if you're looking at all the new dolby atmos soundbars on the market but you
like keeping your home entertainment area clean and simple
then sennheiser has something special that doesn't compromise on the high-end audio
experience today's review is on the sennheiser
ambeo soundbar a complete end-to-end system that delivers amazing dolby atmos
surround sound from an all-in-one design that's super
easy to use and convenient to set up if you want to read more about the ambeo
be sure to click on the link in the description to be taken to the full
written review on audioadvice.com along with this review you'll find
hundreds of other reviews comparisons buyer's guides and much more now let's
get started
to get the full 3d experience that dolby atmos has to offer
the speakers have to steer sound all around you and when it's done right the
effect is amazing we believe dolby atmos is one of the
most revolutionary technologies in audio since surround sound was invented back
in the 1980s and now that movie streaming services
like netflix are more popular than ever we're really excited about all the new
movies and tv shows that are encoded with dolby
atmos and also all the new performance soundbars that can present it
in fact this high performance soundbar is named after sennheiser's very
ambitious ambeo project the ambeo program is
sennheiser's platform behind the scenes which equips recording engineers
mastering engineers videographers and vr developers
with unique tools for 3d audio applications and realistic virtual
reality experiences when sennheiser engineered the
technology for the ambeo it held nothing back
to create the 3d dolby atmos surround sound experience from a single soundbar
sennheiser employs the latest virtualization technology
that captures the unique characteristics of your environment
for a more spacious experience then ambeo uses that acoustic information to
reconstruct a virtual surround sound insulation
right here in your room the ambeo is designed to sit under your tv
you could purchase the optional wall bracket for a nice clean professional
look but i think most people will probably
position this right under their tv on a piece of furniture it comes in a
dark gray brushed aluminum finish with a large
black grille that will look great under most tvs the
bar spans about 50 inches long 5.3 inches tall
and 6.7 inches deep so visually the ambeo is a real statement piece
especially for tvs that are 55 inches or wider
on the front panel there's a microphone input an easy-to-read graphic oled
display a status led light and finally another
led light on the far right side of the bar that will illuminate the ambeo logo
when sennheiser's special 3d technology is active
the underside of the unit is where all the inputs and outputs are tucked away
from left to right the inputs and outputs are a power connection
a usb port for firmware updates an ethernet port
one hdmi e-arc output labeled hdmi tv three hdmi inputs and an optical toslink
input a single rca pre-out for connecting a
powered subwoofer and a pair of analog rca jacks that will
accept an input from either a cd player or a legacy stereo system
there's even an adjustable cable management band that will tuck your
wires away behind the bar and keep them stowed in place
on top of the unit seven push buttons will allow you to raise
lower and mute the volume there is also a special 3d
ambeo button a multi-function button and source select button
and a power button in the box sennheiser includes an impressive microphone for
calibrating the sound bar with your room a power cable is also included and an
hdmi cable and a remote that feels solid and
comfortable in the hands the engineers pulled out all the stops
with some very impressive speaker drivers inside the ambeo
behind the grill there are 13 large high performance drivers
these are independent high-end drivers that work with seinheiser's advanced
ambeo technology to create the experience of a virtual speaker system
all around your room nine front facing speakers provide the left
center and right channels for room filling sound while two speakers on the
sides provide the rear channels that will fire sound all around you
two height channel speakers on top of the bar fire sound upward
for that top to bottom sense of vertical elevation in the sound field
it's important to note that while there is an output to connect a sub you really
don't need to buy one for this soundbar this sleek all-in-one design is capable
of reproducing extreme bass all on its own this gives
you 5.1.4 channels of dolby atmos and dtsx
3d surround sound plus a single channel for sub bass
frequencies all coming out of just the ambeo
while the bass coming out of this is impressive and immersive
if you're a bass junkie or if you just prefer even more
bone crunching low end that goes lower than 30 hertz
then you can add a subwoofer to this system if you already have one just
connect it to the ambeo's pre-out although i think the 30 hertz base
coming out of the ambeo is just as exhilarating as going to the movies
setting up the ambeo is about as simple as it gets sennheiser includes an
impressive microphone for calibrating the soundbar with your room
i connected the included microphone into the mic input on the front panel and
positioned the mic across the room into my seating position
i appreciated seeing the long length of the cable that sennheiser also provided
with this high quality microphone system i also liked how the oled display
provided helpful instructions during the initial setup after powering
on the unit the ambeo's oled screen greeted me with clear
instructions that walked me through the entire process
this made the advanced calibration process extremely quick and easy to set
up in just five minutes i was done getting
the sennheiser smart control app connected with the ambeo was also a breeze
all i had to do to initialize the connection was follow a few simple steps
and the smart control app completely walked me through the handshake process
once connected i was up and running using my phone to tweak the sound
and save my customizable eq presets right from within the app
another great feature about the ambeo is that it now supports the newer enhanced
version of hdmi arc known as e-arc e-arc is a new
technology with higher bandwidth that allows true
dolby atmos to be transmitted out to compatible devices
with just a quick software update using the sennheiser smart control app
the ambeo is ready for the future even though my tv was older
and did not have e-arc i liked the way the connections let me plug in the apple
tv directly to get atmos this also allows you to control
the ambeo with your tvs remote which means no more fumbling around with
multiple remotes just perform simple operations like raising and
lowering volume if you have a newer tv most will support
hdmi arc these days so all you'll have to do is
make the connection i really enjoyed using this feature with the siri remote
that comes with the apple tv so i could just give voice commands with apple's
popular voice assistant i tested the ambeo right here in this
living room which is a pretty typical room
with nine foot ceilings first i demoed the ambeo with an optical output
from the tv to the soundbar which does not present dolby atmos
even without atmos this soundbar presents great
room filling sound and big bass then i made the necessary connections to
experience the full dolby atmos effect without a subwoofer
even though i was already impressed with the deep 30 hertz bass coming out of
the ambeo just by itself i connected a sub to it for comparison i
chose a scene from season 1 chapter 1 of the mandalorian if
you fast forward about 30 minutes and there's a great battle scene with ray
guns firing shots from all directions we know from talking with our customers
that people want better sound than their tv speakers can provide
however not everyone has the space for an entire system of separate speakers
and a home theater receiver the sennheiser ambeo can deliver
impressive performance without having to spend more money
on additional speakers or a subwoofer the ambeo
is an all-in-one surround sound system that will make immersive high-end sound
simple and convenient i think it does an amazing job of recreating the experience
of a complete surround sound installation without having to wire your
entire room at its price point the ambeo doesn't
appear to be priced for those on a budget
at first but when you consider the cost of adding the surrounds
rears and a sub to present this level of 3d immersion with other atmos soundbars
the sennheiser ambeo packs in a lot of value and performance into a single
device if you want the best performance
available for both cinema and music in an all-in-one sophisticated
device the technology and the immersive sound
coming out of the ambeo is hard to beat for less than twenty five hundred
dollars it's one of the most impressive sounding soundbars
i've ever seen adding any soundbar to your tv watching
from movies shows sports or music adds so much to the experience
but the ambeo is special if you have any questions
regarding this high performance soundbar or any other home audio or home theater
gear be sure to give us a call chat with one
of our experts at audioadvice.com or stop into one of our raleigh or
charlotte north carolina locations thanks for watching if you've enjoyed
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