It seems that every manufacturer wants a taste of that multi-room audio concept that Sonos started, and Denon is now there too, showing what its “Heos” range can do for the TV.
Recently, the company has started talking up what consumers can expect from Denon, as the company pushes on through the world of audio and amplifiers into something more modern than just the dedicated amplifier, getting into wireless multi-room audio.
You might not have heard of multi-room before, but this is a growing area, as companies like Sonos, Samsung, LG, and Panasonic all have products that allow speakers to talk to each other and synchronise audio between the units.
Controlled wirelessly and usually from a smartphone or tablet, these speakers can play music simultaneously, so the song you listen to on the speaker in your living room can also be heard through other wirelessly connected multi-room speakers as you walk throughout your home.
Denon’s take on this technology is similar to what we’re seeing from the other players, with a small Heos 3 speaker, a slightly bigger Heos 5, and an even bigger Heos 7, but Denon’s addition this week is to bring in a wireless soundbar and subwoofer system incorporating Denon’s understanding of home theatre sound.
The system is the Heos HomeCinema, a two-part speaker system including 5.1 sound interpreting Dolby Digital and DTS (no Atmos or DTS:X here, sadly), multi-room audio support, and the ability to plug more inputs into it than just the typical optical input you might see on other multi-room products, with coax and auxiliary inputs found here.
That last one grabs our attention, because with coax and aux, you may find it easier to plug external media solutions into the soundbar and run them throughout your home, something we don’t always see in devices, and that would generally require a speciality linking or amplifier-connection device, bringing an extra cost to the package.
Denon’s included subwoofer relies on two 13cm woofers to work together, while the company has apparently worked to keep the size of the unit down in a design that can sit either upright in a vertical position, or flat and horizontal.
As for pricing, Denon’s Heos soundbar and subwoofer pack will be arriving soon, with August the likely timeframe for this combo with a recommended retail price expected to be $1499.
