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(Pocket-lint) – The Denon DHT-S517 caught our eye as an inexpensive soundbar choice for these desirous to expertise Dolby Atmos at dwelling.
It is a pretty unassuming-looking soundbar with a separate wi-fi subwoofer, and at its value level, it finds itself in a really crowded nook of the market.
Nonetheless, few provide Dolby Atmos at this value, and that would imply it is a bit of a winner. We put it to the take a look at to see if that’s certainly the case, or if corners have been minimize elsewhere. Here is what we discovered.
Our fast takeIf you are searching for a easy and inexpensive resolution to enhance your TV’s sound, the Denon DHT-S517 is effectively price contemplating.It is simple to arrange, hassle-free to wall or stand mount and can work with the overwhelming majority of televisions. It additionally sounds nice, with distinctive dialogue presentation and large staging.Its standout characteristic, the Dolby Atmos help, was slightly underwhelming in observe – nevertheless it does add some top to the soundstage, which is good to have.An upgraded subwoofer may actually make this method shine, and we might like to see that in future variations.Because it stands, it is nonetheless a stable decide. And for those who’re upgrading out of your TV’s built-in audio system, then it will possible knock your socks off. ForWell priced Straightforward to arrange Understated seems Glorious vocal readability Vast soundstage AgainstLacks sensible options Dolby Atmos impact is not essentially the most spectacular Subwoofer may use extra oomph squirrel_6501634
Design
Dimensions: 1050 x 60 x 95 mmWireless subwooferKeyhole wall mounting
At simply over a metre in size, it is a pretty sizeable soundbar. Nonetheless, we examined it with a modest 42-inch TV and did not discover that it seemed foolish or misplaced. It is in all probability finest suited to TVs round 50-inches and above, the place the size shall be extra complimentary.
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The ‘bar has a darkish gray material overlaying on the entrance, which extends over about half of the highest panel. The remainder of the shell is comprised of sturdy-feeling black plastic, and there are cutouts on the highest panel to permit the upward-firing Atmos drivers to do their factor.
There is a central management panel on the highest with 5 round buttons. These will let you management the ability, enter, Bluetooth and quantity. It is refreshingly easy, which is a theme that extends throughout most of our expertise with this product. There’s nothing sophisticated in regards to the design or performance of the DHT-S517, it is simply constructed to plug in and sound good. Finest Alexa audio system 2022: Prime Amazon Echo options By Britta O’Boyle · 4 Could 2022 Quite a few third social gathering audio system have embraced Amazon’s succesful Alexa assistant alongside the Echo units. Listed here are one of the best Amazon Echo options.
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It is about 6cm tall, so it is unlikely to dam the display screen or infrared receiver on most stand-mounted TVs. There isn’t any repeater, although, so that you may wish to measure for those who’re contemplating choosing one up. If you happen to’re wall mounting, there are easy keyhole mounts on the rear that ought to make set up pretty hassle-free.
The subwoofer has the identical fabric-fronted aesthetic, solely swapping the plastic housing for MDF. It has 4 rubberised toes to maintain it planted in place and sizable porting on the rear. Because it’s wi-fi, it solely must be positioned close to a plug socket, and you’ll home it wherever you see match.
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When turned on, the soundbar has a collection of LEDs on the entrance panel to point which mode it is in, together with displaying quantity data. It is higher than nothing, nevertheless it’s not all the time instantly apparent what the soundbar is attempting to let you know.
We realise it is a bit nit-picky, however the LED array can also be off-centre, and we predict it’d look higher within the center or additional to one of many sides. It is possible that the speaker placement prevents this, although, so it is an comprehensible determination. The choice to show the LEDs off solely would have been a pleasant characteristic to have, too.
Connectivity and options
HDMI ARC and pass-throughOptical, 3.5mm mini jack and Bluetooth 5.0Infrared distant
The Denon DHT-S517 foregoes any fancy Wi-Fi-enabled options, as a substitute choosing the traditional wired connections together with Bluetooth. That mentioned, there are sufficient choices right here that you’re going to be unlikely to battle with hooking up nearly any supply you may want for.
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There’s an HDMI passthrough, together with HDMI eARC help, which implies that the overwhelming majority of TVs are coated. You may possible wish to stick to these connections to get essentially the most from the soundbar.
Nonetheless, if wanted, you need to use an optical cable as a substitute – it will nonetheless enable Dolby Atmos indicators to be decoded, as long as the supply is utilizing the extra compressed Dolby Digital Plus container. Then, there’s additionally a 3.5mm mini jack, which is able to will let you hook up with absolutely anything.
Bluetooth 5.0 makes it very straightforward to stream music out of your smartphone, and we discovered the connection to be fairly stable. Nonetheless, all through most of our testing, we selected to stream music by our Chromecast with Google TV to make sure one of the best constancy.
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There is a small infrared distant included which covers the entire soundbar’s features. It has a seamless rubberised coating on the highest panel, which feels good, however picks up mud fairly shortly – so it may be onerous to maintain it wanting presentable.
The soundbar additionally helps CEC, so you’ll be able to management the amount together with your TV’s distant, that is very handy and in addition retains issues easy for the much less tech-savvy relations.
Efficiency
2x 0.9in tweeters, 2x 3.4in mid-range drivers, 1x 0.9in full-range driverModes: Music, Film, Night time, Pure, Dialogue Enhancer (3 ranges)5.9-inch ahead firing sub with ported cupboard
Relating to TV and film viewing, we have been instantly struck by the vocal readability supplied by the DHT-S517. The devoted centre channel does an exquisite job of bringing dialogue to the foreground, and that is supported by three ranges of dialogue enhancement, must you nonetheless battle to listen to what is going on on. These modes work fairly successfully, however we discovered that the soundbar did a wonderful job with out the necessity for enhancement, so we had it turned off more often than not.
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We may have used some extra affect from the subwoofer, although. Watching some aerial battles in Guardians of the Galaxy left us craving some extra rumble. That is to not say there is no bass, it is nonetheless miles higher than something a TV speaker may produce – however these searching for low-end that you could actually really feel will wish to look elsewhere.
The soundbar has wonderful staging and produces a large soundscape that feels as if it ought to come from one thing bigger. There isn’t any actual feeling of encompass sound, although, and no choice so as to add rear channels for those who wished to improve sooner or later.
It is a related story with the Dolby Atmos impact. The upward-firing drivers do make a distinction, and sound seems to increase above the TV, however by no means from above you, as you may hope. It is form of like Weight-reduction plan Atmos, it isn’t fairly the full-fat expertise you may be searching for, nevertheless it’s nonetheless tastier than water.
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Musical efficiency is pretty sturdy, and once more the readability of the vocals is a spotlight. There’s some good stereo imaging, little doubt because of the soundbar’s bodily width, and this makes the music really feel immersive and alluring.
Sadly, it is once more the subwoofer that lets the group down. The low frequencies come throughout as uncontrolled and missing liveliness. There’s not a lot that may be achieved to regulate this, both, the one choice is to show the bass up or down on the distant.
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To recap
The Denon DHT-S517 is a succesful soundbar that is splendidly straightforward to arrange and a pleasure to dwell with. It may not provide the Atmos expertise of your goals however, at this value, it’d come shut sufficient.
Writing by Luke Baker. Modifying by Verity Burns.
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