Don’t be surprised if your new TV’s sound is no match for its scintillating picture quality. That’s no surprise. Wafer-thin TV cabinets are the enemy of decent sounding speakers and need a lot more breathing space – which is exactly what Denon’s team of designers are thinking.
Their solution is the DHT-S514 and DHT-T100. Either will improve the sound of any flat screen TV with clearly audible improvements in any program’s dialogue, treble detail and bass quality.
The DHT-S514 is nicely priced at $999. The money buys a pace-setting soundbar which is easy for any novice to connect to a TV and moreover provides the digital era must have feature – Bluetooth wireless connectivity and streaming plus a powerful fully powered, wireless sub-woofer which provides floor-shaking bass.
Connecting the DHT-S514 to any modern LCD, LED, OLED or Plasma TV is as easy as plugging a single HDMI cable to one end of the soundbar and the other to any spare HDMI connection on the TV.
The addition of an HDMI ARC (Audio Return Channel) feature allows the DHT-S514 to playback from other audio-video appliances and devices through its two built in tweeter and mid-range speaker drivers, powerful onboard amplifiers and wireless subwoofer.
Moreover the DHT-S514 processes the sound using its Denon Virtual Surround Processing technology to envelope viewers with a cinema like sound field using its built-in Dolby Digital and DTS decoding electronics.
Virtually a complete home entertainment centre, the DHT-S514 is equipped for high quality music playback with connections for digital, analogue and wireless devices including smartphones and tablets. CD quality playback is assured with any aptX Bluetooth enabled device.
Denon supplies this soundbar with not just any garden-variety remote – what you get is a smart remote, which can learn commands from the TV’s remote control reducing the clutter of remotes that litter most living rooms.
Surround soundbar on a budget
For those that can’t quite fit the DHT-S514 in their budget, Denon supplies the DHT-T100 TV Speaker Base for just $549.
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The good news is this model carries the best features of the dearer model and the sound will also trump any TV’s sound system.
The DHT-T100 has an ace up its sleeve because its been built to slide easily and discretely under the majority of TVs which measure up to 50-inches. While it has a very slim cabinet, it’s also sturdy and can support TVs that weigh up to 27 KGs.
Placed in situ under a TV, the DHT-T100’s sleek design renders it all but invisible until it’s powered up and the compliment of built-in dual 2 x 5-inch oval shaped drivers and dual one-half-inch dome treble drivers powered by powerful digital amplifiers which go to work wrapping viewers in a virtual surround sound experience.
If you’re wondering how this model manages to generate trouser flapping amounts of bass, the answer is Denon designed two complex bass tubes in the back of the DHT-T100 for full-range, informative bass.
The DHT-T100 processes all programs and the sound sent by any appliance or device connected to it by cable or wirelessly, using Denon’s Dolby Digital Decoding and Virtual Surround Sound technology to place viewers in the middle of a seeming 360 degree sound stage.
Like the dearer model, the DHT-T100 Speaker Base has one on the future and features Bluetooth A2DP wireless connectivity with aptX included to provide CD-quality music playback.
