Sennheiser

Ambeo Plus Soundbar | Ambeo Sub

£1,299 | £649 respectively

Sennheiser’s Ambeo soundbar – now called the Ambeo Max – is a legend of the home audio world. With its massive speaker count, hulking design, incredible build quality and wall-cracking, foundation-wobbling levels of power, it is everything a home cinema fan could want from a single-component solution. The only problem is that it can be, well, a bit much – as in, there’s physically too much of it for some rooms or TV set ups to handle. Oh, and its meaty price is simply beyond the reach of many AV fans…

Happily, Sennheiser has come up with a potentially winning solution to these barriers to Ambeo entry, in the more diminutive shape of the Ambeo Plus. This boasts a much smaller, and less back-breaking form factor, and a substantially reduced price. Inevitably these compromises come with performance strings attached, which we’ll get into later. But it will ultimately be how well the Ambeo Plus holds up against similarly priced competition that matters, not how much it comes up short of the seminal Ambeo Max.

UP CLOSE

The Ambeo Plus really is much cuter – albeit much less macho – than the uncompromising Max. Its 1,050x77x121mm [WxHxD] proportions should fit comfortably underneath most of today’s TVs, while its elegantly rounded ends and the coarse felt covering that runs all the way along the front, around those arced ends and across part of the top edge, soften its look enough to make it a relaxing addition to your living room decor.

The grilles cover two up-firing main drivers and two up-firing bass drivers to the left and right sides of the top edge. A central portion features a black plastic panel featuring a few on-bar control buttons, as well as a strip of light that can change its colour to reflect current usage mode, or change its length to indicate volume levels or how far along firmware updates might be. Unfortunately, there’s no repeat of the light strip on the soundbar’s front, though, meaning you can’t see what’s happening when you’re sat down. In fact, a proper front-mounted LED might have been nice for the Ambeo Plus’s money.

Connectivity is good. Particularly nice to find is an HDMI pass-through system featuring two separate HDMI inputs. This enables the soundbar to function as a basic switching device and, more importantly, reduces the need for you to use your TV’s ARC-enabled HDMI port to pass sound out to the Ambeo Plus. The pass-through supports both Dolby Vision and HDR10+ HDR formats, as well as the more basic HDR10 and HLG options.

To be clear, the Ambeo Plus’s TV HDMI output does support eARC, meaning it can take in lossless Dolby Atmos sound from compatible TVs if you want it to. But eARC and ARC can cause lip-synchronisation audio problems with some setups, so I always strongly welcome a physical HDMI input/pass-through on any premium soundbar.

Having gone to the trouble of providing a double HDMI pass-through, though, it’s a pity (if not exactly a surprise given the soundbar world’s common limitations in this area) that the HDMIs only support the HDMI 2.0 standard. This means they can’t pass through the 4K/120Hz and variable refresh rate game graphics features now achievable from the PS5, Xbox Series X and premium PCs. So anyone wanting to enjoy these gaming features while playing game soundtracks through the Ambeo Plus will have to connect their gaming source directly to their TV and resort to eARC, after all.

Alongside the trio of HDMI ports in the Ambeo Plus’s connections bay is a powered USB port for running devices such as streaming sticks that need their own power sources, an optical audio input capable of handling sampling rates up to 192kHz, stereo RCA ports (you don’t find these on many soundbars these days), an Ethernet network port, and a phono subwoofer pre-out.

These physical connections are joined, inevitably, by support for Wi-Fi and Bluetooth (5.0 Classic). The wireless support accommodates a generous array of file formats and streaming systems, including Apple Airplay 2, Spotify Connect, Tidal Connect and Google Chromecast. Add the support for DTS:X, MPEG-H and Sony’s 360 Reality Audio platform, and there isn’t much the Ambeo Plus can’t handle.

The soundbar’s audio comes courtesy of a 9-speaker system, fed by a claimed 400W RMS of power from nine Class D amplifiers. The speakers comprise two four-inch cellulose cone bass drivers, and seven two-inch aluminium cone full-range drivers. This set up can cover a frequency range of 38Hz to 20kHz, which is impressive for such a moderately sized soundbar. However, it’s worth saying that the Ambeo Max can get all the way down to 30Hz.

Sennheiser sells an optional extra wireless subwoofer for the Ambeo Plus, the cunningly named Ambeo Sub, which we got in to test with the Plus soundbar. It’s a strikingly attractive item by subwoofer standards, thanks to its square tower shape, rounded corners, smooth but premium finish and unusual top-edge, upfiring driver placement. At 274x369x274mm [HxWxD], it’s also reasonably compact for a component capable of adding so much low-frequency oomph to proceedings. It has a long-throw 8-inch cellulose cone driver capable of operating across a claimed range of 27Hz to 80Hz, with 350W from its Class D amplifier.

GETTING GOING

After making a good first impression, the Ambeo Plus and Sub combination stumbled for me when it came to set up. For starters, the soundbar doesn’t ship with a remote control; instead, you have to rely mostly on a Sennheiser Smart Control app. Things started well with this app on my iPhone, as it found the soundbar right away once it was plugged in and then let me get the soundbar on my Wi-Fi network using Apple Wi-Fi sharing, saving me from having to manually input my router details and password. But then the app crashed, causing much frustration. I also found it impossible to wirelessly connect the sub to the soundbar, either through the in-app approach or using the button options on the two components. In the end, I had to connect the two physically, via the soundbar’s subwoofer pre-out.

Things got back on track with the Ambeo Plus’s excellent auto-calibration system. This combines four mics built into its bodywork with a series of test sounds to create a virtual 7.1.4 speaker system optimised for your room layout. Taking a couple of minutes to run this calibration feature really does improve the sound quality - so much so that I’d recommend that you re-run it any time you make even the smallest change to your room’s layout.

Other features available from the app include a variety of themed sound presets, a dynamic range-reducing night mode, a Voice Enhancement option for Christopher Nolan movies (…), the ability to access detailed information on the particular audio codec you’re playing, and something called an Ambeo mode. This is on by default, and can work with any sound format, even Dolby Atmos, to generate a larger, more dynamic sound stage. I’ll talk more about this setting later…

THE LISTENING

I started off listening to the Ambeo Plus with the Sub in tow and the Ambeo mode off, for a relatively ‘pure’ Dolby Atmos and DTS:X experience. And I was immediately blown away by how powerful and clean the system is for such a compact system. For starters, the sound is able to erupt outward from the main soundbar with enough force to create a soundstage big enough to fill even a pretty sizeable room. It does this, moreover, without sounding in the least bit strained, even at volumes far beyond anything your ears will be able to handle.

This demonstrates three things right away. First, the soundbar has more than enough power to keep up with and do justice to even the most extreme film soundtracks. Second, the drivers are built to handle much louder sounds than they really need to, without succumbing to even the slightest hint of distortion or harshness. This means in ‘real world’ listening terms, they have the headroom to handle regular listening volumes and sound mix transitions and escalations effortlessly. And third, the soundbar’s combination of actual sound channel steering and phantom channel processing is expert enough to distribute the soundbar’s raw power in all the right directions.

This latter point helps the Ambeo Plus create a proper three-dimensional soundstage that does much more justice to the object-based joys of Dolby Atmos and DTS:X mixes than the vast majority of one-bar or one-bar-plus-subwoofer soundbar packages manage. Placement effects really do seem to exist at the point in the 3D sound world where they’re supposed to be, rather than all just sounding like they’re emerging directly from the soundbar’s speakers.

The drive units seem sensitive enough to pick out even the subtlest of effects, but tough enough to ping out the sharpest, hardest or shrillest mix elements with excellent but never over-stated clarity. Sounds shift and surge around the soundstage with energy and accuracy, and the soundbar’s dynamic range is extreme enough to ensure that no part of the mix ever sounds compacted, muddy or hemmed in - even, to reiterate this point, at extreme volumes.

Another highlight is that voices are beautifully handled, sounding clear, clean and convincing, and well contextualised. By this, I mean that while they can always be clearly heard, no matter how much of a maelstrom might be going on behind them, they never sound shrill. Instead, they always seem like a natural part of whatever environment they’re appearing within.

The Ambeo Sub, meanwhile, gets plenty of potency out of its distinctive up-firing design, reaching bass depths comfortably beyond those achieved by the vast majority of both single-bar soundbars and soundbar-plus-subwoofer solutions. They even extend below what the Ambeo Max can do, in fact. Bass is nimble, adapting its depth and volumes tidily to the changing demands of a rich movie soundtrack, rather than just sounding like some generic rumble effect. And even though the Ambeo Sub is an optional extra, it crosses over with the deepest rumbles of the soundbar quite tightly, avoiding that sense of bagginess or a ‘gap’ in the bass extension you can get with some soundbar/subwoofer solutions.

My main complaint about the Ambeo Plus with Subwoofer combination with film soundtracks is that there isn’t really any sense of audio action going on behind the viewer, so arguably, you only get half of a true Dolby Atmos/DTS:X experience. But this is the same with all soundbars that ship without rear speakers. Presumably, if you’re interested in the Ambeo Plus you’re already decided that not having a rear soundstage is a compromise you’re willing to make to enjoy the most clutter-saving premium audio solution.

In another case of inevitable compromise, while the addition of the Ambeo Sub does see the package returning even deeper, more present bass than you get from the Ambeo Max, the rest of the soundstage produced by the Plus isn’t quite as forceful, epically large or truly full-blooded as that produced by Sennheiser’s bigger Ambeo option. But again, this is absolutely to be expected, and within the context of its completely different price tier, the Ambeo Plus actually sounds unusually powerful, dynamic and clean.

My final quibble is that the subwoofer’s sound isn’t quite as non-directional as it ideally would be, and this sometimes makes you aware that the bass is coming from a specific point in the room rather than just sounding like a generalised foundation for the rest of the audio action. Turning on the Ambeo mode makes a substantial difference to the Ambeo Plus sound. The soundstage becomes even bigger, the dynamic range opens up even more, and there’s a noticeable expansion in the weight that ambient effects and scoring enjoy in the mix. The extra width and height with Ambeo mode active is particularly enticing. It makes the soundstage even more immersive and makes you even less aware that all this spectacular sound you hear is coming from that long slender box lying under your telly.

The clarity and verticality of the height effects in Ambeo mode draws much more attention to the two up-firing drivers situated in the Plus’s top edge. I even felt as if the soundstage was starting to stretch at least down the sides of my seating position with Ambeo mode on, even if it still stopped short of putting any sounds behind me. There are a trio of niggles with the Ambeo mode, though…

First, dialogue can sound less convincing. This is partly because male voices occasionally become a bit too ‘thick’ and dominant, and partly because something about the processing makes vocals sound as if they’re more trapped inside the soundbar – and therefore emanating from below the screen – than they do with Ambeo Mode off. Second, while the Ambeo mode’s soundstage is bigger, it doesn’t feel quite as accurate in its effects placement and transitions. There’s something a touch more general about its sound – even though, at first listen, its extra aggression and scale sounds more exciting and cinematic. Finally, the Ambeo mode can make very loud high-frequency information sound a touch harsher than in the soundbar’s standard playback modes.

However, none of these issues even get close to stopping the Ambeo mode from still sounding supremely powerful and engaging by single-bar soundbar standards. So it is a genuinely useful scale-bumping alternative to standard playback. And I’m always in favour of AV devices giving consumers more choice.

Removing the Ambeo Sub from the Ambeo Plus proves interesting. On the one hand, you instantly notice and miss the Sub’s substantial bass input. That extra cinematic level of rumble isn’t there any more – and certainly reveals the biggest single difference between the Ambeo Plus and the ultra-beefy Ambeo Max. This reduction in low-frequency extension also leaves the most shrill moments of very dense scenes sounding a little too dominant. On the other hand, the Ambeo Plus’s dynamic range is still huge by single soundbar standards, and the internally produced bass is actually slightly tighter with its timing to the rest of the mix than the Ambeo Sub’s bass is.

Overall, given the choice and financial wherewithal, I would very much lean towards adding the Ambeo subwoofer. But if you’d rather spread out your costs and buy the system in two stages, you certainly don’t have to worry about the Plus soundbar not being able capable by itself of bringing your movies to life like precious few other single-bar solutions can.

The Ambeo Plus proves as fantastically powerful, assured and sensitive with music as it is with movies. Vocals of all tones and types are immaculately staged and ultra clean. Bass is rich and punchy when required without becoming too dominant, and timing is good – regardless of whether you’ve got the Ambeo Sub in play or not. Dense string arrangements and layered guitars and synths ebb and swell with power and scale, but again without losing their correct weight within the overall mix. Small musical details are cleanly presented but never sound over-exposed, and despite the muscle the system displays with movies, there’s a warmth and finesse to its musical presentation with all genres that gives it a genuine hi-fi sensibility.

THE VERDICT

Sennheiser’s bid to bring its Ambeo soundbars to a wider audience is for the most part, a rip-roaring success. While my experience with the Sennheiser’s control app might have been frustrating, it’s seriously hard to remain mad for any length of time at a soundbar that delivers as scintillating and profound a combination of power, clarity, scale and dynamism as the Ambeo Plus. Especially when that soundbar offers an upgrade path as well-matched and effective as the Ambeo Sub. There will always be a special place in our hearts for the Ambeo Max, but there’s also now a much more manageable place in our wallets, and under our TVs, for the Ambeo Plus.

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