Huge, expensive and fussy, but Sennheiser’s first soundbar is well worth the money and effort

Rich; natural sound; Dynamic and detailed; Convincing surround effect; Great features

Large; Expensive; Fussy with positioning

When it comes to single-box 3D audio, no product does it better than this Sennheiser. Ambeo adds polish to Dolby Atmos and upscales stereo like a boss.

“The Ambeo is a paradigm-shifting sound machine.”

Incredibly detailed sound for all formats; Breathtaking Atmos virtualization; Polished; intuitive interface; Loaded with features; Dolby Atmos; DTS:X; and MPEG-H decoding

Beefy size (and no IR repeater) requires mounting

If you want a surround sound system, but don't want to futz with wires, extra channels, or the possibility of having an outdated receiver: the Sennheiser Ambeo Soundbar is for you.

3D sound; Excellent audio quality; Execellent connectivity; Chromecast; Bluetooth support; Slew of ports

Price

Sennheiser's first foray into home theater was worth the wait. The Ambeo soundbar, with Ambeo 3D processing, is currently the best soundbar on the market.

Convincing immersive sound; Powerful bass; Chromecast built-in for music streaming

Heavy and large; Expensive

The Ambeo Soundbar is big, but the sound it makes is bigger still

Utterly convincing Dolby Atmos and DTS:X 3D sound; Ample power; Lots of inputs

Really big; Very expensive

The Sennheiser Ambeo Soundbar is an excellent speaker for anything you want to listen to and creates an impressively wide sound field, though for $2,500 it can benefit from a dedicated subwoofer.

Powerful audio with rich bass depth, crisp highs, and listening modes tailored to music, film, and TV; Ambeo modes widen stereo field and create immersive listening experience.

Wildly expensive; Big and heavy; We'd still like to add a subwoofer.

No other soundbar currently available can do what the Ambeo can. Not with the solidity and confidence of the Sennheiser. That’s why, as well as being the biggest and the most expensive, it’s the best you can buy.

Utterly convincing Dolby Atmos and DTS:X 3D sound; Ample power; Lots of inputs;

Really big; Very expensive;

Add proprietary Sennheiser Ambeo audio processing to Dolby Atmos and you get what is arguably the best-sounding soundbar on the planet. Superb cinematic audio from a single-box solution – and it's wonderfully musical too.

Superb 3D audio performance; As good with music as it is movies;

Eye-wateringly expensive; Big and not exactly pretty;

I have long been of the opinion that $500 is the absolute maximum you should spend on a sound bar -- especially when something like the Dolby Atmos-toting Vizio SB36512-f6 offers all you need. Yet, while I loved the Vizio SB36512, it's not the best Dolby Atmos sound bar. The Sennheiser Ambeo Soundbar is.

If you want the most realistic surround sound from a single speaker, the Sennheiser Ambeo Soundbar is the best there is.

The Sennheiser Ambeo Soundbar is the best-sounding single speaker I've ever heard; It offers the most realistic emulated surround at any price; The sound bar offers advanced connectivity, including HDMI eARC and Wi-Fi; It costs and performs about the same as a receiver and speakers but doesn't fill your living space with boxes.

The Sennhiser Ambeo is one of the most expensive sound bars on the market, and it doesn't have a subwoofer; Spending more on a sub will open the sound up dynamically; Music can be a little harsh sounding; It's huge.