Denon is refreshing its home audio lineup by bringing over some of the best designs from its HEOS line, with its new $799 Home Amp at the forefront.
Essentially just a remake of its HEOS Amp HS2 with added features, the new Denon Home Amp aims to take on the likes of Bose and Sonos with an aesthetically pleasing design blended with a serious tech stack that starts with eARC compatibility and multichannel Dolby Audio.
It wrangles together several existing features from the Amp HS2 as well, like app-controlled multi-room music streaming, wireless or wired connection, class D two-channel amplification, and dual-band 802.11 Wi-Fi. Apple AirPlay 2 support is also included with Apple Siri voice controls.
The Denon Home Amp is set to be a significant foil against contenders like the Sonos Amp, a $700 home audio solution with similar functionality. With the addition of multichannel Dolby Audio and broader connectivity, Denon’s new home audio design might spell a win against rivals Sonos and Bose.
Amplifying the power of home audio
With its boxy design and front-facing touch controls, the Denon Home Amp is just as unassuming in its chic as it is powerful in its overall delivery. As a next-generation take on its HEOS Amp HS2, the Home Amp does a lot of the same functionality with an added emphasis on power, which it rockets up from 70W to 100W per channel at 8 ohms and 125W at 4 ohms.
Denon claims the Home Amp decodes audio at up to 24-bit/192kHz lossless audio across formats ALAC, FLAC, and WAV. One marvel is its ability to decode DSD 2.8MHz and 5.6MHz, which is not always the case for most wireless home audio solutions (case in point being the Bose Music Amplifier). You can pair it up with many of the best AV receivers with HEOS compatibility.
For I/O, the Denon Home Amp comes equipped with much of the same inputs as seen on the previous HEOS Amp HS2, including USB-A, optical, RCA analog, subwoofer output, and the new additions of a Bluetooth pairing button and the HDMI ARC/eARC port for TV audio connections. Both wired and wireless network connectivity is also a plus.
With its new HDMI eARC port, the Home Amp allows Dolby Digital Plus compatibility on multichannel Dolby Audio, which can downmix to two-channel sound for TV stereo users without one of the best Dolby Atmos soundbars. As expected, the Denon Home Amp can share its audio with other connected HEOS speakers throughout the home, like the Denon Home 150, which even includes HDMI audio.
If you’re in the market for an efficient new audio amplifier built with ample specs and a classy design, then the Denon Home Amp is ripe for the taking. You can preorder it today for just $799 at various retailers and Denon.com.
More from Tom's Guide
