Due in September, Denon's £2000 AVR-4308 heralds a new look for the company's range, with softer lines. But there's nothing soft about what's under the lid: not only does the receiver have decoding for both Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD, it also features integrated wireless networking, enabling it to stream and control music stored on a home network,or play internet radio.
A new graphical user interface complements the revised styling, but the big story here is the amount of technology crammed in. With an HDMI 1.3a interface and two outputs, the receiver is just the thing for systems using both a display screen and a projector, and it also supports all the new sound and vision attributes available via the latest version of HDMI.
That means both the Dolby and DTS high-definition audio formats,Deep Colour and xvYCC picture, and even automatic lip-synch, to ensure pictures and sound stay in step.
Both wireless and cabled networking is supported, and the unit has switchable USB inputs front and rear, as well as a 'Compressed Audio Restorer' system. It can also connect to an iPod using Denon's ASD-1R dock, and can handle both sound and pictures from portable players and networks.
Other facilities extend to Faroudja upscaling to 1080p, a 7x140w output, a built-in DAB tuner and three-zone multiroom capability.
If that's not big enough for you, Denon has also previewed its new AVP-A1HD/POA-A1HD processor and power amplifier, expected to sell for around £10,000 when it's launched in October. The massive combination includes a ten-channel power amplifier, delivering 300w per channel.
At the other end of its range, Denon now has its own 'soundbar' on the way - an all-on one speaker/processor/amplification system designed to create convincing surround from a single unit.
