Sennheiser Ambeo Soundbar Max 5.1.4 Dolby Atmos Soundbar - Black

The Sennheiser Ambeo Soundbar Max is Sennheiser's largest Dolby Atmos soundbar, made for people who want full home cinema sound from one bar under a big TV. Sennheiser announced it at CES in January 2019 as the Ambeo Soundbar, and it went on sale in India in January 2020. It is now sold as the Max, next to the smaller Ambeo Soundbar Plus and Mini. Its Ambeo virtualisation, developed with the Fraunhofer Institute, uses the walls and ceiling to place five virtual speakers around you and four above, and it plays Dolby Atmos, DTS:X, MPEG-H and Sony 360 Reality Audio. Stereo and 5.1 sources can be upmixed the same way.

The 126 cm cabinet with its brushed aluminium top holds 13 drivers on 13 class D amplifiers: six 4-inch woofers, five 1-inch aluminium tweeters facing front and sideways, and two 3.5-inch drivers firing up at the ceiling, with 500W peak (250W RMS) in total. The woofers reach down to 30 Hz, so most rooms need no subwoofer. The calibration microphone in the box measures your room during setup and tunes the sound to it. Five presets (Movie, Music, News, Sports and Neutral), three Ambeo modes (Light, Standard and Boost) and Night mode are on the remote, and the Sennheiser Smart Control app adds a 4-band equaliser and Voice Enhancement for clearer dialogue.

Connect it to the TV through HDMI eARC, and plug up to three sources, such as a set-top box, streaming stick or Blu-ray player, into its HDMI inputs, which pass 4K 60 Hz video with Dolby Vision. Optical, analogue RCA, Ethernet and Wi-Fi are also on board, along with AirPlay 2, Chromecast built-in, Spotify Connect, Tidal Connect and Bluetooth with NFC pairing. There is no built-in voice assistant, but Google Assistant can control it through Chromecast. The Ambeo Sub, sold separately, adds deeper bass through the subwoofer output by cable. The bar weighs 18.5 kg and suits TVs of 55 inches and up, and the height effect works best with a flat ceiling and side walls between 1 and 5 m away.

The bar weighs 18.5 kg, so lift it with a second person. Place it centred below the TV on sturdy, level furniture, at least 10 cm below the screen, with side walls and a flat ceiling 1 to 5 m away, nothing large blocking them and your seat at least 2 m in front. Connect the HDMI cable from the box to the TV's HDMI eARC or ARC socket, plug in the power cord and turn on HDMI CEC on the TV. Install the Sennheiser Smart Control app and add the bar to your Wi-Fi network. Then plug in the calibration microphone, place it on your seat and run the room calibration, which takes several minutes. Run it again if you move the bar or the furniture.

Sennheiser Ambeo Soundbar Max, SB01-RC remote control with a CR2032 lithium coin battery, SB01-MS calibration microphone with holder and a 5 m cable, premium high-speed HDMI cable, power cord, quick guide and safety guide. The SB01-WM wall mount and the Ambeo Sub are sold separately.

Sennheiser gives the first owner a two-year warranty from the date on the invoice when this product is bought new from an authorised Sennheiser dealer in India. A defect in materials or workmanship in that period is repaired, or the product or faulty part replaced, free of charge at Sennheiser's choice. To claim, contact Sennheiser India customer support or visit a Sennheiser service centre with the original invoice, as every claim needs it. The remote control and its battery, the calibration microphone, the HDMI cable, the power cord and other accessories in the box, normal wear and tear, damage from misuse or accidents, and products opened or repaired by anyone other than an authorised service partner are not covered.