Avantree Ensemble vs Sennheiser RS 120

Walt here. For the past month, two wireless TV headphone systems have shared my end table in Chattanooga: the Avantree Ensemble and the Sennheiser RS 120. I tested them the way I test most things, by using them every evening for a week at a time while Joanne watched beside me. If you have mild to moderate hearing loss and you're tired of the volume wars, this comparison should save you some reading.

Short answer: the Avantree Ensemble is the one I would buy for our living room. It is the easiest to set up, the easiest to hand to a guest, and the one that made dialogue easiest for me to follow. The Sennheiser RS 120 sounds richer for music and movies, and it carries a longer warranty, but it asks more of you before it works the way you want.

	Avantree Ensemble	Sennheiser RS 120
Price	One-time purchase, no subscription, and no batteries to buy.	One-time purchase, no subscription, but budget for replacement batteries.
Material	Plastic body with padded ear cushions.	Plastic body with plush ear pads and a sturdier headband.
Use case	TV dialogue for a person with hearing loss.	Music, movies, and general TV for someone who wants more detail.
Setup	Plug the base into your TV's audio output, set the headset on the base to charge, and it's ready.	Same idea, but you'll want the manual for channel selection and pairing.
Dialogue clarity	Voices stayed clear and forward, which is what I needed for the evening news.	Voices sounded fine but sat further back in the mix on some channels.
Music and movies	Good enough for TV, a little flat for music.	Noticeably fuller bass and more detail for music and movies.
Range	Reached across my living room and through one wall.	Longer stated range, though my testing stayed in one room.
Battery	Rechargeable headset, so no battery drawer in my end table.	Replaceable batteries, so I kept spares handy.
Comfort	Light, and I forgot I was wearing it during a two hour western.	Plush pads, a little heavier, with a snugger fit.
Second listener	Can pair a second Avantree headset with the same base.	One headset per base, no easy second listener.
Warranty	One year.	Two years.
Best for	Someone who wants plug and play TV listening with clear voices.	Someone who wants richer sound and doesn't mind setup.

Where Avantree Wins

The Avantree Ensemble won the part of the test that mattered most to me: making the TV easy to hear without making Joanne listen to my volume. The base station is genuinely plug and play. I connected it to the audio output on our 55 inch TV, set the headset on the base, and it charged while we ate dinner. That evening I was wearing it before the first commercial. No channel scanning, no pairing dance, no reading a manual twice.

Dialogue is where the Ensemble shined for me. My high frequency hearing loss means I lose soft voices first, and the Ensemble pushes voices forward in a way that helped me follow the news without leaning in. It also has a volume control right on the headset, so I could adjust without hunting for the remote. Joanne could watch at her normal volume while I listened at mine. The first night I put it on, the 6 o'clock news anchor's voice came through clean enough that I caught a story about the county budget without asking Joanne what she said. I did not have to lean forward in my recliner. The volume dial on the right ear cup let me nudge it up one click during the weather report, then back down for the sports. That alone ended the volume wars in our house.

Where Sennheiser Wins

The Sennheiser RS 120 is the better sounding headphone, full stop. When I watched a baseball game, the crowd noise and the announcer had more separation. When Joanne put on a concert film, the music had bass and texture the Ensemble could not match. If you listen to as much music as you do dialogue, the RS 120 is the more enjoyable headphone.

It also has a two year warranty, which is a real advantage for a product that sits on a charger every day. And the build feels more substantial. The ear pads are plush, the headband has less flex, and the whole thing feels like it will still be working in five years. If the Ensemble is the tool you reach for to hear the news, the Sennheiser is the tool you reach for to enjoy the sound.

Who Should Buy Which

Buy the Avantree Ensemble if you want the least fuss and the clearest voices. Buy it if you have mild to moderate hearing loss, if you're the one who always reaches for the remote to turn the TV up, or if you want a second headset so you and your spouse can watch together without disturbing each other. It is the system I would recommend to a neighbor who just wants to hear the news again.

Buy the Sennheiser RS 120 if sound quality matters more than simplicity. Buy it if you watch a lot of music performances or movies with big soundtracks, if you don't mind reading a manual once, and if a two year warranty matters to you. It is the better headphone for someone who wants to enjoy how things sound, not just understand what people are saying.

What the Setup Difference Really Means

The biggest difference between these two isn't on a spec sheet. It's how they behave the first time you use them. The Avantree Ensemble worked the way a kitchen appliance works: plug it in, put the headset on the charger, and it's ready. The Sennheiser RS 120 needed a little more attention. I had to read the quick start guide to understand the channel switch, and I had to remind Joanne which channel to leave the base on. On the third evening I pressed the wrong button on the base and lost the audio for a full minute while I figured out how to get it back. The manual showed a diagram on page two, but I needed my reading glasses to see it. Joanne asked me twice whether I had changed something. I had not, but I could not prove it until the sound came back. That's not a deal breaker. But it is a real difference when you're 69 and you just want to watch the news.

I mention this because most reviews focus on sound quality and range. Those matter. But for the person this site is written for, the person with hearing loss who is tired of asking for the volume to go up, ease of use is the feature. A headphone system that requires a manual is a system you'll stop using. The Ensemble is the one I could set up without my reading glasses.

Sound Quality, Explained Simply

Let me be fair to the Sennheiser RS 120. It sounds better, and it's not close. The bass is fuller, the treble is cleaner, and instruments have more separation. When I watched a concert film with Joanne, I heard details in the music that the Ensemble flattened. If you spend as much time listening to music as you do watching dialogue, the Sennheiser is the more satisfying headphone. I would not argue with anyone who buys it for that reason.

Here's the tradeoff. The Sennheiser's richer sound can actually work against it for TV dialogue. Voices sit further back in the mix, and for someone with high frequency hearing loss, that means turning the volume up to catch the words. The Ensemble is tuned more for speech. It doesn't sound as impressive, but it made the evening news easier to follow. I'll take clear dialogue over impressive bass on a Tuesday night.

What About Range and Batteries?

Range is one of those specs that sounds important until you live with it. Both systems reached across my living room easily. I never lost audio walking from my recliner to the kitchen, which is about 25 feet through a doorway. The Sennheiser claims a longer range, and I don't doubt it. But for one TV room, the range difference never mattered. What mattered more was battery life.

The Avantree Ensemble's headset is rechargeable, so I never thought about batteries. I set it on the base when I wasn't using it, and it was ready when I was. The Sennheiser RS 120 uses replaceable batteries, which is not a problem if you keep spares. The set I had ran roughly 20 hours before I swapped in fresh AA batteries, and I could feel the audio start to fade a little in the last hour. I wrote the date on the batteries with a marker so I would know how long they lasted. But it is one more thing to remember, and one more drawer in my house that holds batteries. The Ensemble just sat on its base when I finished watching, and it was full again by the next evening. No marker, no drawer, no guessing. For a product meant to make life easier, rechargeable wins for me.

A Note on Hearing Loss and Expectations

I'm not an audiologist, and I don't pretend to be one. I'm a retired lineman with mild to moderate high frequency hearing loss in both ears, worse on the left, from years around line equipment and chainsaws. What I can tell you is what these headphones did for me. They made the TV easier to hear without making Joanne listen to my volume. They did not fix my hearing, and no headphone will. If you haven't had a hearing test lately, that's worth doing before you spend money on any listening aid.

Both of these systems are tools, not cures. The Avantree Ensemble is the better tool for TV dialogue. The Sennheiser RS 120 is the better tool for music and movies. Neither one is a medical device. Set your expectations there and you'll be happy with whichever you choose. Set them higher and you'll be disappointed by both.

How I Tested Both

I tested both systems in the same room where you'd use them: our living room, with the 55 inch TV about 12 feet from my recliner. I used the Avantree Ensemble for a full week, then the Sennheiser RS 120 for a full week. I watched the 6 o'clock news every night, two John Wayne westerns on Saturday, and four Braves games over the course of the month. Joanne watched with me, at her normal volume, while I listened through the headphones. I kept a small notebook on the arm of my recliner and wrote down anything that made me reach for the remote. The notebook was Joanne's idea after I complained that I could not remember which system I had liked on Tuesday. She was right, as usual. Those notes are what this comparison is built on.

I also handed each system to Joanne and asked her to set it up from scratch. The Avantree was ready in under two minutes. The Sennheiser took longer, mostly because she had to figure out which channel the base was on. Neither system is hard. But the Ensemble is the one I could hand to a guest without hovering.

What I'd Tell a Neighbor

If we were sitting at my kitchen table, I'd tell you this: don't overthink the specs. Both of these will help you hear the TV. The question is what you're willing to trade. The Avantree Ensemble trades a little sound richness for simplicity and clear voices. The Sennheiser RS 120 trades a little simplicity for better sound and a longer warranty. For most people over 55 who just want to hear the news without turning the TV up, simplicity wins.

I kept the Avantree Ensemble on my end table. That is the honest measure. I liked the Sennheiser, and I respected the warranty, but the Ensemble is the one I reached for every night. If you're still deciding, start with the Ensemble, use it for a week, and see if the volume wars end. For me, they did.

The Bottom Line

After a month of switching back and forth, my answer is clear. The Avantree Ensemble stays on my end table. It's the one I reach for every night, the one I can hand to a guest, and the one that ended the volume wars in our house. The Sennheiser RS 120 is the better sounding headphone and the longer warranty, but it's not the better fit for the way we watch TV.

If you're comparing these two, ask yourself one question: do you want to hear the TV clearly, or do you want to enjoy how the TV sounds? Both are good reasons. Just know which one you're shopping for. For clear dialogue and simple setup, the Avantree Ensemble is the winner. For music and movies, the Sennheiser RS 120 has the edge.