Denon has announced two new additions to its S-Series range of affordable receivers intended for smaller systems and budgets. Despite the low prices, the AVR-S760H and AVR-S660H benefit from some of Denon’s most advanced connectivity, including three HDMI 2.1 inputs each, making them particularly well suited for hardcore next-gen gamers.
Those three HDMI 2.1 inputs are rated to 40Gbps and can handle 8K@60Hz and 4K@120Hz video pass-through. All the HDMI ports (in total there are 6 ins and 1 out on each model) will boast 4:4:4 chroma sub-sampling and HDR pass-through for a wide variety of formats, including HDR10, HDR10+, Dolby Vision, Hybrid Log-Gamma (HLG) and BT.2020. 8K sources may be in short supply at the moment, but the AVRs provide 8K upscaling on all inputs, and there’s also plenty of next-gen gaming technologies, with Variable Refresh Rate (VRR), Quick Frame Transport (QFT), Quick Media Switching (QMS) and Auto Low Latency Mode (ALLM) all supported. eARC is on board too.
Priced at £599 ($549, around AU$1100), the AVR-S760H home cinema amp will deliver seven channels of amplification rated at 75W per channel in stereo conditions (8 ohms) and has support for 3D surround formats including Dolby Atmos and DTS:X. For users unable to reconfigure their set-up to 5.1.2 with ceiling or height speakers, there’s also DTS Virtual:X and Dolby Atmos Height Virtualization onboard.
Meanwhile, the 5.2 channel AVR-S660H home cinema amp costs £499 ($449, around AU$920) and provides 75W of amplifications in stereo conditions (8 ohms), supporting Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio decoding.
The Denon AVR-S660H and AVR-S760H are compatible with Apple AirPlay 2, while the front-panel USB port offers audio playback of high-resolution audio formats, including WAV, FLAC, ALAC and DSD 2.8/5.6 MHz. Wireless streaming from online music services is available using Bluetooth or Denon’s HEOS software. HEOS, built into both AVRs, lets users stream music wirelessly across compatible products within the home. Both amps will also work with Alexa, Google Assistant or Siri for voice control of AVR functions.
The new S-Series AVRs will offer Dialog Enhancer technology to allow users to adjust dialogue levels, while a newly added HDMI signal information feature will let users confirm the signal and format type they are watching.
Audyssey MultEQ technology is included for automatic acoustic calibration of the system. Denon's proprietary audio optimisation technology detects the speakers' size, type, and configuration and measures their response in up to six listening positions. With the AVR-S760H, listeners can also use the Audyssey MultEQ Editor app, available for purchase on iOS and Android, to manually change settings. Additionally, it has a Dual Speaker Presets feature, enabling users to instantly store and switch between two different speaker configurations and Audyssey settings.
The Denon AVR-S660H and AVR-S760H are available now and sit below the AVR-X1700H, announced earlier this week and priced at £599 ($699, AU$1399). Like the AVR-S760H, the AVR-X1700H is also a 7.2 channel amp with three 8K HDMI inputs and support Dolby Atmos, Dolby Atmos Height Virtualization, DTS:X and DTS Virtual:X. It offers more power, outputting 80W in stereo conditions (8ohms) and has a slightly more advanced version of Audyssey (MultEQ XT).
While Denon has released worldwide pricing for all three of its new AVRs announced this week, the products don't appear to be receiving an active launch in the UK at present, which may account for some inconsistency in the GBP price bands.
The new S-series amps replace the AVR-S650H and AVR-S750H released in 2019, which do not have HDMI 2.1 connectivity and are priced at £450 ($399, AU$1000) and £550 ($500, AU$1200) respectively.
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