There are certain brands whose name is enough to define their legacy and the quality of the products that they make. Sennheiser is one of them. Primarily known for making class-leading studio and live audio equipment, including headphones, speakers, and microphones, the brand has also been active in the consumer audio space. They recently came out with the Sennheiser AMBEO Soundbar Plus. The soundbar looks and feels premium from the get-go. However, only when I spent time with it I got to know whether it was worth its price tag of ₹1,19,990 (at the time of writing), or would it pale in comparison to the offerings by its competitors in the space like Sony, Yamaha, JBL, Sonos, and Samsung. Spoiler alert: It did live up to the expectations pretty much.
Sennheiser AMBEO Soundbar Plus – Build and Design
As mentioned above, the Sennehsier AMBEO Soundbar Plus impressed me right out of the box with its looks and build quality. The body of the bar is made primarily of plastic, with fabric covering the front of the bar and flowing into the top and bottom faces. You may have seen a lot of brands go with a metal and plastic combination in their bars, and that may lead you to believe that the finish of the AMBEO soundbar Plus is inferior. However, what Sennheiser has managed to achieve with a plastic and fabric combo is in no way inferior to the metal and plastic build sported by the competition.
There is a nice heft to the soundbar, and the feet are capable of keeping the soundbar in place even when I was blasting music at max volume. When compared to its competitors like the Sony HT-A7000 and the like, the Sennheiser AMBEO Soundbar Plus is both shorter and narrower, making it a perfect fit for small and constricted spaces. And, given its looks and overall design, it will also fit into most of the interior designs. And you should not have much to worry about with the sub-woofer as well.
Features, I/O, and Remote – Represent the brand well
In terms of features, I/O, and performance, the Sennheiser AMBEO Soundbar Plus is decked out with almost all the bells and whistles. You could reasonably ask for it. Let’s start off with the I/O. It has plenty, and almost all that you could ask for –
- HDMI 2.0 x2,
- HDMI eARC x1,
- Optical, and
- RCA line In
Being the gamers that we are, we would have loved the bar to have had a selection of higher standard HDMI ports here instead of 2.0, as this means that we cannot game at 4K resolution at 120Hz. However, what you have is plenty good for regular content and music consumption. For streaming over the air, you get – Apple AirPlay 2, Chromecast (Built-in), Spotify Connect, and Tidal Connect. There is not much to worry regarding latency issues in over-the-air data transmission as well. You are pretty much sorted here.
As for the app, you get the Smart Control app, which provides plenty of customisation for the soundbar. You can customise the sound, change the CODECs, set up room calibration, and most of what other apps have to offer in this realm. The on-bar controls and the remote are also plenty for you to play with and get things done with ease. The build quality of the remote as well is on par with what we saw with the sub-woofer and the soundbar. Coming to support for audio formats, you get – Dolby Atmos, DTS:X, LPCM, Dolby Digital Plus, Dolby True HD, Sony 360 Audio, and MPEG-H. That pretty much covers everything that you would want in day-to-day use. Now, let us move on to the performance.
Note – The review unit of the Sennheiser AMBEO Soundbar Plus was used with the Sennheiser AMBEO subwoofer for gathering data for this article.
Performance – Sennheiser AMBEO Soundbar Plus definitely delivers here
The Sennheiser AMBEO Soundbar Plus lives up to the legacy that comes with the Sennheiser name attached to the product. The bar itself does now have that much of an impact in the low frequencies, but throw in the sub-woofer, and you have a solid package at hand. The overall sound signature of the bar is leaning a bit towards being heavy in the highs, which means it will be great for movie consumption and for genres that require a lot of detail in that part of the frequency charts.
The stereo separation of the bar is also on point, and once the room correction has been implemented, there is very little to complain about. The soundstage of the bar is also wide enough to make viewing content from reasonable distances, an enjoyable and fulfilling experience. Also, you get great separation in the audio that comes to you. So, if you are watching concert replays, then you are in for a treat! The overall surround quality of the bar is no where close to what you would get out of an actual 5.1 speaker setup, however, the tradeoffs you make here, in my opinion are worth the saved space and hassle.
If you are someone who likes to play around with the EQs and different modes that these devices have on offer, then I would definitely recommend you do that on the Sennheiser AMBEO Soundbar Plus. You get a feature called AMBEO 3D, which allows you to configure the sound in three modes – Light, Regular, and Boost, and you also have the different EQ presets in the app, some of which include – Adaptive, Music, Movie, News, Neutral, and Sports. My personal favourite of the lot was a mix of Regular AMBEO 3D mode, and Adaptive EQ.
Should you buy the Sennheiser AMBEO Soundbar Plus?
Soundbars have seen increased competition over the years. With Sony, Sonos, and others coming in with all guns blazing, there is plenty to choose from. The Sennheiser AMBEO Soundbar Plus, makes for a great case for itself in this space. You get a complete and well-rounded package, with the brand ensuring that you get a decent selection of features in a robust package that delivers great performance, powering through almost everything that you throw at it. If you are looking for alternatives, I would suggest you look at the Sony HT-A7000 or the Sonos ARC. If you are willing to spend more money to get a beefier version of the AMBEO Soundbar Plus, then you can look at the Sennheiser AMBEO Soundbar Max as well!
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Satvik Pandey
Satvik Pandey, is a self-professed Steve Jobs (not Apple) fanboy, a science & tech writer, and a sports addict. At Digit, he works as a Deputy Features Editor, and manages the daily functioning of the magazine. He also reviews audio-products (speakers, headphones, soundbars, etc.), smartwatches, projectors, and everything else that he can get his hands on. A media and communications graduate, Satvik is also an avid shutterbug, and when he's not working or gaming, he can be found fiddling with any camera he can get his hands on and helping produce videos – which means he spends an awful amount of time in our studio. His game of choice is Counter-Strike, and he's still attempting to turn pro. He can talk your ear off about the game, and we'd strongly advise you to steer clear of the topic unless you too are a CS junkie. View Full Profile
