Atmos Bar None

THE COMPACTNESS and convenience that soundbars offer has always been appealing, but their actual sound has too often been a letdown. Many have failed to create an authentic sense of surround and most also require an external subwoofer to provide substantial bass. Sennheiser’s new Ambeo soundbar looks to buck that trend by delivering an immersive 5.1.4 surround experience while confidently eschewing a separate subwoofer. On paper, it looks to be the first soundbar designed to truly replace a standard home-theater surround setup. But does it deliver the goods?

FEATURES

With a hefty $2,500 price tag, equally hefty 40-pound weight, and a 50-inch-wide chassis, the Ambeo soundbar is a force to be reckoned with. It uses five 1-inch aluminum-dome tweeters, six 4-inch long-throw woofers, and two top-firing 3.5-inch full-range drivers, all powered by a 250 watts RMS (500 watts peak) amplifier. Sennheiser says that the 13 independent speakers are positioned throughout the chassis in a way that provides a more immersive experience—the angled edges feature two side-firing tweeters, for example.

All of the Ambeo’s connections are on the back panel, along with a stress-relief cable tie. Four HDMI 2.0a inputs compatible with HDR10, HLG, and Dolby Vision high dynamic range formats are provided, and one also