The Sound
Contents
Enough about specifications and dimensions. We’re gonna talk about the playback. After all, that’s what an audio product is all about.
Now we can be pretty short. After the break in period, the Teufel Cinebar Ultima has certainly not disappointed us. It sounds remarkably well balanced. And with music as well as movies. Let’s start with music.
By the way, we mostly play from an nVidia Shield that is linked to the Teufel via hdmi. We use our Plex server as a source of music and video. It runs on an Unraid server. We send the image via our Illusonic IAP-8 to the Optoma projector. This can be done immediately, but out of laziness we send it via the Illusonic, because we don’t have to disconnect as many cables.
Fine balance
Remarkably, the Teufel Cinebar Ultima has a friendly sound balance. Although there is no splashing open high; we can follow everything very well. We don’t miss any details in the middle and high area. With pop as well as rock and electronic music we can listen to what the soundbar sends into the big room.
We also notice that we hear a stereo image. There’s just a good spread. Is it as good as two speakers? No. But it’s above average. And it doesn’t look forced at all. In short: fine work here by teufel.
Films
Dynamics, foundation, imaging and above all: intelligibility are important in films. We play a couple of films: Shaft (new), John Wick 3, Ghost in the Shell and A Star is Born. From action to music. Enough to hear the potential.
Without a subwoofer, the Teufel Cinebar Ultima knows how to deliver! We actually hear an excellent musical picture coming into the room. If we turn on Dynamore we hear very little difference. Perhaps because our space is quite subdued. Dynamore uses reflection. That doesn’t work well for us. But we don’t miss Dynamore. Is it really surround? No. But it just sounds right. Better than we expected.
In the intense action films, someone might miss that real sub-low-end. In this case, the wireless subwoofer can be a complement. For us, it mainly offers some extra pressure. In a large room that may be welcome. By the way, it is also possible to connect two additional surround speakers wirelessly. We didn’t test that.
