Sennheiser turned some heads at last year’s Consumer Electronics Show (CES) by announcing its first ever home audio product: a soundbar with 3D audio. The company will turn some more heads at this year’s CES with the soundbar’s price tag: $US2,500 ($3,506).
The new soundbar is part of Sennheiser’s AMBEO lineup for 3D audio products. Using 13 drivers and virtualization technology, the AMBEO Soundbar is designed to deliver a more realistic spatial experience, blasting audio in all directions and pumping out beefy bass without the need for an extra subwoofer. It also uses a room calibration technique to adjust the sound performance to the specific space around it. According to Sennheiser, the output from the all-in-one device is equivalent to experiencing a 5.1.4 surround sound system.
All of this hardware comes with some fancy compatibility features, too. The AMBEO Soundbar works with Dolby Atmos, MPEG-H, and DTS:X. It’s also equipped with a built-in Chromecast, Bluetooth, four HDI ports (including one HDMI eARC/CEC), an optical audio port, and an AUX input. There’s also a Sennheiser Smart Control app for adjusting presets, equaliser, and other settings.
This long list of specs might just seem like a tally of promises, but Sennheiser has been offering demos of the AMBEO technology for quite some time. I sat through one at CES last year, when the company showed off a prototype of the AMBEO Soundbar. It was awesome.
But again, this thing is expensive. The AMBEO Soundbar goes on sale globally in May.
Editor’s Note: We don’t know if this beautiful monster will come to Australia at the same time or what the pricing will be, but with GST whacked on top, it’ll probably be $$$.