With the kerfuffle about buggy silicon making supposedly 8K/60Hz and 4K/120Hz AV receivers not quite as comprehensively 4K/120Hz-capable as they thought they were now seemingly firmly in the rear view mirror, Denon has decided the time is right to unleash a full new range of AV receivers and amplifiers that care as much about cutting edge gamers as they do serious cinephiles.
Heading the new range up is the AVC-A1H. This $6,499/£5,999/€6,499 flagship beast is the latest entry in Denon’s legendary A Series of amplifiers, and as usual is aimed at cinephiles looking to fill large rooms with Dolby Atmos and DTS:X 3D sound. It offers 150Wx15 channels of amplification, Denon’s most powerful transformer, extreme build quality, only the best and most compatible premium internal components, and support for 4K/120Hz and 8K passthrough via its HDMI inputs.
The AV-A1H will support the IMAX Enhanced and Auro 3D formats, and will additionally handle Dirac Live following a future software update. It will be available in early 2023.
At the heart of Denon’s new receiver and amplifier range are three new X Series models: The AVC-X4800H, the AVC-X3800H, and the AVR-X2800H. The $2,499/£2,199/€2,399 X4800H delivers 9.4 channels of sound with 200W of power each, supports IMAX Enhanced and Auro 3D alongside Dolby Atmos and DTS:X, and will again support Dirac Live via a future firmware update. The X4800H will be available in early 2023.
The $1,699/£1,499/€1,699 AVR-X3800H/AVC-X3800H still offers a 9.4 channel count, but the power per channel reduces to 180W. Impressively for its money, though, it does still retain IMAX Enhanced and Auro 3D support. This model will be able from October this year.
A further step down gets you to the AVR-X2800H and AVR-X2800H DAB, the latter of which, as its name suggests, includes a digital radio receiver. Both versions of the X2800H will be available in October, with the regular version going for $1,199/£869/€969 while the DAB version goes for £899/€999.
Rear view of the Denon AVC-X3800H.
Aimed at medium sized rooms, the X2800H is a 7.2-channel receiver delivering 95W per channel. It still delivers Dolby Atmos and DTS:X support, but here we lose the IMAX Enhanced and Auro 3D capabilities. You still get three HDMI inputs capable of passing through both 8K and 4K/120Hz feeds, though, plus digital radio playback with the DAB-equipped X2800H version.
Wrapping up Denon’s new product range is a new S-Series receiver, the AVR-S970H. Launching in October for $899/£799/€969, the S970H serves up 145W per channel in a 7.2-channel configuration, and despite being the cheapest of Denon’s new models it still supports 8K and 4K/120Hz pass through across three HDMI inputs.
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