Effortless Immersive Sound Experience
The Sennheiser AMBEO delivers weight and impact to your aural senses
The Sennheiser AMBEO Soundbar series are heavyweights for your home cinema experience. From the moment I received the review units to the setting up, the Soundbar Plus and the optional Sub impressed me with their heft and density. After all, the Soundbar Plus is fitted with seven full-range speakers and two woofers. Even the remote control feels unusually weighted.
With the built-in calibration feature, it is easy to adjust the soundbar to suit any room condition, although there are some recommendations illustrated in the instruction manual. During calibration, the room must be silent with no ambient noises, or else the process will stop halfway.
Using the Sennheiser smartphone app, you can easily manage the Soundbar source inputs, adjust EQ, and update the firmware. The touch buttons on the soundbar are alternative ways to adjust controls if you don’t have your smartphone or remote control within reach. There is no power switch on the soundbar, but it will go on standby after a while when no audio activity is detected.
The Soundbar Plus has a good list of connectivity options, including Bluetooth, Chromecast, Spotify Connect, Apple AirPlay 2, Optical-In, AUX-In, HDMI 2.0a, and eARC HDMI 2.1. It is natively compatible with Dolby Atmos, DTS:X, MPEG-H, and 360 Reality Audio. Content piped through the Soundbar Plus will be treated with the AMBEO virtualization technology that recreates the 7.1.4 home theatre system and immerses you in your favourite music or movies.
The Soundbar Plus is best enjoyed at high volumes and guarantees to impress everyone in the room. Playing the right multi-channel content will produce the audio effect where the sound appears to come from all around the room. All the audio information from the dialogue and the soundtrack to the sound effects are clear and layered without sounding cluttered.
The woofers from the Soundbar Plus generate clean bass but lack the more raw-sounding rumbles, so you might want to add the AMBEO Sub which connects via LC3 low latency codec. Even so, playing at the default setting does not exaggerate the sub-bass, but it achieves better sub-bass presence. If one is not enough, the Soundbar Plus system supports up to four subwoofers.
Rating: 4/5
We Say: An astounding combo to deliver a cinematic experience to your humble abode.
AMBEO Soundbar Plus: S$2,299
AMBEO Sub: S$1,099
AMBEO Soundbar Plus+Sub Bundle: S$3,098
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AMBEO Soundbar Plus
Technical Specifications
Audio Processor Quad-core 1.8GHz SOC
Driver 7x 2-inch aluminium cone full-range speakers, 2x 4-inch Cellulose Cone Woofer
Total Audio Power 400W (RMS)
Frequency Response 38 – 20,000 Hz
Connectivity Bluetooth 5.0, WiFi 2.4/5GHz 802.11a/b/g/n/ac/ax, 2x HDMI 2.0a, 1x HDMI eARC (2.1), 1x RCA, 1x S/PDIF, 1x USB, 1x RJ-45
Bluetooth Codecs SBC, AAC
Dimensions 1051 x 121 x 7 mm
Weight 6.3kg
AMBEO Sub
Technical Specifications
Audio Processor Dual-core SOC
Driver 1x long throw 8-inch Cellulose Cone Driver
Total Audio Power 350W (RMS)
Frequency Response 27 – 80Hz
Connectivity Bluetooth 5.2 BLE, 1x mono RCA
Dimensions 274 x 274 x 369 mm
Weight 8.2 kg
