Audio Pro A48 Multi Room Floor Standing Active Speaker Review vs  Sennheiser AMBEO – Is it a soundbar killer? | Tech Lance

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I reviewed the Audio Professional C5 MKII again in December. It is a excellent multi-room speaker that I believe is a superb various to Sonos merchandise in order for you one thing a bit of extra aesthetic than a black field.

Throughout the evaluation, I turned conscious of the spectacular vary of audio system out there from the model. I did discover the bizarre omission of a soundbar inside vary. As a substitute, Audio Professional has chosen to go a extra conventional design route and has a choice of TV audio system in bookshelf or floor-standing codecs.

It is an fascinating choice as a result of in recent times there was a pattern in direction of refined encompass sound codecs. There are a rising variety of premium soundbars that declare to realize issues like Dolby Atmos encompass sound through the use of a large number of audio system to mirror sound again into your room.

So a 2.0 system just like the Audio Professional A48 floorstanding audio system could not sound as interesting because the Sennheiser AMBEO Soundbar Plus with its 7.1.4 speaker setup.

Nonetheless, all of it relies on the place your priorities are. The AMBEO is inevitably higher at encompass sound, nevertheless it actually cannot compete for pure sound high quality when every speaker within the A48 has two 5.25″ woofers and a devoted tweeter.

Specification / Options

skilled audio	A48
Amplifier:	class D amplifier
Manufacturing	2x130W + 2x30W
tweeter	1″ textile dome
subwoofer	2×5.25″
ports of entry	1xRCA 1 x digital optical TOSLINK (PCM solely) 1 x HDMI ARC/TV
ports of departure	RCA subwoofer output
multiroom performance	Skilled multiroom audio
community compatibility	802.11 b/g/n, 2.4 and 5GHz
streaming options	Wi-Fi with AirPlay 2, Google Forged, Spotify Join and Audio Professional Multiroom, Bluetooth 4.2
audio codecs	MP3, WMA, AAC, FLAC, Apple Lossless
Dimensions	870x215x265mm

Design

Being floorstanding audio system, they’re bodily massive and take up way more house than a soundbar.

Every speaker doesn’t weigh as a lot as I might have thought. They’re lighter and smaller than my Monitor Audio audio system.

The audio system themselves are about as enticing as a pair of floorstanding audio system. You’ve gotten the choice of black or white. I just like the black audio system, nevertheless it might need been good if there have been extra colour choices, like wooden.

One disadvantage it has in comparison with a soundbar is the thick cable that connects the lively to the passive speaker. For many TV setups this should not be a lot of an issue as you may run the cable behind any piece of furnishings, however you may want to contemplate cable administration in order for you issues to look tidy. On a optimistic observe, that is rather a lot much less cable administration than a passive speaker system.

I might have favored to have a USB enter that may permit me to make use of them immediately with my PC. As a substitute, I had to make use of the FiiO K5 Professional and RCA cables, though I might have used optical cables.

For TV setups, you may solely use the HDMI ARC port. It’s possible you’ll discover that this is not eARC, however that is not likely obligatory since you do not want the bandwidth that prime bitrate encompass sound audio requires. Old school optical TOSLINK has sufficient bandwidth for uncompressed 5.1 (and beneath).

In use / Sound high quality

For testing, I used them in my most important TV room, the place I’ve Monitor Audio Silver 6 floorstanding audio system (plus heart, encompass audio system, and an enormous Monoprice Monolith 12 subwoofer) paired with a Yamaha RX-V685 AV receiver. . On this setup, I modified my system to 2.0 for a fairer comparability.

I’ve additionally examined it with my previous Bose SoundTouch 300 (which had an RRP of £600) and the Sennheiser AMBEO Soundbar Plus. The Audio Professional A48 markets itself as a soundbar killer, and is priced equally to the AMBEO Soundbar Plus, so that they make for comparability.

There was no comparability to my Bose SoundTouch 300. It is a good improve for TV audio system, nevertheless it would not have any fancy encompass sound when used alone, so efficiency is poor in comparison with two massive floorstanding audio system. The Bose actually wants the companion subwoofer in order for you it to offer the good low frequencies wanted for many films or video games.

The Sennheiser AMBEO Soundbar Plus is a unique beast. That is the primary soundbar I’ve tried the place I felt like I might be pleased with a soundbar as a substitute of a devoted encompass speaker.

Personally, I would like the AMBEO to the A48, just because I watch plenty of films in encompass sound.

Nonetheless, nearly as good as I discover the Sennheiser AMBEO Soundbar Plus total, it actually cannot compete with a pair of enormous floorstanding audio system in the case of total sound high quality. The Sennheiser has plenty of small audio system to provide encompass sound and you may’t bodily match something too massive inside. The A48 has all of its efficiency condensed into the big woofers and tweeter per speaker.

Should you’re not as involved with encompass sound, the A48 is healthier. It is considerably higher for music, however I choose it for TV and gaming as effectively (I am not as involved with encompass sound for gaming).

Acoustically these are wonderful, bridging the hole between your typical lively speaker and a passive system. There is a richness to the bass that you simply will not discover in any soundbar. There is no such thing as a harshness within the treble, and I discover the voice, each in music and on TV, wonderful.

I would say my Monitor Audio audio system are higher, however they’re greater and require an AV receiver to drive them. You’d possible spend over £1200 on a 2.0 system on this state of affairs.

These will also be a part of a multi-room system, and you may get a devoted subwoofer for them. So you have got some improve choices and options that an AV receiver and passive audio system could lack.

Clearly, one of many Audio Professional’s massive promoting factors is multi-room performance and music streaming. I would not say it is nearly as good as Sonos, nevertheless it’s shut sufficient. You’ve gotten a wide array of music companies, together with Spotify, Tiday, Amazon Music, and extra. YouTube Music is not inbuilt, however Chromecast is, so you may stream that manner. Equally, with Spotify, you employ Spotify Join, so it’s a must to use the Spotify app to entry your music.

Worth and various choices

The Audio Professional A48 is priced at £1200 for the pair, and there is the extra reasonably priced A38 for £900.

You may enhance efficiency by pairing the audio system with a subwoofer. You may select between the SW-5 at £280 or the SW-10 at £360.

There aren’t many lively floorstanding audio system in the marketplace, and none that I do know of at this value. The Q Energetic 400 at £2300 or the KEF LS60 floorstanding wi-fi audio system at over £5k are the one choices I can discover.

The KEF LSX II at £1100 or the Dali Oberon 1 C at £950 are the closest choices I can discover at an analogous value. They’re lively bookshelf audio system with HDMI ARC, however they are not as highly effective because the Audio Professional A48.

The Sonos Arc plus Sub Mini would set you again round £1330 and that is most likely the most effective various in order for you the multi-room options. This has the advantage of superior encompass sound with Dolby Atmos assist. I have not examined the Arc and sub mixture, however I do not assume the Arc can compete with the general sound high quality, quantity, or wealthy bass that the Audio Professional A48 can obtain.

Then you have got your selection of premium encompass sound soundbars, together with:

• Sony HT-A7000 7.1.2ch Dolby Atmos/ DTS:X Soundbar @ £1300
• Samsung HW-Q990B 11.1.4 Channel Cinematic Soundbar with Dolby Atmos and DTS:X @ £1300
• Sennheiser AMBEO Soundbar Plus 7.1.4 Channel Dolby Atmos Soundbar @ £1300

Alternatively, when you do not thoughts the problem of splitters and cables, you would be higher off getting passive audio system and an amplifier. The worth can simply transcend £1200. The Yamaha RX-V6A AV Receiver is £700, would provide the flexibility to increase to a 7.2 system, together with Dolby Atmos, and is appropriate with HDMI 2.1 4K/120Hz. The Monitor Audio Bronze 500 at £600 would take it to £100, plus you’d want cables and so on.

Common

The Audio Professional A48 audio system are wonderful. Describing them as a soundbar killer could be an exaggeration, however they’re an awesome various speaker with few competing audio system and none at this value.

If you don’t need the trouble of plenty of cables and worth total sound high quality over encompass sound efficiency, then these are actually a soundbar killer.

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