The HEOS Universe Expands with Arrival of Denon Home Speakers

full?d=1576080771.jpg

(December 10, 2019) Sound United's HEOS platform makes for an incredible audio streaming experience, and its ecosystem of supporting products seems to expand every month. Today, Denon has announced plans to inject three new HEOS enabled wireless speakers into the mix, giving users the ability to spread Hi-Fi music around their home with impressive versatility.

Denon's new "Denon Home" series of speakers are available in three different sizes. The largest is the Denon Home 350 ($699/each), which sits roughly 18.5" W x 13" D x 10" T and carries a six-driver array anchored by dual 6.5" woofers. The Denon Home 250 is slightly smaller (11.6" x 8.5" x 4.7"), shifting bass duty to a single 5.25" passive radiator, while the smallest 150 speaker sports a 4.7" x 4.7" x 7.4" cabinet and a single tweeter and 3.5" woofer pairing.

High-level playback and usability are common themes across all three Home models. Not only can owners group or pair the speakers with other HEOS and AirPlay 2 capable products, but they can also stream directly from a variety of sources. Those sources include traditional services such as Amazon Music HD, Apple Music, Spotify, and TIDAL, but also Hi-Res music files streamed via Wi-Fi, AirPlay 2 or Bluetooth. Additionally, the speakers have rear-mounted USB ports for gapless playback of Hi-Res audio, and six physical preset buttons for instant recall of internet radio stations.

"This new lineup of high-fidelity speakers from Denon are designed from the ground-up. Leveraging Denon's expertise in Hi-Fi amplification, DSP engineering and sound master tuning, the new Denon Home deliversunrivaled precision and incredible bass response," said Michael Greco, Senior Director of Global Brand Management at Sound United. "Since Denon Home uses the latest HEOS platform, they are fully compatible with Denon AV receivers—the leading AVR brand in the world—as well as all HEOS built-in products. With high-resolution audio more accessible than ever before, it was important to support gapless playback of 192kHz/24-bit FLAC, WAV, ALAC and DSD 2.8/5.6MHz files. Finally, wireless setup makes it incredibly easy to setup and add more speakers to Denon Home to get users up and running in no time."

The trio of speakers versatile nature is radically boosted by HEOS's grouping capabilities. While the speakers can be paired within a room or around a home, they also can be tasked with left and right channel stereo duties or utilized as rear surrounds in a larger wireless HEOS 5.1 surround system.

The entire Denon Home speaker lineup is slated to begin shipping during Q1 2020. Denon says voice assistant capabilities will become available post-launch via a future firmware update.

Additional Photos
full?d=1576080770.jpg


full?d=1576080771.jpg


full?d=1576080771.jpg


full?d=1576080771.jpg


full?d=1576080771.jpg

 

Will S

New Member
Joined
Feb 26, 2019
Messages
11
More  
Front Speakers
Bose 301
Subwoofers
KLH 12in.
Other Speakers or Equipment
Sonos Play 1, Sonos One
Screen
Panasonic Viera 46" 1080P Plasma
Remote Control
Harmony One
Wow. That sounds amazing, and a much better option than Sonos. Is there an app interface for HEOS or is it controlled as an external speaker via the app your are using, ie deezer, etc.
 

Todd Anderson

Editor / Senior Admin
Staff member
Thread Starter
Joined
Jan 20, 2017
Messages
9,138
Location
Balt/Wash Metro
More  
Preamp, Processor or Receiver
StormAudio ISP.24 MK2
Main Amp
Emotiva XPA-5
Additional Amp
Emotiva XPA Gen3 2.8 multichannel amp
Other Amp
Denon X8500H
Computer Audio
AudioEngine A2+
DAC
THX ONYX
Universal / Blu-ray / CD Player
Kaleidescape TERRA, OPPO UDP-203, Panasonic UB9000
Front Speakers
GoldenEar Technology Triton One.R
Center Channel Speaker
GoldenEar Technology SuperCenter Reference
Surround Speakers
SVS Ultra Surround
Surround Back Speakers
SVS Ultra Bookshelf
Front Height Speakers
SVS Prime Elevation x4 (Top Front, Top Mid-Front)
Rear Height Speakers
SVS Prime Elevation x4 (Top Middle, Top Rear)
Subwoofers
dual SVS SB16s + dual PSA XS30s
Other Speakers or Equipment
Behringer 1124p; Aura Bass Shaker Pros; SuperSub X
Video Display Device
JVC NX7
Screen
Seymour Screen Excellence, Enlightor NEO AT Screen
Streaming Equipment
iFi Audio Zen Blue
Streaming Subscriptions
Qobuz, TIDAL, Spotify, ROON
Other Equipment
LG Electronics 65-inch B6 OLED, Sony 65-inch X900F, ZeroSurge 8R15W x 2, ZeroSurge 2R15W x 2
If you're streaming music via Airplay, likely controlled within the app. HEOS, itself, has a wonderful app-based interface. Highly intuitive with music services built-in. It's a pleasure to use!
 

Will S

New Member
Joined
Feb 26, 2019
Messages
11
More  
Front Speakers
Bose 301
Subwoofers
KLH 12in.
Other Speakers or Equipment
Sonos Play 1, Sonos One
Screen
Panasonic Viera 46" 1080P Plasma
Remote Control
Harmony One
That's pretty cool. We have sonos speakers here, and the interface is not very friendly. I much prefer to use that apps directly from the service, but even that's a bit glitchy. Have you heard of any open wifi platforms that could be used across multiple speakers? I'd really like to link our outdoor theater to a wifi system, but I need a wifi amp to connect the speakers and I think sonos is the only option. It would be cool if they had multi-room wifi technology that could work across multiple brands.
 

Todd Anderson

Editor / Senior Admin
Staff member
Thread Starter
Joined
Jan 20, 2017
Messages
9,138
Location
Balt/Wash Metro
More  
Preamp, Processor or Receiver
StormAudio ISP.24 MK2
Main Amp
Emotiva XPA-5
Additional Amp
Emotiva XPA Gen3 2.8 multichannel amp
Other Amp
Denon X8500H
Computer Audio
AudioEngine A2+
DAC
THX ONYX
Universal / Blu-ray / CD Player
Kaleidescape TERRA, OPPO UDP-203, Panasonic UB9000
Front Speakers
GoldenEar Technology Triton One.R
Center Channel Speaker
GoldenEar Technology SuperCenter Reference
Surround Speakers
SVS Ultra Surround
Surround Back Speakers
SVS Ultra Bookshelf
Front Height Speakers
SVS Prime Elevation x4 (Top Front, Top Mid-Front)
Rear Height Speakers
SVS Prime Elevation x4 (Top Middle, Top Rear)
Subwoofers
dual SVS SB16s + dual PSA XS30s
Other Speakers or Equipment
Behringer 1124p; Aura Bass Shaker Pros; SuperSub X
Video Display Device
JVC NX7
Screen
Seymour Screen Excellence, Enlightor NEO AT Screen
Streaming Equipment
iFi Audio Zen Blue
Streaming Subscriptions
Qobuz, TIDAL, Spotify, ROON
Other Equipment
LG Electronics 65-inch B6 OLED, Sony 65-inch X900F, ZeroSurge 8R15W x 2, ZeroSurge 2R15W x 2
There are receivers that carry "Works with Sonos." I can't remember definitively off the top of my head, but I believe Pioneer/Elite and Onkyo/Integra definitely have it. Basically, as the tech label indicates, they can be integrated into a whole-home Sonos speaker system.

Changing up a wireless platform isn't easy, because you have to find some sort of universal commonality. If you're an Apple family, you could tap the power of AirPlay2 capable speakers... which would achieve what you're looking for. I think ChromeCast would be another option... the downside being, you begin to corner yourself into having to use certain products.

AirPlay2 has fairly broad reach... and I believe you'd manage that in the service app rather than through a platform's app. ChromeCast is similar, if I'm not mistaken, but fewer products are ChromeCast enabled.

One benefit of ChromeCast is the ability to stream Hi-Res audio at 24-bit/96kHz... I think Apple limited to 16/44 (CD quality).
 

GFOviedo

Member
Joined
Jun 20, 2017
Messages
636
I use a HEOS Link HS1 for my garage set up, which is perfect for that---garage setup. I wouldn't recommend any HEOS device for a main listening room if you are into listening to HiFi audio. The HEOS app isn't very friendly or the best for HiFi listening either. If you use Tidal, it does not support shuffling your playlist. If you use Amazon Music HD, you will not be able to play your playlist at all. However, if you use Spotify, it supports the Spotify app fluently, but then Spotify doesn't offer HiFi. Furthermore, HEOS devices do not support MQA, and we do not know when Denon will support it, if at all.

I have been using my BlueSound PowerNode N150 for my main listening area (living room), and I can definitely hear a difference with MQA files vs Spotify (I use both). BlueSound app is better than HEOS app since it supporst Tidal app, and you can play your playlist, but still doesn't support shuffling your playlist, but BlueSound is working on that. Plus you can use BlueOS Controller on you PC to play music, but I like using my phone to control it better.
 

Todd Anderson

Editor / Senior Admin
Staff member
Thread Starter
Joined
Jan 20, 2017
Messages
9,138
Location
Balt/Wash Metro
More  
Preamp, Processor or Receiver
StormAudio ISP.24 MK2
Main Amp
Emotiva XPA-5
Additional Amp
Emotiva XPA Gen3 2.8 multichannel amp
Other Amp
Denon X8500H
Computer Audio
AudioEngine A2+
DAC
THX ONYX
Universal / Blu-ray / CD Player
Kaleidescape TERRA, OPPO UDP-203, Panasonic UB9000
Front Speakers
GoldenEar Technology Triton One.R
Center Channel Speaker
GoldenEar Technology SuperCenter Reference
Surround Speakers
SVS Ultra Surround
Surround Back Speakers
SVS Ultra Bookshelf
Front Height Speakers
SVS Prime Elevation x4 (Top Front, Top Mid-Front)
Rear Height Speakers
SVS Prime Elevation x4 (Top Middle, Top Rear)
Subwoofers
dual SVS SB16s + dual PSA XS30s
Other Speakers or Equipment
Behringer 1124p; Aura Bass Shaker Pros; SuperSub X
Video Display Device
JVC NX7
Screen
Seymour Screen Excellence, Enlightor NEO AT Screen
Streaming Equipment
iFi Audio Zen Blue
Streaming Subscriptions
Qobuz, TIDAL, Spotify, ROON
Other Equipment
LG Electronics 65-inch B6 OLED, Sony 65-inch X900F, ZeroSurge 8R15W x 2, ZeroSurge 2R15W x 2
Interesting comments, and I can see where you’re coming from. I guess my experience of using HEOS has been under different circumstances/uses. I’ve actually been very enthusiastic about it!
 

carted01

Registered
Joined
Dec 29, 2019
Messages
1
More  
Preamp, Processor or Receiver
Denon AVR-X4100W
Hi Todd,
With the news of the new speakers, is there any news on the Heos Link. I went to purchase one after xmas, however Harvey Norman had sold out and advised me the current model was being discontinued, which made me not look any further in case there is something else coming soon.
 
Top Bottom