Sennheiser Ambeo Soundbar Mini
Value: $799 / £699 / AU$1,299
Colours: Black
Ports: 1x HDMI out (eARC/ARC)
Audio system: 6 (Specified: 4x full vary; 2x woofers)
Audio channels: 7.1.4
Audio codecs: Dolby Atmos; Dolby Digital; DTS:X, Sony 360 Actuality Audio
Energy output: 250W
Wi-fi: AirPlay 2; Bluetooth SBC, AAC; Chromecast; Spotify Join, Tidal Join
Good assistant: Alexa; Siri
Subwoofer: Accessible individually
Dimensions: 28 x 4 x 2.6 inches
Weight: 7.3 kilos
Wall mountable: Sure
The Sennheiser Ambeo Soundbar Mini has simply been introduced at IFA 2023. It is the newest addition to the corporate’s standard single soundbar collection and the third mannequin in German audio firm’s Ambeo Soundbar vary. It joins the Sennheiser Ambeo Soundbar Plus that arrived earlier this yr.
Because the title suggests, the Mini is the smallest mannequin the Ambeo collection thus far, and by way of its footprint it is akin to the Denon Dwelling Sound Bar 550. In line with the compact kind issue although, it shirks some amenities and efficiency energy of the 5 finest TV upgrades I’ve examined, and is aimed as at mid-sized TV screens reminiscent of the perfect 50-inch TVs.
Regardless of its extra diminutive measurement, it claims 250W energy output to 7.1.4 channels — seven phantom full vary channels, plus one sub bass, and 4 Dolby Atmos channels. Like its larger brothers, the Soundbar Mini makes use of Ambeo virtualization tech to ship Dolby Atmos, DTS:X and Sony 360 Actuality Audio soundtracks, in addition to up-mixing stereo TV and music content material. It is not fairly the identical as having devoted encompass speaker behind you, however will be more practical on the subject of delivering an immersive viewing expertise as soon as the Ambeo speaker has been via its self-calibration course of to adapt its output sound to the room acoustics it is positioned in.
I used to be fortunate sufficient to listen to the Sennheiser in motion previous to the IFA 2023 launch in Berlin. Though I’ve but to expertise it correctly at house, listed below are my first impressions of Sennheiser’s Ambeo Soundbar Mini.
Sennheiser Ambeo Soundbar Mini: Value and availability
The Sennheiser Ambeo Soundbar Mini will probably be priced at $799 / £699 / AU$1,299 when it goes on sale on September 1 through the Sennheiser retailer and on-line retailers. That is round half the price of Ambeo Plus, which launched earlier this yr at $1,499 / £1,299 / AU$2,399, and round a 3rd of the price of the unique Ambeo Soundbar Max priced at $2,499.
Regardless of the brand new low value level for a Sennheiser Ambeo mannequin, it is solely $100 lower than the Sonos Arc, the most effective Dolby Atmos soundbars and Sonos’ flagship soundbar. The catch is that Sennheiser’s Ambeo immersive tech would not come low cost, which makes the Mini value appear excessive for a single soundbar, particularly when you think about the brand new Yamaha SR-B40A comes with Dolby Atmos and a wi-fi subwoofer for $399.
With the Sennheiser you will must issue within the additional for the Ambeo Sub, which is priced at $699 / £649 / AU$1,119.
Sennheiser Ambeo Soundbar Mini: Design and connectivity
The Sennheiser Ambeo Soundbar Mini is properly compact and measures round 28-inches lengthy and a pair of.6-inches tall, and weighs round 7.3 kilos, making it extra living-room pleasant than the Ambeo Soundbar Plus. Construct high quality feels good, and the Soundbar Mini has an analogous black material grille to the Ambeo Soundbar Plus.
Wi-fi connectivity runs to streaming through Bluetooth, AirPlay 2, Chromecast, Tidal Join, and Spotify Join. Bodily ports have been trimmed again on the Soundbar Mini and run to 1x HDMI output port (with eARC assist) solely. There is a powered USB port however no Ethernet socket. Alexa and Siri voice assistants are in-built, and it may be wall mounted.
There is not any distant management, however the Sennheiser Good Management app supplies full and dependable management over the Ambeo Soundbar Mini.
Sennheiser Ambeo Soundbar Mini: Efficiency
By itself, the Ambeo Soundbar Mini did a good job of elevating onscreen dialog to carry a sensible sense of weight to voices throughout information broadcasts, and TV dramas like Breaking Dangerous on Netflix additionally put in a rewarding efficiency.
The room calibration mode appeared to offer a worthwhile increase to the Sennheiser’s total sound efficiency throughout my brief hands-on take a look at. And enabling Ambeo mode gave a barely extra expansive soundstage with some sense of a wrap round impact.
As with the Ambeo Soundbar Plus, the Adaptive Ambeo mode switches in accordance with what sort of content material is being performed via the speaker, or customers can select from 5 preset modes together with Music, Film, Impartial, Information, and Sports activities. Film mode gave essentially the most constant and satisfying outcomes for my room and ears.
Primarily based on my listening thus far, I really feel that almost all customers will wish to add the Ambeo Sub to beef up the Mini’s sound output which may really feel a bit underpowered by itself. And if you wish to go all out, the Soundbar Mini will be partnered with as much as 4 Ambeo Subs for the Sennheiser’s final immersive bass expertise. Which may sound like over kill, however might show helpful when you’re experiencing difficulties driving a bigger room and energizing it with high-octane sound.
Sennheiser Ambeo Soundbar Mini: Outlook
Sennheiser’s Ambeo Soundbar Mini actually does look neat. I am impressed by the compact dimensions which are more likely to make it enticing to these with mid-sized TV screens. At this level although, I am much less impressed by Sennheiser’s pricing construction. Though it is a whole lot lower than the Plus model, the Mini value feels excessive significantly when most consumers will wish to add the matching sub for the perfect efficiency, which, in fact, pushes the excessive value even larger.
Look out for my full Sennheiser Ambeo Soundbar Mini evaluation coming shortly as soon as IFA 2023 is over.
