Sonos Arc vs Yamaha YSP-2700 which is a better choice?

Sonos Arc vs Yamaha YSP-2700 which is a better choice?

I am very excited about this Sonos Arc vs Yamaha YSP-2700 battle that we have going on here today. I have already put the Sonos Arc up against the Yamaha YAS-209 which if I am being honest was a real one sided match in favor of the Arc. The Sonos Arc has a much stronger and even matched opponent today with the Yamaha YSP-2700. This is one of the more premium offerings from Yamaha and I think that the Sonos Arc does have its hands well and truly full today with the YSP-2700 as its opponent.

 

The Price:  

I have a feeling that price is going to be a real deciding factor in this Sonos Arc vs Yamaha YSP-2700 battle we have going on here today. These are two quite expensive soundbars so these are not for those of you looking to spend 100 bucks on a soundbar in your local Walmart.

 

Sonos Arc: The chances of finding the Sonos Arc for under its RRP of $799.99 are slim to none these days. Hell, if anything, you can probably expect to pay a bit more! It was not that long ago that there were sellers on Amazon asking over a grand for this. While 800 bucks is no small chunk of change. I think when you factor in what the Sonos Arc is actually giving you, 800 bucks is more than a fair price for a Dolby Atmos soundbar of this quality. There is a good reason as to why this is one of the most popular soundbars on the market over the last few years.

 

Yamaha YSP-2700: There is a bit of a leap in price when we go from the Sonos Arc to the Yamaha YSP-2700. This is supposed to cost right around $1,200. Before you start freaking out over that 400 bucks price increase, it is worth noting that the Yamaha YSP-2700 does include a pretty high-quality subwoofer as part of it. I think the main thing that will make people raise their eyebrows at the price tag here is the fact that this is not a Dolby Atmos capable soundbar. If you look on places like eBay, you are looking at paying the RRP for this on there or even more in some cases!

 

The Verdict: I have to say that the Yamaha YSP-2700 is not a soundbar that I feel is overpriced at all. I think the quality of the soundbar and the subwoofer is very high. However, I do have to give this round to the Sonos Arc. Not just because it is 400 bucks cheaper, but the fact that it is a Dolby Atmos soundbar and I feel the quality for the asking price makes $799.99 they are asking for it very reasonable.

 

The Design:

I always love to look at the way a soundbar looks, a soundbar in my home theatre is always out on display. That is what makes the design such an important category in our Sonos Arc vs Yamaha YSP-2700 battle so interesting. These are two great looking soundbars, but they do have their own individual style.

 

Sonos Arc:

Sonos Arc, Black

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I really do not see how anyone can look at the Sonos Arc and not be wowed by the way that it looks. I do have to tell you that you can get the Sonos Arc in both white and black, one of these days I will get my hands on the black version, but everything I say here going forward is in regards to the white version. The first thing you notice about the Sonos Arc is just how curvy it is. They have not gone for the rectangular design that so many other soundbars do. The curves really do give the Sonos Arc a ton of personality. I also like the grill that Sonos has used on here. Instead of fabric like they used with the earlier version of the Sonos Beam. They have a plastic grill on here, which I like, but the more I think about it, the more I wish they went the extra mile and made it a metal grill. The dimensions of the Sonos Arc are 45” x 3.4” x 4.5” which is pretty big, but in line with other soundbars on the market right now.

Sonos keeps the sleek style around the back of the soundbar too. Instead of having a ton of ports, they give you just a single HDMI port! I get what they were going for, but other similarly priced soundbars do offer multiple connection options. To be fair to Sonos, they do give you an HDMI to optical cable just in case you want to connect the soundbar to your TV that way. However, you will lose the Dolby Atmos compatibility if you use this cable. The one area where Sonos drop the ball with the design of the Sonos Arc is with the remote control and that is because they do not give you one! How do you sell something for 800 bucks and not give them a remote control? Instead, you have to download and use the Sonos app in order to control the soundbar.

 

Yamaha YSP-2700:

Yamaha YSP-2700 MusicCast Sound Bar with Wireless Subwoofer

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Man do I love and I mean love the design of the Yamaha YSP-2700. I want to suggest you look at this Yamaha YSP2700 Surround Sound Bar Unboxing | The Listening Post | TLPCHC TLPWLG video if you want to see it in more detail. This has a more rectangular design than the Arc, but I do love it. The dimensions of the soundbar are 37.1/8″ x 2″ x 6” so it has a pretty slim profile for a soundbar of this style. It just looks so sleek and cool and I love the shiny design that the soundbar has. I also love how Yamaha has used a metal grill to protect the speakers here, it just looks freaking awesome and this is a soundbar I would proudly have on display in my home theatre or living room. On the back of the soundbar, you can see that this is stacked with connectivity options for you. You have three HDMI ports, an optical port, a coax port, and an analog audio port as well. Yamaha has well and truly made sure that you are covered no matter how you want to hook this thing up.

As the Yamaha YSP-2700 also comes with a subwoofer, we have to take a closer look at that. The dimensions of the subwoofer are, 11.5/8” x 11.3/4” x 12.1/8” so it is a pretty decent size. It is built with the same kind of style and quality as the actual soundbar and it looks great as it accompanies the soundbar very well. It is mainly made from wood, but it has a fabric grill on the front which I do like the style of, you also have the Yamaha logo on the bottom. Yamaha also gives you a damn fine remote control with this soundbar too. It is packed with buttons and it makes accessing the various features of the soundbar as easy as can be. It is much larger than the remotes that Yamaha gives you with their more modestly priced soundbars.

 

The Verdict:  These are two awesome looking soundbars that we have looked at today. However, as much as I love the design of the Sonos Arc. I do have to give this one to the Yamaha YSP-2700. It just has such a premium look and design to it and the fact that the subwoofer looks so cool and fits in great with the actual soundbar really does put this one over the edge.

 

The Sound:

With every one of these vs articles that I do, the sound is the main event and this Sonos Arc vs Yamaha YSP-2700 battle is no different! Usually, I would always pick the soundbar that offered Dolby Atmos, but this battle is a little bit different!

 

Sonos Arc: I have lost count at this point in regards to how much praise I have thrown the way of the Sonos Arc in terms of its Dolby Atmos capabilities. As I write this I am patiently awaiting Spider-Man: No Way Home to be released on 4K. In the meantime, I watched both movies in the Amazing Spider-Man 2 / Amazing Spider-Man. The Dolby Atmos capabilities on offer by the Sonos Arc are probably the best you can get at this price point. The way it throws that sound up and it comes slamming back down to you is just amazing and the kind of thing that is very hard to put into words. I love big blockbuster movies and these days they all have a Dolby Atmos track. Anyway, who is looking for a truly great Dolby Atmos soundbar for under a grand is going to be ecstatic with what they experience here.

I always get caught up talking about the Dolby Atmos capabilities of the Sonos Arc. The truth is, this excels in every regard, while adding in a badass subwoofer is preferable. I do feel that you get a nice level of bass out of this. Movies like Goodfellas which are all about the story and actually being able to hear people talk shine thanks to the amazingly clear voice that the Sonos Arc offers. The way that the Sonos Arc manages to fill even a large room with sound is something that still greatly impresses me to this day. There is a very good reason why when you look online about the Sonos Arc that there are very few people who have anything majorly negative to say about it!

 

Yamaha YSP-2700: We have to get the fact that the Yamaha YSP-2700 does not offer Dolby Atmos out of the way first. I have to admit that coming into this, I thought for sure the Sonos Arc would wipe the floor with the YSP-2700, but that is not the case at all. This thing is packed with speakers, it is offering you a full 7.1 setup and Yamaha claims that this offers you full surround sound. Well, I watched The Lost World: Jurassic Park with this and was truly blown away at how this threw the sound around the room. It does not come from behind you like a dedicated surround sound setup does, however, this is some of the best that I have encountered from a soundbar. Check out this Yamaha YSP 2700 Sound Projector SoundBar review video if you want to get more detail about how this thing is able to do what it does.

As this comes with a dedicated subwoofer, it goes without saying that this offers you some real power and bass. I was actually way more impressed than I thought I would be with the bass offered here, Man of Steel is a movie that really blew me away when played with the YSP-2700. It is not just loud movies and shows that sound great when pumped through this either. It offers crystal clear dialogue (there is a setting dedicated to this) and when watching The Dark Crystal I really noticed how balanced the sound was. However, that perfectly balanced sound came at the expense of a lot of tinkering. Now with the remote control, but with the placement of the soundbar. This is a soundbar that can fill the room with sound, but I found that you had to get the placement of the soundbar just right. It will sound good no matter where you have it, but if you really want to be engulfed by the sound, you have to play around and get it just right.

 

The Verdict: I have to say that this is way, way harder for me to call than I thought it would. On one hand, I am all about Dolby Atmos these days, but the “surround sound” provided by the Yamaha YSP-2700 really did take me by surprise. I think I am going to have to give this one to the Yamaha, which really does shock me! However, I think that I could have just as easily swung the other way. Hell, you could ask me tomorrow which one I like best and my answer might change.

 

Which Is The Better Soundbar?

I have had a lot of fun with this Sonos Arc vs Yamaha YSP-2700 article today and coming into it I thought that the Sonos Arc was going to steamroll its way to victory. I am a massive fan of the Sonos Arc and here on the sight I have looked at it more than any other soundbar and it comes out on top more often than not. I think that it well and truly got taken the distance by the Yamaha YSP-2700 today. However, I think that when I take all things into consideration, I am going to give the win to the Sonos Arc. It is cheaper, offers Dolby Atmos and it is just an awesome soundbar. I have to be honest, had the Yamaha offered Dolby Atmos, that would have been the winner here today.

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