Audio Video News

Denon Home Sound Bar 550: $599

Recording-engineer-turned-reviewer Leslie Shapiro is an audio purist with little patience for audio trickery, which is why she was surprised to experience convincing simulated surround sound from Denon’s all-in-one Home Sound Bar 550. Add to that, excellent overall sound quality, simple setup, wireless multiroom music capability through the brand’s HEOS platform and you have a winning combination from a respected audio brand best known for its stellar AV receivers.

At 3 inches tall and just over 2 feet wide, the 550 is designed to tuck neatly beneath the TV screen and equipped with Dolby Atmos and DTS:X processing, Alexa voice control, a 4K-capable HDMI input and output (with eARC), an optical input, and the ability to stream hi-res music from Tidal, Amazon Music HD, and other services supported by the HEOS app. The bar also boasts a three-position dialogue enhancer that Shapiro called one of the best she’s heard.

The 550 handled movies and music equally well. “Looking for a movie with snappy dialogue and great sound design, I cued up Deadpool 2,” Shapiro wrote. “Denon's Bar rendered Deadpool's deadpan voice-over in a crystal-clear manner, even over the massive explosions and pounding music. More impressive was the 3D immersion.” Switching to music, she reveled in the clean sound of Noah Kahan's "Someone Like You (feat. Joy Oladokun)" and singled out the walking bassline in “Love for Sale,” featuring Lady Gaga and Tony Bennett: “The plucked notes were precise with a sharp attack. It was also evident that the Denon was delivering vocals in a natural manner, along with plenty of musical detail.” Now is as good a time as any to supercharge the lifeless sound coming from your TV.

AT A GLANCE
Plus
Convincing DSP-based surround
Excellent sound quality
Compact footprint
Minus
Built-in Amazon Alexa
Limited front panel feedback
Requires HEOS app for best results

Full Review Here (posted 11/16/21)

Yamaha Aventage RXA6A A/V Receiver: $2,200

The Aventage RX-A6A will enchant you with pristine, all-encompassing sound whether you’re listening to music or watching a first-run movie in the comfort of your home (at least we can thank COVID for something). Sitting one model down from Yamaha’s flagship AVR, the A6A costs $800 less yet boasts 11 channels (nine powered) and is packed with every AVR feature you can imagine, all hidden behind a refreshingly simple front panel.

You get seven HDMI inputs, a selection of legacy analog inputs, a remote with set-and-forget Scene buttons for storing up to eight input/setting combinations, 8K upscaling, and Dolby Vision high dynamic range (HDR) capability. The list continues with Dolby Atmos and DTS: X surround processing plus Yamaha’s famous DSP music modes (two dozen in all, including acoustical recreations of famous venues), an app offering popular streaming options, and multiroom capability via the brand’s longstanding MusicCast platform. You also get automated speaker/room correction, voice control via Amazon Alexa, Google Assistant, and Siri via Apple’s AirPlay 2 platform, and plenty more. Pretty much everything most of us will ever need, including the promise of gamer-centric HDMI 2.1 features via a future firmware update.

Resident audio expert Daniel Kumin described his listening experience this way: “I cued up Air Force One, a film that has benefitted from Atmos remixing as much as any classic I can think of. I quickly got sucked into the action, forgetting my reviewer’s duties except to wonder at how lifelike Atmos made the on-board ambience in the movie’s earlier, expository scenes, and how visceral its thrill-a-minute denouement.” Not much more to say, except is a Black Friday deal just around the corner?

AT A GLANCE
Plus
Tremendous surround configurability
Solid multichannel power and sound quality
Powerful Scene memory system
Minus
Complex setup
Limited remote control direct-access to inputs, surround modes
YPAO auto-EQ less accurate than other solutions

Full Review Here (posted 11/24/21)

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