Given the completely mind-blowing performances of which the Ambeo Soundbar Max is capable, the Ambeo Soundbar Plus had a lot to do to surprise us. The challenge is, so to speak, taken up brilliantly since this bar surprises with the homogeneity of its rendering, the depth of the bass, its astonishing precision and, above all, its still breathtaking spatialization.
For the sake of compactness, the Ambeo Soundbar Plus is more sparing in terms of loudspeakers than its big sister since it has “only” 9 compared to 13 on the Ambeo Soundbar Max. Thus there are seven 2″ (approximately 5 cm) loudspeakers arranged on the front, on the sides and above, as well as two 4″ (approximately 10 cm) loudspeakers placed on the top for bass reproduction. .
In its simplest listening mode (Ambeo virtualization deactivated, neutral mode activated), the bar is simply exemplary, whether in terms of precision or sound rendering balance. First of all, the Ambeo Soundbar Plus demonstrates a good extension as well as a good control of the bass, even in the absence of a remote subwoofer. These never overflow, and we appreciate the accuracy of the impacts, the explosions and the instruments, such as the large percussions or the synth pads. The mids, like the highs, are also fair. The high mids are slightly set back, which offers a soft and warm rendering capable of sublimating musical and cinematographic content. The bar is thus never aggressive in its reproduction of timbres, even at a sustained sound level. The highs are subtly boosted, which allows you to take advantage of room effects as they should be. The sound stage is also quite wide, although a little frontal, and the dynamics are there.
The bar has five other modes: Cinema, Music, News, Sports and an Adaptive mode that adapts in real time to the content played by the bar. These produce only very slight changes when Ambeo virtualization is disabled. For example, the Cinema mode brings a slight boost in the bass while the Music mode gives a little more liveliness to the rendering by slightly raising the high mids. The voice enhancement mode is rather well thought out, because it increases the level of human voices without distorting the sound reproduction too much. However, this mode is still to be avoided on musical content.
To take full advantage of the bar’s performance on content mixed in 5.1, 7.1 or 3D, Ambeo surround virtualization must be activated. The sound stage is then completely redesigned: the side and elevation effects extend well beyond the physical limits of the bar and are able to almost envelop the listener in a particularly immersive sound bubble. The planes or helicopters really give the impression of passing over our heads, the gunshots are reproduced with an incredible precision of realism. The calibration system helps a lot to obtain this rendering. The bar also does a very good job of 3D upmixing 5.1 and even stereo sources. An upmix that remains to be avoided when listening to music so as not to distort the sound reproduction too much.
