u/SweetButtonWork

As the title states, Rakuten denied my 15% cashback on my Sonos Arc Ultra because I used a 15% off upgrade credit. Yes, it does say it will be ineligible with you use a code not listed on the Rakuten site. From all the posts I could find, people referenced using Rakuten with an upgrade credit but never followed up saying if they got it or not.

I’m disputing it with Rakuten and if they won’t honor it, I’ll return the Arc Ultra and just buy an open box one for $860.

Hopefully this helps someone. I’ll let you know if they ultimately give me the cashback or not.

Happy Sunday everyone!

Here’s my setup: Ones as fronts, Arc, 300s as rears, and Sub Gen 3.

I hemmed and hawed at upgrade the rears to 300s for like a year. Finally someone posted 2 on marketplace with stands for $450. Done deal! Moved the Ones to the front, 300s in the rear. Definitely a big upgrade. I’d say it goes from hearing sound from exactly where the Ones were placed, to a seamless rear audio experience. Somewhat hard to put into words. Less directional and more of an enveloping, full sound.

After upgrading the rears, I setup SonoSequencer and used the Ones as fronts. This was a huge improvement. I could really hear a much larger soundstage. However, the fronts felt too far from the center/Arc. Like if a door closed on the left of the movie frame, it sounded like it was coming from off screen. It just didn’t feel right, it felt detached. I angled the Ones towards where I sit and this fixed 60% of it.

Within a week or two, the Sonos Upgrade Itch™️ was back. I’d look been debating upgrading the Arc to the Arc Ultra. From all the reviews I could find and Reddit posts, it seemed like a mostly underwhelming experience. I used a Sonos 15% off upgrade credit and Rakuten 15% cashback (tbd if I get that) to purchase the Arc Ultra directly from Sonos with Best Buy store pick up. Got the nice instant satisfaction dopamine high that way 😂

Unpaired everything, installed Arc Ultra, did the SonoSequencer setup (paired in Sonos app first to do all the TruePlay tuning), and… went to bed because I had to be up early and I live in an apartment. I think my downstairs neighbors already tolerate my Sonos enough that I won’t test out new stuff at 11PM 😂

Had the Arc Ultra for about a week. I have the voice enhancement on Medium. The entire front soundstage now feels complete. It doesn’t feel disjointed like it did with the Arc. I’m definitely happy with the upgrade. I can’t put my finger on what exactly is different, but the overall viewing/listening experience feels much fuller and more vibrant. Is it worth $1,200? Depends how much you make I suppose… I pre-sold my Arc for $600. With the upgrade credit and Rakuten 🤞, I’m looking at around $275 cash outlay. For that price, it’s 100% worth it. I’d say it’s worth it if you have another place to put the Arc or can get a decent price of it.

I’m moving in a couple weeks and will likely swap the fronts from Ones to Era 100s that I currently have in a stereo pair in the kitchen. Reasoning for that is the stereo pair of 100s sound far better and filled my kitchen significantly better than the Ones stereo pair. From everything I read online, Ones to 100s as fronts isn’t nearly as dramatic.

Anyway, hope this helps someone make a more informed, confident decision :)