Sennheiser's Ambeo Soundbar Plus is much cheaper than the original Ambeo... - What Hi-Fi?

In a surprise to practically no-one, Sennheiser has finally officially announced its new Ambeo soundbar – the Ambeo Soundbar Plus.

The 'Plus' in the name could be a bit misleading, because the new soundbar is actually significantly smaller and cheaper than the original Ambeo soundbar. To address the potential confusion, the original Ambeo soundbar has been renamed Ambeo Soundbar Max. 

Despite the Ambeo Soundbar Plus's comparatively compact dimensions, it manages to pack in a 7.1.4 sound system. In fact, Sennheiser claims it is the world's first 7.1.4 standalone soundbar – i.e. one that doesn't rely on a separate subwoofer or satellite speakers in order complete its channel count.

(Image credit: Sennheiser)

As you can see in the exploded diagram above, the Ambeo Soundbar Plus has three forward-facing drivers, a side-firing driver at each of its ends, two up-firing drivers and two up-firing woofers. If you're wondering how that equates to 7.1.4, you're not alone. That's a question we're going to put to Sennheiser later today.

Sennheiser has said that the Ambeo Soundbar Plus uses the same 3D sound processing as the original Ambeo, and Dolby Atmos, DTS:X and 360 Reality Audio are all supported. The Self-Calibration feature that's designed to optimise the soundbar's sound to your room is also included.

As expected, AirPlay 2, Spotify Connect, Tidal Connect and Chromecast are all built in, as is support for Alexa and Siri. Sennheiser hasn't yet detailed the Ambeo Soundbar Plus' physical connections. We're hoping for HDMI 2.1 pass-through, but that's something we'll be checking with Sennheiser just as soon as possible.

What we do know is the price: £1299 / $1500 / AU$2400. That makes it vastly more affordable than the Ambeo Soundbar Max, which is currently £2199 / $2500 / AU$4000, but it's still much more expensive than the Sonos Arc (£769 / $899 / AU$1499). We'll obviously be comparing the new Ambeo Soundbar Plus to its larger sibling and its Sonos and Sony rivals just as soon as we have access to a review sample.

MORE:

IFA 2022 news and highlights: Dolby Atmos soundbars, crazy projectors, Bluetooth subwoofers and more

Check out our list of the best Dolby Atmos soundbars you can buy

The one to beat: here's our Sonos Arc review

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2022-09-01 17:00:00Z
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