@@300bo8I find my Arc is crisper than my beam, especially for music. A lot of that could come down to the very different rooms they are in (the beam is in an open plan area which is never great for acoustics, whereas the arc is in a dedicated media room with a cathedral ceiling and great acoustics), also the other speakers they are paired with make a big difference.
I have the Arc + 2 Gen 3 Subs + 2 Era 300 and the arc is wayyyy better with surround especially Dolby Atmos because all the other speakers complement each other without drowning out the sound.
I have the beam 2 and always been dreaming with the Arc. If I was in your position I put everything back and keep the Big Sub and the Arc 💡. Good video and I believe in the beam 2 power 💪🏽
Super awesome setup! But when you spend a lot of money on the Sonos system it seems pretty weird that you don't save up for a modern TV with a Arc port... buying a nice LG OLED would make this setup complete en totally worth it!
Agree, I have the Beam + 2 One SL's plus sub-mini in the living room, and that works well in that space with a 55" TV, but the Beam just wouldn't cope in my family room (65" TV with Arc + Sub gen 3 + 2 era 300's) - I know the Arc is almost twice the money as the Beam, but it's worth it for a large room, especially if you are pairing with Era 300's - which are a big outlay just for a pair of them.
Same. I have the Arc + 2 Gen 3 Subs + 2 Era 300 and the arc is wayyyy better with surround especially Dolby Atmos because all the other speakers complement each other without drowning out the sound.
I’m not sure why you got the beam instead of the Arc. If even Sonos doesn’t sell it as a bundle. That’s because it’s supposed to go with the Arc not the beam.
I have a older 2017 Sony X800E tv that does not have Atmos so I seen ur video and Bought this same exact splitter with the eArc and CEC , Have my Sonos Beam connected to the eARC port, my TV to the CES output port connected to the HDMI ARC on the TV , then plugged in my Apple TV 4K and my PS5, into the input ports on the splitter and have the EDIC on 4k7.1 it wants me to turn on Dolby vision but when I do the picture turns to shit cuz me tv does not have Dolby vision and I cannot get Dolby Atmos to work at all , it shows it’s enabled in the Apple TV settings now but when I go to Netflix app on Apple TV and look at audio format it does not show Dolby Atmos , just shows “multichannel” like it had always showed even before my sonos!
Hows the atmos performance with era 300, since it have firing up speakers, does it compensate for the lack of upfiring speaker in beam, do you feel the sound overhead? Is the overhead sound is unbalance?I have beam g2 + ikea bookshelf and I m thinking of upgrading to era 300 for atmos performance
The upfiring speakers are disabled on era 300 when In surround mode also Bluetooth is disabled in this mode - also any rear work for atmos you don’t need era 300 to achieve atmos a fact he is completely wrong on era 300 will play atmos spacial music as stand alone speakers but if you have arc or beam gen 2 they just become rear surrounds
For that specific splitter that has 2 HDMI INs and 2 HDMI outs how do you have it connected ? I have an older sony tv that doesn’t have Atmos either , So the Sonos soundbar to the HDMI OUT2 labeled (EARC/ARC SOUNDBAR). and then the HDMI IN ports for the PlayStation or Apple TV ? What is the CEC TV OUTPUT port ? Does that need to go back to the tv ?
@@alebaler Those who think the Arc sounds better probably haven't heard them back to back. Beam 2 has a richer sound profile. Arc sounds anemic, but a bit wider sound stage.
Please cand you give me some advice in buying a surround wireless setup for my apartment. I want to place them in a 20m2 room(64m2 all apartment). I watch a lot of movie from netflix,hbo, and music from spotify premium, youtube. I dont want an overkill bass, or watt power just dolby atmos when i watch music or movies and good sound arc+2 x era 300= 1600Euro in Romania arc+ mini sub+ 2 x era 100 almost same price.1540E or beam2+mini sub+2x era 300 for 1600e? What do you recomend? Thanks a lot
Great video I’m going that set up in my gaming/movie room But going with the 900 and 2 subs I do have to say I thought my gaming room was cool But yours was s off the Hook! Wow I just subscribed so I’m going to see if you did any videos on your building project for your gaming room Love the White look I was going to do White Kef sound set up But Sonos has some great reviews and for r way cheaper too The Sonos is $4000 after taxes Where the KEF set up would be $15k before taxes lol
I suggest getting 1 sub Gen 3 and 2 x Era 300’s to go with the Arc - a 2nd sub is just gravy if you’re a bass head. (The era 300’s and 100’s provide decent bass as well)
Kef is expensive but would ofcourse blow Sonos out of the water. Even the cheaper Kef setups. For similar priced setups Kef will still easily beat Sonos.
Great review ! At what volume was Dune playing ? And i hear a lot of people saying that you can't hear the 300's as well as the Era 100 as surrounds. Especially because the centre speaker is disabled. (A choice of Sonos themselves)
That depends if it plays Dolby Atmos. The 100 don’t have Dolby so the sound is always on not “triggered” as the 300 for example when you hear bullets flying
I have a Samsung TV with Arc but not Earc. My main question and I may have missed it in the video but how do you control the sound if we are using a roku setup? Will the sonos volume only work with their app? will it work with the Samsung remote that came with the tv? This would be my first sonos setup and I will go with the Ultimate immersive arc with Era300 speakers and Gen3 sub
I have a TCL TV with android tv with ARC and no eARC port. I have a sonos setup with beam 2nd gen, sub mini and 2 one sl. The volume can be controlled from phone app, tv remote, apple tv remote or directly from any of the speaker. The issue with my tv is that if the content is not dolby atmos, the surround speakers are disabled. If I stream any content from the phone the surround works perfectly. So only ARC port may have limitations
You can only do two Era 300 in a stereo pair. Sonos only allows you to add two rear surrounds within the Arc or Beam theater group w/ or w/o a sub. You can add up to 32 Sonos speakers to a group for whole house audio. You can put 4 Era 300s in the same room and group together for audio; but, you can't iphone Trueplay the 4 Era 300s.
After testing new sonos, previous sonos speakers better than the new one. Generally Sonos don't sound that good for music in my opinion, for movies and games there are ok.
Agree. Sonos is not for music. For movies they are good. But in a mainstream kind of way. There are much better setups for home cinema. Sennheiser Ambeo Max with rear speakers and a sub would absolutely crush the arc with 2 era 300's and sonos sub.
If you have the era 300's you either need the beam or the arc to unlock atmos for movies. I would just get the beam and two era 300's. I think the era 300's are better than the arc anyway so why spend like 2000 dollars??
The Arc alone and Era 300 single/stereo pairs work differently compared to being in a theater group. The center speaker for the Era 300 is disabled in a theater group, you can set the rear surrounds to Full or Ambient sound, you can TruePlay Era 300s with the sub/Arc to balance out all speakers, and the Arc/Beam soundbar will divide and send the bass/rear surround/left/right Center/Atmos audio to the right speakers as needed in a theater group.
Arc my friend. You are not really unlocking this setup’s true potential. Unless you are waiting for the new Arc. Not sure when that will come out though..
Everything is made in China. China makes just as good Products as any other country nowadays. It's like Japan, in the old days you would get ridiculed for owning a japanese car or something, and nowadays it's a badge of quality/honor. I have Japanese knives for example, premium quality. Can't find the same quality anywhere in the west. But China is perfectly fine for quality builds. Nowadays it is. I mean, even your apple gets made in China.
No comment on Sonos bricking their first speaker systems? Making them all worthless for anyone that paid for them. Didn't even just leave them as a BT speaker. Nope E-waste. None?
That is no different from Apple bricking older iPhones. Not a lot tech or even appliances around the house that will last over 10 years old now days because of rapid improvements.
@@mrgold3591 Appliances as a service. Automotive as a service. You will rent and be happy. Without right to repair, to own the stuff you purchase, you are paying full retail for a rental as it is. They are changing the social contract. Pray they don't alter it father. They are stealing from you from wages to taxes.
Good thing about Sonos is you can mix, match, add speakers, and re-purpose replacement speakers depending on your needs, wants, listening environment, and budget. I started out with a Beam Gen 1a few years ago, later added two Symfonisk Bookshelf speakers a few months later, I added the Gen 3 Sub about a year later, and upgraded the Symfonisk rears to One SLs after X-mas. The old Symfonisk can be used for whole house audio.
Soundwise? Sure, go with any dolby atmos hifi system, but you will always be spending thousands of bucks on those. Usability and simplicity wise? No. There is simply no other brand that makes adding to your setup as easy as Sonos. You can simply keep adding to your collection and always enhance it. You can sync up all of the devices and make it a multiroom setup too, then turn it into a fully fleshed out 5.1 dolby atmos setup the next second. They are really miles ahead of any other brand in the game right now. That also shows by how stable the value of sonos products stays over time. The beam and Arc still sell for almost the same price as when they were released, because this brand focuses on quality over quantity.
Sonos is not for music. For movies they are good. But in a mainstream kind of way. There are much better setups for home cinema. Sennheiser Ambeo Max with rear speakers and a sub would absolutely crush the arc with 2 era 300's and sonos sub. Just an example.
DO NOT BUY- Good sound quality but difficult set up and connectivity issues. Wort thing is that after a couple of months the speakers will not connect to the app and you have to use the app to listen to any music. Just trashed over $1k in speakers and customer service did not respond for months after the 5 speakers I had bought had been in the landfill. Buy anything else that connects directly with Bluetooth.
I dont get why people buy this plastic litter these days and call it "Home Cinema". You pay 3500 Euros for this Setup to have "Smart" Speakers that are not garanteed to run if sonos doesnt support them anymore. Little plastic boxes with tiny drivers that give you the whole "sonos experience" for sure. But that has nothing to do with Home Cinema. "I only need one cable thats it" Wow i wonder how many cable you used for a traditional Loudspeaker..... By the way you are able to buy much more reliable, better sounding, future proof setups for half of the price. Stop buying this crap. Honestly.
@@intonstudio578 Example: "Teufel System 5 THX Select 2" for about 1500 bucks + a lowclass Reciever for about 500 Bucks. Much much more capable than any of these Sonos peaces. So maybe it is a bit oversized already. So you have something in a 2000 Bucks price range that blows your shoes off in a action movie. With 12 Years warranty. You decide how smart it is with the choice of the reciever that you can replace if needed later without to trash the whole system. What i want to say is: "Home Cinema" is not that difficuild anymore. Recievers with automatic setup doing the job well enough to get a way better performance then this overpriced plastic boxes, that are trash as soon sonos decides it with the stop of software support.
@@Tyantreidesgive me a good idea for cheaper than the sonos setup. I'll take a serious look (yes i know sonos is not even close to being the best in audio world) it's just for fanboys mostly same with Apple.
Definitely worth upgrading to the Arc when you can - should fill your space a lot better - the Beam is a great speaker for smaller spaces though.
Don't you have problems with dialog on the Arc? My beam was clear as hell, Arc was very muddy.
@@300bo8I find my Arc is crisper than my beam, especially for music. A lot of that could come down to the very different rooms they are in (the beam is in an open plan area which is never great for acoustics, whereas the arc is in a dedicated media room with a cathedral ceiling and great acoustics), also the other speakers they are paired with make a big difference.
@@300bo8 Correct. Beam 2>Arc
I have the Arc + 2 Gen 3 Subs + 2 Era 300 and the arc is wayyyy better with surround especially Dolby Atmos because all the other speakers complement each other without drowning out the sound.
I have the beam 2 and always been dreaming with the Arc. If I was in your position I put everything back and keep the Big Sub and the Arc 💡. Good video and I believe in the beam 2 power 💪🏽
Super awesome setup! But when you spend a lot of money on the Sonos system it seems pretty weird that you don't save up for a modern TV with a Arc port... buying a nice LG OLED would make this setup complete en totally worth it!
Beam is definitely dwarfed by the era 300 and the sub. Arc is much better fit for this setup.
that’s exactly what i was thinking, if you’re gonna max out the sub and rears why have a lacking main?
Agree, I have the Beam + 2 One SL's plus sub-mini in the living room, and that works well in that space with a 55" TV, but the Beam just wouldn't cope in my family room (65" TV with Arc + Sub gen 3 + 2 era 300's) - I know the Arc is almost twice the money as the Beam, but it's worth it for a large room, especially if you are pairing with Era 300's - which are a big outlay just for a pair of them.
The sonos sub was the best purchase i made. Dont settle for the mini
I have 2 and its a game changer
Same. I have the Arc + 2 Gen 3 Subs + 2 Era 300 and the arc is wayyyy better with surround especially Dolby Atmos because all the other speakers complement each other without drowning out the sound.
Great setting... you can add both 1 sl to your home theater setup as front left and right surrounds
You can do that now?!!?
Great setup, the sub gen 3 however is a bit overkill unless you hold parties once too often in the biggest room in the house...
Link to the sound extractor pleaseeee
Oke, the thumnail says: home cinema setup. So why not share how to connect this all? For instance, does the beam gen 2 is need a ethernet cable?
I’m not sure why you got the beam instead of the Arc. If even Sonos doesn’t sell it as a bundle. That’s because it’s supposed to go with the Arc not the beam.
After Install, does it work plug and play? Or with other words, can my mother 65 years use this? 😂
Did you use an fixed low profile mount with no tilt and no swivel? If so, why and which one did you use?
They are beautiful and they deliver, enough said
I have a older 2017 Sony X800E tv that does not have Atmos so I seen ur video and Bought this same exact splitter with the eArc and CEC , Have my Sonos Beam connected to the eARC port, my TV to the CES output port connected to the HDMI ARC on the TV , then plugged in my Apple TV 4K and my PS5, into the input ports on the splitter and have the EDIC on 4k7.1 it wants me to turn on Dolby vision but when I do the picture turns to shit cuz me tv does not have Dolby vision and I cannot get Dolby Atmos to work at all , it shows it’s enabled in the Apple TV settings now but when I go to Netflix app on Apple TV and look at audio format it does not show Dolby Atmos , just shows “multichannel” like it had always showed even before my sonos!
Hows the atmos performance with era 300, since it have firing up speakers, does it compensate for the lack of upfiring speaker in beam, do you feel the sound overhead? Is the overhead sound is unbalance?I have beam g2 + ikea bookshelf and I m thinking of upgrading to era 300 for atmos performance
The upfiring speakers are disabled on era 300 when In surround mode also Bluetooth is disabled in this mode - also any rear work for atmos you don’t need era 300 to achieve atmos a fact he is completely wrong on era 300 will play atmos spacial music as stand alone speakers but if you have arc or beam gen 2 they just become rear surrounds
@@andrewfuell3254 i bought a pair of era 300, the front speaker of era 300 is disabled not the upfiring speaker
No they are not. The center speaker is from what I've read. There is a video test with atmosphere on TH-cam and the up firing speakers work.
Upfiring speakers dont work
@@robertbuckley3480 its working, i already have the setup, the front speaker is one that is disabled
For that specific splitter that has 2 HDMI INs and 2 HDMI outs how do you have it connected ? I have an older sony tv that doesn’t have Atmos either , So the Sonos soundbar to the HDMI OUT2 labeled (EARC/ARC SOUNDBAR). and then the HDMI IN ports for the PlayStation or Apple TV ? What is the CEC TV OUTPUT port ? Does that need to go back to the tv ?
No offense but change the beam for an arc
Yeah the beam is junk lol
Got a friend with the big package from sonos. I didnt like how the arc sounds at all, tried a beam and think it have crispier and clearer sound
Beam 2 sounds better than the Arc
@@mcsun2628wrong
@@alebaler Those who think the Arc sounds better probably haven't heard them back to back. Beam 2 has a richer sound profile. Arc sounds anemic, but a bit wider sound stage.
Please cand you give me some advice in buying a surround wireless setup for my apartment. I want to place them in a 20m2 room(64m2 all apartment). I watch a lot of movie from netflix,hbo, and music from spotify premium, youtube. I dont want an overkill bass, or watt power just dolby atmos when i watch music or movies and good sound
arc+2 x era 300= 1600Euro in Romania
arc+ mini sub+ 2 x era 100 almost same price.1540E or
beam2+mini sub+2x era 300 for 1600e?
What do you recomend? Thanks a lot
Great video
I’m going that set up in my gaming/movie room
But going with the 900 and 2 subs
I do have to say I thought my gaming room was cool
But yours was s off the Hook! Wow I just subscribed so I’m going to see if you did any videos on your building project for your gaming room
Love the White look
I was going to do White Kef sound set up
But Sonos has some great reviews and for r way cheaper too
The Sonos is $4000 after taxes
Where the KEF set up would be $15k before taxes lol
I suggest getting 1 sub Gen 3 and 2 x Era 300’s to go with the Arc - a 2nd sub is just gravy if you’re a bass head. (The era 300’s and 100’s provide decent bass as well)
Kef is expensive but would ofcourse blow Sonos out of the water. Even the cheaper Kef setups. For similar priced setups Kef will still easily beat Sonos.
thank you for the review steven
well seems i got a christmas gift for me ;)
It was mine. Bit got the era 100s and 2 subs with an arc
Wich app are you using
Great review ! At what volume was Dune playing ? And i hear a lot of people saying that you can't hear the 300's as well as the Era 100 as surrounds. Especially because the centre speaker is disabled. (A choice of Sonos themselves)
That depends if it plays Dolby Atmos. The 100 don’t have Dolby so the sound is always on not “triggered” as the 300 for example when you hear bullets flying
I have a Samsung TV with Arc but not Earc. My main question and I may have missed it in the video but how do you control the sound if we are using a roku setup? Will the sonos volume only work with their app? will it work with the Samsung remote that came with the tv? This would be my first sonos setup and I will go with the Ultimate immersive arc with Era300 speakers and Gen3 sub
My tv remote amd fire stick remote paired right up
I have a TCL TV with android tv with ARC and no eARC port. I have a sonos setup with beam 2nd gen, sub mini and 2 one sl. The volume can be controlled from phone app, tv remote, apple tv remote or directly from any of the speaker.
The issue with my tv is that if the content is not dolby atmos, the surround speakers are disabled. If I stream any content from the phone the surround works perfectly. So only ARC port may have limitations
great video mate
what would you get sub mini with beam or arc only?
can you connect 4 era 300 ?
Yes
You can only do two Era 300 in a stereo pair. Sonos only allows you to add two rear surrounds within the Arc or Beam theater group w/ or w/o a sub. You can add up to 32 Sonos speakers to a group for whole house audio. You can put 4 Era 300s in the same room and group together for audio; but, you can't iphone Trueplay the 4 Era 300s.
Which eArc adaptors would be compatible?
how does it work without receiver ?
Arc is the receiver. It is just taking the HDMI eArc Atmos signal from the TV and used wi-fi to send it to the sub/surrounds.
damn thats a nice setup
Thanks!
Why didnt u get the arc ???
What kind of tv stand is that
How do you hide the wires :/
After testing new sonos, previous sonos speakers better than the new one. Generally Sonos don't sound that good for music in my opinion, for movies and games there are ok.
Agree. Sonos is not for music. For movies they are good. But in a mainstream kind of way. There are much better setups for home cinema. Sennheiser Ambeo Max with rear speakers and a sub would absolutely crush the arc with 2 era 300's and sonos sub.
Can you use the beam 2 with 2 sub minis?
No, the sub mini does not have the capability to do dual sub configuration.
Anyone have a problem with the era 100 cracking/static? If so, how was the issue resolved?
I don't
what tv do you have
Old chiq television 😂
nice video
does it passthrough 4k without delay ?
No 4K video, only the Dolby 5.1 or Atmos audio signal is passing through the HDMI eArc cable connected from your TV to the Arc or Beam Gen 2.
It's earc only there ,is no visual passthru
can you emulate atmos from stereo ?
No
If you have the era 300's you either need the beam or the arc to unlock atmos for movies. I would just get the beam and two era 300's.
I think the era 300's are better than the arc anyway so why spend like 2000 dollars??
The Arc alone and Era 300 single/stereo pairs work differently compared to being in a theater group. The center speaker for the Era 300 is disabled in a theater group, you can set the rear surrounds to Full or Ambient sound, you can TruePlay Era 300s with the sub/Arc to balance out all speakers, and the Arc/Beam soundbar will divide and send the bass/rear surround/left/right Center/Atmos audio to the right speakers as needed in a theater group.
Arc my friend. You are not really unlocking this setup’s true potential. Unless you are waiting for the new Arc. Not sure when that will come out though..
would stick to beam gen 2 and wait for the next arc. but that’s my opinion tho… 😂
does atmos work with ps5 ?
It does now updated😊
I think your room is too big for the beam or move closer with furniture sliders.
I love their products, just wish they weren't made in China.
Everything is made in China. China makes just as good Products as any other country nowadays. It's like Japan, in the old days you would get ridiculed for owning a japanese car or something, and nowadays it's a badge of quality/honor. I have Japanese knives for example, premium quality. Can't find the same quality anywhere in the west. But China is perfectly fine for quality builds. Nowadays it is. I mean, even your apple gets made in China.
dune 🤤
No comment on Sonos bricking their first speaker systems? Making them all worthless for anyone that paid for them. Didn't even just leave them as a BT speaker. Nope E-waste. None?
That is no different from Apple bricking older iPhones. Not a lot tech or even appliances around the house that will last over 10 years old now days because of rapid improvements.
@@mrgold3591 Appliances as a service. Automotive as a service. You will rent and be happy. Without right to repair, to own the stuff you purchase, you are paying full retail for a rental as it is. They are changing the social contract. Pray they don't alter it father. They are stealing from you from wages to taxes.
atmos works on non atmos content oO
Love sonos but its pricey... any alternative ?
Good thing about Sonos is you can mix, match, add speakers, and re-purpose replacement speakers depending on your needs, wants, listening environment, and budget. I started out with a Beam Gen 1a few years ago, later added two Symfonisk Bookshelf speakers a few months later, I added the Gen 3 Sub about a year later, and upgraded the Symfonisk rears to One SLs after X-mas. The old Symfonisk can be used for whole house audio.
Better buy avr+speakers for less price.. And it will knock these sonos out of the park
Soundwise? Sure, go with any dolby atmos hifi system, but you will always be spending thousands of bucks on those. Usability and simplicity wise? No. There is simply no other brand that makes adding to your setup as easy as Sonos. You can simply keep adding to your collection and always enhance it. You can sync up all of the devices and make it a multiroom setup too, then turn it into a fully fleshed out 5.1 dolby atmos setup the next second. They are really miles ahead of any other brand in the game right now. That also shows by how stable the value of sonos products stays over time. The beam and Arc still sell for almost the same price as when they were released, because this brand focuses on quality over quantity.
i have 9.2 setup much better
Which system ?
love your videos im jealous lol
this is never 7.1
It’s atmos ! Some things ofc virtual but it sounds good. Would just go for the arc !
Beam is 3.0 and 2x ERA 300 are 4.0.2 with sub Its 7.1.2
7.1.2 with era 300s 5.1.2 with 1s or 100s
Sonos is not for music. For movies they are good. But in a mainstream kind of way. There are much better setups for home cinema. Sennheiser Ambeo Max with rear speakers and a sub would absolutely crush the arc with 2 era 300's and sonos sub. Just an example.
DO NOT BUY- Good sound quality but difficult set up and connectivity issues. Wort thing is that after a couple of months the speakers will not connect to the app and you have to use the app to listen to any music. Just trashed over $1k in speakers and customer service did not respond for months after the 5 speakers I had bought had been in the landfill. Buy anything else that connects directly with Bluetooth.
I dont get why people buy this plastic litter these days and call it "Home Cinema".
You pay 3500 Euros for this Setup to have "Smart" Speakers that are not garanteed to run if sonos doesnt support them anymore.
Little plastic boxes with tiny drivers that give you the whole "sonos experience" for sure. But that has nothing to do with Home Cinema. "I only need one cable thats it" Wow i wonder how many cable you used for a traditional Loudspeaker.....
By the way you are able to buy much more reliable, better sounding, future proof setups for half of the price.
Stop buying this crap. Honestly.
What is Your proposition?
@@intonstudio578 Example: "Teufel System 5 THX Select 2" for about 1500 bucks + a lowclass Reciever for about 500 Bucks. Much much more capable than any of these Sonos peaces. So maybe it is a bit oversized already.
So you have something in a 2000 Bucks price range that blows your shoes off in a action movie. With 12 Years warranty. You decide how smart it is with the choice of the reciever that you can replace if needed later without to trash the whole system.
What i want to say is: "Home Cinema" is not that difficuild anymore. Recievers with automatic setup doing the job well enough to get a way better performance then this overpriced plastic boxes, that are trash as soon sonos decides it with the stop of software support.
half the price? okay tell us, especially me. coz i’ll go for it then!
@@SirMopy see my last comment.
@@Tyantreidesgive me a good idea for cheaper than the sonos setup. I'll take a serious look (yes i know sonos is not even close to being the best in audio world) it's just for fanboys mostly same with Apple.
throw everything away and buy a real HT set 😂 then you finally hear GREAT SOUND instead of low-end trash 😮
Why Beam instead of Arc?