Sennheiser - Ambeo Soundbar

The Ambeo is not tiny at all. You can also add any sub you want if you want more bass.

Q990D is the most affordable option among the high end soundbars. I would say go for it, and your room size is likely not too small for a soundbar system like that (as soundbars are mostly designed for smaller spaces). I have had $2500 soundbar systems like the Ambeo and Sony Quad with my good ol’ LG C1. It’s not uncommon for sound systems to be more expensive than the TV (though for me the TV was more expensive since it’s an 83’’)

Forget Sony. The question that really arises is Sonos Arc Ultra or Ambeo Plus? I have the opportunity to listen to both (I have the arc ultra + era300 in surround at home). The ambeo is better than the arc ultra in bar alone and in a small room, however impossible to add surround, and that clearly makes the difference! That's why I went to Sonos and I don't regret it at all!

I have the arc ultra and sounds great with the bar alone. I plan to add a sub later on. I also tested out the Ambeo Plus bar alone and it sounds quite rich in clarity. I was close to buying it instead.

Definitely haven't seen any other soundbars that use a crossover of 150hz or higher. The majority are set between 60-100hz. Sonos arc on its own plays down to 55hz, the ultra goes down to 45hz. Ambeo plus will do 55hz, Ambeo max 30hz. Bravia 8/9 55hz, Bravia quads 50hz. Bose bars will do 50hz, Hisense bars 50hz etc. The lowest one of the lot is the Devialet Dione which does 24hz and one of the bars you could potentially get away without a subwoofer, although a separate one will always be miles better. Ideally you wouldn't want to go above 120hz on a subwoofer as it starts to become too localised when you go above it. Obviously running dual subs or more will help correct this which 150hz then wouldn't be a problem. Anything much higher though are you are going to end up getting sounds coming out of the subs which ideally should be coming out of the soundbar/speakers instead. Placement is also key and can make all the difference, so get on those knees and do the sub crawl if you don't have any room correction software / software built directly into the subs themselves 😅

One of the biggest mistake most audiophiles made of switching traditional speakers setup to soundbar is the room acoustics, for traditional speakers system we will have some sound absorbing materials at the walls and it’s good for minimizing sound reflection, BUT in soundbar world it’s totally another way, we need to have walls to bounce the sound for creating surround effect, keep this in mind and you will have a amazing soundbar experience. My recommendation is if you have an ideal room for sound bouncing then Ambeo Max is the soundbar to go, Ambeo Plus sound much thinner like a normal soundbar do, although it’s still sounds better than many other soundbars, the Max just sounds like hifi speakers due to the driver size, it’s physic things than can’t beat. Q990D is good for movie, big sound, big bubble, but the problem is they put all the drivers in the same box without isolating them, do not expect a good sound quality from this design, it will never be.

I have an Ambeo Plus and the rears now seem essential to me. I had a 5.1 before and I'm starting to regret not having taken an HC amp (like Denon 3800) and wireless speakers because the surround and Atmos effects are very limited and are felt especially when pushing the volume, I think.

I’ve got an Ambeo Plus with the wireless Ambeo Subwoofer in an apartment, like 12x18 living space with real high ceilings, that opens directly into a large kitchen. It’s bonkers loud and easily the best speakers setup I’ve ever owned. I’m not about to be running rears and stuff in a rental; the Ambeo surround does a fantastic job at simulating a multi-speaker surround setup. I regret nothing (except for having to tinker with audio path issue with my A95L that is solved now) and am super happy.

I received the ambeo today. It is fine, I wasn’t blown away. The Bravia is coming tomorrow. Am I missing out on a third option? Sonos?

I’m $990 all in on the ambeo. Open box. Great condition and it doesn’t even look like it was hooked up. Around $1500 for the arc plus and sub 4. So, yeah. Not as close as I made it out to be.

The Ambeo Plus + Ambeo Subwoofer I had kept having audio output issues after switching sources. Was really frustrating having to unplug and plug back in to reset the soundbar to make noise again. Returned it within the 30-day window and moved on to Sonos.

Of the soundbars I've experienced, I think the Sennheiser Ambeo bars are the absolute KING of sound quality. I had a demo of the Ambeo Plus & it absolutely blew me away!! The soundstage was very impressive & the detail in the audio was literally like nothing else I've experienced! & You can run up to 4 of the Ambeo 8" subwoofers with it! It's a steep price tag but it's honestly the only soundbar I can say I think is worth every penny!!

Strictly sound wise the Ambeo is miles ahead, I only got a demo in Best Buy but I got a demo and it definitely sounds amazing, better than the Beam 2 & even the Arc. However I have read a ton of issues with Sennheiser like HDMI-CEC issues, apparently overheating issues too, who knows what else. So that alone makes me unfortunately skip Sennheiser, hopefully they release a new soundbar soon cause I guarantee it's going to be amazing! If you are mainly a music listener and are okay with not having the ability to connect to the TV for a little while, I would recommend starting with the Era 100's + sub mini, then getting the Arc (or Arc ultra if you want) when you can afford it. I say this because I started with Sonos with my Beam 2 + Sub Mini setup. I eventually bought 1 Era 100 open box to test it and it sounded absolutely incredible! Few days later I grabbed a 2nd one and ran 2 Era 100's in stereo + Sub Mini. It was an absolutely amazing system for music!! And the fact that 2 Era 100's was the same price as the Beam 2, and had such a different and better sound was just shocking. With that discovery I started trying to find an Arc but I will admit I was nervous from my experience with the Beam. However it was definitely not disappointing and I felt worth the price (I got mine open box so it was a bit cheaper). It blew my mind how much better the difference between the Sonos Beam 2 and Arc. The Arc + Era 100's + Sub Mini was such a solid & balanced system. Or another route I would go is with Bose. I had the Bose Smart 600 (which is now the Bose Smart Soundbar) + BM700. This system was a little brighter, cleaner & more detailed than the Arc was. The subwoofer was a fuckin monster!! Very deep bass, extreme amount of power available. Hell I miss that set up to this day and that was over a year ago, but I made money off it since I bought everything open box and resold it for more. One last option I'd suggest looking into is the new Marshal Heston 120 + Heston Sub. It looks absolutely incredible and It's currently my pick for my next soundbar system if I end up choosing to upgrade from my Flexus Core system. I think it has humongous potential to be a top tier soundbar. I'm waiting for more reviews to come out (specifically NeverEnoughTech) before selling my setup and committing to that Marshal system, but it's more than likely going to happen. Sorry for writing a huge essay but I get very thorough with soundbar/speaker talk 😂

Ambeo plus, you probably will not even need a sub with that, but its sound is so room filling and has much more customisation that lets you tune it to your room and taste. For example 6 different profiles to choose from, a 4 band EQ for each profile and 3 levels of the Ambeo enhancement to choose from.

cc@Samsung also has a bug where if you are listening to a playlist which has some atmos and some non-atmos songs, when an atmos song comes on, volume will drop by about 50 percent. Changing volumes all the time does drive me nuts. I am thinking of replacing it with a Ambeo plus, because I don't have rears in my second living room where I have an ambeo and don't miss the rears most of the time.

Oh wow so a smallish room. Either one will do fine. I haven’t heard soundstage yet but arc ultra and plus yes. I’d give the ultra the edge in terms of bass compared to ambeo. But Ambeo does provide better clarity and sonic sound. Soundstage I heard has good bass as well and and great overall soundstage. Youre just paying a bunch of more for the name. I really think you’ll enjoy the ambeo out of all of them. It’s a super fun soundbar and it’s on the smaller side in terms of dimensions

Go for Sonos, Arc Ultra or Ambeo Plus. thats the best sound any sound bar can produce. I would strictly advice against Q990D/F they are trash when it comes to sound quality.

I’ve had the sennheiser ambeo, Bose smart ultra, and the Samsung q800, in that order. First two were returned for connectivity issues with my newish Samsung tv. The q800 has been great (the ambeo probably had the best surround but only if it connected). Q symphony is amazing. With the first two bars, you could clearly tell the sound was coming from below the TV… q symphony fixes that completely. And the subwoofer is amazing.

I have the bigger brother of the Mini and it does provide a high degree of clarity. One of the reasons I bought it was the fact that I can add a third party subwoofer. Also, note that the surround effect isn't as encompassing as a full fledged 5.1.2/7.1.4 system. This'll work best in a smaller room that doesn't have vaulted ceilings.

Gotta be the Arc Ultra or the Ambeo if that's what you're looking for. Arc Ultra gets pretty low - i think 40hz by itself.

The ambeo sounds better than the beam but the ambeo doesn’t have rear speakers and that’s why the beam and 100s will sound better!

Hey folks, curious about this soundbar. I currently have an Ambeo, as it seemed the best at the time, and my living room is very limiting in terms of space and placement. I cannot really install individual speakers, and even the space for the soundbar is quite limited. I've seen some mixed feedback on XIO vs Ambeo, and I'm not convinced it's worth the switch. I was hoping to revive the living space by better quality music reproduction. One grudge I have with Ambeo is that sometimes it freezes and doesn't allow streaming until I unplug from mains and back. I use Kef reference 1 in my office/listening room, and I find them some of the best, so I'm a bit drawn to the brand. With movies I almost always listen on minimal volume not to disturb my kids sleeping, so I don't realize the potential of Ambeo. Do you think switching ambeo to XIO could bring some benefits, especially for stereo music?

I went to the local hifi store and had a chat about this with the owner. He bluntly said that Ambeo is hard to beat, the devialet in his opinion is worse, but he didn't get the chance to listen to XIO. So I made up my mind to keep Ambeo until I move to a place with a well sized living room that accommodates proper speakers:)

If music is your main concern I’d recommend maybe a 2.1 system over a soundbar. If you really want a soundbar then Sonos arc ultra or a ambeo is probably better than the Samsung. Samsung would be a better choice for movies / tv but lack in the music area

When it comes to sound quality, the Ambeo and Panorama (1 and 2) are close—both are excellent. As mentioned, the Ambeo has a lot of extra features. This is both good and bad—you need to download an app just to use it, which personally drives me crazy. That said, the Ambeo is the best all-around soundbar you can buy. Its bass output is outstanding—it’s the only soundbar I’ve ever heard that can match the Panorama 1 in that regard. You genuinely don’t need a subwoofer. The Panorama 2’s bass output is also very good, but it’s not on the same level as the 1.

Sennheiser Ambeo. Has largest speakers of any sound bar, giving out the best high quality full sound.

I used to have a 7.2 surround sound system. The ambeo is less surround but the audio quality is superior especially with dialogue. Wish they’d release rear speakers.

Rtings test environments and processes aren’t very representative of real world scenarios imo so I take everything with a pinch of salt. Their Sennheiser Ambeo review is evidence of this, having owned one I can say it’s hands down a beast of a sound bar but Rtings weren’t overly high on it. They seem to take joy in knocking systems down that don’t come with Rears and Subs too, which is a joke as there’s a massive market for people who just want an all-in-one solution. Comparing a standalone bar to a package is monumentally stupid.

Have you heard either of the Sennheiser products? They are superb and their AMBEO technology is seriously impressive, you would believe there were speakers all over your room. If the sound bar has enough speakers and woofers, it can definitely produce some good Atmos height effects but they often struggle with rear effects.

I first tried Ambeo, but I wanted rear speakers and sub so went with the Samsung flag ship; very good. But the Ambeo was ridiculously impressive as a bar alone. There is a high end coming out this year, but can’t remember which manufacturer. Also super interested in the Sony quad but haven’t listened to them

I have the Sony HT-A9 with the sub and it's been amazing. Had the sonos arc and one's as surrounds, and a sub; also tried Ambeo that shit is massive but excellent also. Ultimately went with the Sony since my partner wanted to be able to play Bluetooth occasionally and didn't wanna tinker with having to download sonos app, etc. I had a Samsung HW-Q950A too but ultimately resold it, and had intentions of trying Nakamichi but returned it unopened and stuck with HT-A9. Occasional glitches like once every 6 months if that so have to run the Optimizer stuff. I've loooved it! Going on 3 yrs now having mine. The price went down some, and just keep an eye on bestbuy open box for the sub, i got the SA-W5.

I recently experienced the sennheiser ambeo and sennheiser ambeo mini. Though above that price range they both are amazing.

It lacks DTS support, therefore I would prefer the Ambeo