Denon Home adds Sound Bar 550 to its range

It probably won't surprise you to hear that soundbar sales outstrip all other audio-video sales categories right now. And that's exactly why Denon has added the high-res and immersive audio format capable Sound Bar 550 to its versatile Home range.
Its new 550 soundbar boasts Dolby Atmos and DTS:X 3D audio capability, along with the ability to play and stream a wide variety of hi-resolution music formats. And coming later in the year via a free firmware update, the Sound Bar 550 will also add Alexa Voice Control functionality.
Denon told us that it decided against fitting upward-firing drivers as the compact nature of the Sound Bar 550 didn't allow them to be used to their fullest potential. Instead, the company opted for a "virtual" height channel as this was better for bass response and 3D-effect.
Denon Home has employed a six-driver array in the Sound Bar 550, making movies, TV and music sound huge. With advanced acoustic hardware and expertly tuned digital signal processing, listeners can also stream high-resolution music from their favourite music services or local music libraries directly to the soundbar leveraging HEOS Built-in. For those already invested in the HEOS ecosystem, including other Denon Home products, you can add the Denon Home Sound Bar 550 as a separate wireless zone without pulling a single wire.
You could even create a complete surround system with the addition of Denon Home 150, 250 and 350, which can all be implemented as rear-channel surrounds. And for a little more bass reinforcement, you can add the DSW-1H wireless subwoofer.
The stylish touch panel on top of the soundbar lights up automatically as an outstretched hand approaches, enabling easy fingertip control of features like volume adjustment, play/pause, muting the microphones and the ability to skip or restart songs without using the app or remote controller.
There's also eARC connectivity (Enhanced Audio Return Channel), ensuring the Sound Bar 550 delivers superior sound quality via a single HDMI connection to the TV.
Denon Home's Sound Bar 550 is also compatible with Apple AirPlay 2 to effortlessly stream from Apple devices. The Sound Bar 550 is the first Denon soundbar to include onboard software drivers for Control4, Crestron, URC, Elan, and more. All Denon Home models, including the Sound Bar 550 provide effortless access to streaming services like Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music HD, TIDAL and more, as well as high-resolution files stored on phones or a local network via Wi-Fi, or Bluetooth. The Sound Bar 550 will play nice with sample rates up to 192Khz/24 bit PCM or DSD at 5.6Ghz.
The Denon Home Sound Bar 550 will be available from February for an RRP of £599/ €649.
For more information visit Denon.

Marc Rushton
StereoNET’s Founder and Publisher was born in England and raised on British Hi-Fi before moving to Australia. He developed an early love of music and playing bass guitar before discovering the studio and the other side of the mixing desk. After writing for print magazines, Marc saw the future in digital publishing and founded the first version of StereoNET in 1999.
Posted in: Home Theatre
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