultra scores two unequivocal victories is in the clarity of dialogue and musical performance. As I noted above, the primary mission of a sound bar is to deliver better TV sound. Today, speech intelligibility is a major challenge, especially as streaming services move us away from traditional two-channel sound toward 5.1 surround sound or higher. Arc Ultra does a stellar job of separating and elevating dialogue from the rest of the soundtrack, making it much easier to listen to than competing systems. This is not to say that the clarity of JBL's dialogue is bad (it's actually pretty good), but it's not as clear as the Arc Ultra.
If you don't anticipate listening to a lot of music with your soundbar, the Bar 1000 MK2 is very nice for listening to casual tunes, the kind you could play in the background while you do other tasks. However, for dedicated listening, it struggles, as I noted in my review: it struggles with its midranges and the treble tends to become strident and strident, especially at higher volumes.
In contrast, the Arc Ultra is a better music speaker in almost every way. On its own, Dolby Atmos Music is a highlight, and it gets even better when you pair it with a set of Sonos Era 300 wireless speakers for surround sound. It's not perfect – I noticed that some Dolby Atmos Music tracks can produce an undesirable level of high-end sibilance unless you turn down the treble – but overall, the Arc Ultra plays surround and two-channel music mixes in typical Sonos style: warm tones, good detail and definition, with good frequency balance.
Get the right sound bar
Ultimately, the Sonos Arc Ultra and JBL Bar 1000 MK2 are great Dolby Atmos additions to your TV setup. Whether you're buying your first sound bar or upgrading from a smaller speaker, these systems will surprise with their performance.
But given the Arc Ultra's advantages in music streaming support, expandability, as well as dialogue and music delivery, I recommend it over the Bar 1000 MK2 unless you're looking for an all-in-one, set it and forget it option. In that case, the Bar 1000 MK2 fits the bill.
