REPRODUCED FROM W HATHI-FI?
VERDICT It's easy to see the Am beo Plus as a scaled-back relative to the Am beo M ax–it'ssm aler,tam erand is justam uch m ore typicalsoundbaroveral.However, it stil feels like an Am beo device,as Sennheiser hasn’t sacrificed the spacious and grand presentation asacom prom ise. There isundoubtedly tough com petition from Sony and Sonoshere,with the HT-A7000 justedging the Am beo out,butit'sso close – to the pointthatthe Am beo Plus provides a welcom e alternative to the Sony.TheSonosArcisalso agreatchoiceand isalot cheaper,but the Sennheiser dwarfs it in term s of connectivity and feels like a m ore fuly-featured soundbaroveral. The nam e Am beo Plus is the only truly confusing aspectofthisdevice,asitsuggeststhatthisisthe step-up from anotherAm beo soundbaryetit’sonly thisand the M ax in the lineup.So,could we see an even cheaperSennheiserAm beo soundbaron the horizon?Itcertainlyseem spos ible. In the here and now,though,ifyou wanta Dolby Atm os soundbar that creates a vast room -filing sound from a com pactchas is,the Am beo Plushas to go on yourshortlist.
punching through with clarity as wel as feeling appropriately placed ac ording to theirposition on-screen. It's when we get to the infam ous “Interlinked” baseline interview thatthe Am beo m ode seem s to struggle som ewhat,with the spacious sound feature not suiting the smaler-scale conversational scene. Admitedly, the interviewer’svoice isintended to be com ing from aspeakerdevice ashe isnotin the room ,butthe Am beo’s vocalproces ing m eans thatthe voice sounds directionles and som ewhat echoey, to theextentthatit’sactualyharderto folow whatis being said. Switching of the Am beo seting solves this, but it also som ewhat reduces the spaciousnes and scale ofthe presentation.It'sa sham e that Sennheiser hasn't quite created a best-of-both-worlds seting thatofers a perfect balance between spatialsound and dialogue,but perhapsthisissom ething thatcould be im proved in afuture software update. Switching to Netflix’s The King playing in Dolby Atm os, the Am beo is totaly in its elem ent providing grand and spacious soundstages to m atch the epic scenes on screen.In the rousing speech perform ed by Tim othée Chalam et’s Hal before the Batle ofAgincourt,the Am beo Plus’ im pres ivelywide sound ensureshisvoice caries and filsthe space authenticaly–m aking itfeelat tim esasifwe are realythere am ong the soldiers. There is stil that hint of slightly il-defined direction attim eswith the Am beo m ode,though, and when it's turned of the voices sound m uch m ore natural. It's a tradeof that we find consistentlyhappening through using the Am beo Plus,and one thatdependson whetherwe prefer scale ora clearerand m ore authenticsound fora particularscene. W hen the action ram ps up and arows go flying overhead,the Am beo’sDolby Atm oshandling is spectacular, with a truly im pres ive sense of heightachieved via the upward-firing speakers. Aschainm ail-clad soldierssm ash into one another and chaos ensues,the Am beo puts you at the heartofthe action with thunderousm etalclunks and batle crieserupting from alaround.
SCORES Sound Features
Build Pros
•W ide soundfield • G ood m usicalabilty •Easyapp set-up and controls
Cons
• Vocals a litle vague and over-proces ed in Ambeomode •Againsttough com petition
MUSICATHOME+ 49
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