Ambeo Soundbar Plus review: A new crown for the Sennheiser king

Given the absolutely amazing performance that the Ambeo Soundbar Max can do, the Ambeo Soundbar Plus had a lot to do to surprise us. The challenge, so to speak, is tackled brilliantly because this bar surprises with its width homogeneity, its bass depth, its stunning precision and, above all, its still breathtaking spatiality.

For compactness, the Ambeo Soundbar Plus is more economical in terms of speakers than its big sister since it has “only” 9 compared to 13 on the Ambeo Soundbar Max. Thus there are seven 2″ (about 5 cm) tweeters arranged at the front, on the sides and above, as well as two 4″ (about 10 cm) tweeters positioned at the top to reproduce bass.

In the simplest listening mode (Ambeo virtualization deactivated, Neutral mode activated), the tape is simply perfect, both in terms of accuracy and balance of sound presentation. First of all, the Ambeo Soundbar Plus demonstrates good extension as well as good bass control, even when there is no subwoofer far away. These are never overflowing, and we appreciate the subtlety of effects, explosions, and instruments, such as big beats or synthesizer pads. The middles, like the highs, are also fair. The high-mids retract slightly, providing a soft, warm presentation capable of elevating both musical and cinematic content. Thus, the tape is never aggressive in its reproduction of timbre, even at a constant volume. The highs are subtly boosted, letting you take advantage of the room’s effects as they should. The sound stage is also wide, although there is a bit of forwardness and dynamics.

The tape has five other modes: Cinema, Music, News, Sports, and an adaptive mode that adapts in real time to the content being played by the tape. This results in very minor changes when Ambeo virtualization is disabled. For example, Cinema mode brings a slight boost in bass while Music mode gives more life to the show by bumping the high-mids up a bit. The sound enhancement mode is fairly well thought out, as it increases the level of human voices without distorting the sound reproduction too much. However, this situation should still be avoided in musical content.

To take full advantage of tape performance on content mixed with 5.1, 7.1, or 3D, Ambeo Surround Virtualization must be activated. The sound stage is then completely redesigned: side effects and height extend far beyond the physical limits of the tape and can almost envelop the listener in a particularly immersive sonic bubble. Airplanes or helicopters really give the impression of flying over our heads, and gunshots are reproduced with incredible accuracy of realism. The calibration system helps a lot to get this view. The tape also does a very good job of mixing 5.1 and 3D upmixing and even stereo sources. an upmix that should be avoided when listening to music so as not to distort the sound reproduction too much.