HEOS by Denon & Marantz – The Home of the Future, Today!

If you were to believe science fiction films and TV from the 60's through to the 90's; here in 2020 we should by now all be commuting to work in flying cars and enjoying our meals in pill-form as well as a plethora of other laughable and inaccurate predictions. But let’s just step back and take a second to think about the ones that did come true...

Back in 1966 Star Trek gave us a glimpse into the future with mobile communication devices that neatly fit in to our pockets as well as the humble yet futuristic automatic doors that graced the starship Enterprise. In 1968, 2001: A Space Odyssey, wowed us with a type of video communication which is akin to Skype and Facetime. And even in James Cameron's 1984 classic, Terminator, he terrified us with faceless military drones that are now commonplace on the modern battlefield. But let’s focus on Star Trek – The Next Generation for a moment. First aired in 1987, it was a regular occurrence within every episode to see the crew asking the ever-present computer for answers to questions or requesting that it turn on the lights, or even play a piece of their favourite music... Today, we just call that computer Alexa, Siri or Google Assistant! So it comes as no surprise that the world of home entertainment has been swept-up in the latest of these eerie predictions from pop-culture of yesteryear, and what better way to get involved than with HEOS from Denon & Marantz.

HEOS, (Home Entertainment Operating System), is a wireless music system that allows you to effortlessly control all of your music throughout your home with the free app on your smartphone, tablet or even your voice when used with Amazon Alexa... That's right, YOU can be the Captain! Let’s have a look at how this all works…

HEOS – The App

Available for free on iOS, Android and Kindle, HEOS gives you all the options you'd want and all the access you'd need to wirelessly stream from your favourite cloud-based sources such as Spotify, TIDAL, SoundCloud and Amazon Music to name but a few. You can also listen to tracks directly from your smartphone, tablet or USB drive. All of this is possible by connecting your HEOS app and applicable products to your home network.

So let’s take a look at a few of the products that will allow you to access this remarkable system in your home…

Denon Home Series Speakers

Possibly the easiest and most affordable way to turn your house in to the home of the future is with the Denon Home series. Available in three models, these fairly new arrivals to the scene were a very popular choice at the Bristol Hi-Fi show. With their sleek and stylish design, available in either black or white, these speakers offer a powerful and detailed soundstage. Let me introduce you to the range -

Denon Home 150 

The younger sibling of the current trio offers a 3.5” woofer and 1” tweeter combo, making it small but mighty. This little speaker is perfect for your living room, but will equally look great in your kitchen or bedroom!

Denon Home 250

Working on the same speaker configuration but double the speaker count (plus a passive bass port), The Home 250 offers quad amplification giving the optimum amount of power so you get the best sound quality available from such a compact unit.

Denon Home 350

This exploded view shows off the home 350 in all of its glory

The Home 350 is the flagship model of this family and truly brings the performance to another level. Boasting six channels of amplification, powering two 6.5” woofers, two 2” mid-range drivers and two 1” tweeters.

This amazing speaker would take pride of place in any lounge or living room.

Each of these fantastic speakers feature three quick select buttons for your favourite stations, have 3.5mm auxiliary inputs for direct connectivity, work with Amazon Alexa, Google Assistant, Bluetooth and AirPlay 2.

As it stands, voice control is available with use of a third-party device enabled with Siri, Google Assistant and Alexa. Each of the Home series has an integrated microphone, with voice assistant to be added later this year via a firmware update, making it a very attractive alternative to Sonos.

To sum things up on the Home Series, I think the thing that I love about these speakers, aside from the excellent sound quality, is that they can be used as a single stand alone option or added to an existing HEOS enabled system.

Denon AVR-X3600H AV Receiver and Streamer

Now for those of you that love your films and are looking to turn your living room in to your very own cinema whilst taking advantage of the full capabilities of streaming your music at home, the Denon AVR-X3600H AV Receiver is the one for you! Providing a hefty 9.2 surround sound option, you will find yourself fully immersed in whatever you're watching.

Not only is this AV Receiver impressive sonically, it also hosts a multitude of inputs, making it the central hub of your home entertainment system. With enough HDMI inputs for cable TV, games consoles, DVD and Blu-ray players as well as 4K and eARC – This Enhanced Audio Return Channel (or eARC as it is known) is a feature found in most HDMI 2.1 connections. But what does it mean for you? Well, the biggest advantage of eARC is a huge boost in bandwidth and speed of data transfer. This allows you to send higher-quality audio and picture from your TV to the receiver.

You don't have to go full 7.2 with your set-up. This will work work perfectly in a 5.1 or even 2.1 should you want to start out slow. And if you find the prospect of setting up that many speakers a bit daunting, Denon include a microphone to use with their Audyssey room calibration tool to ensure you get the best sound out of the system for your listening space.

On top of all this; thanks to a recent firmware update, you can even transmit the sound to your Bluetooth headphones. Giving you the option to utilise the AVR's capabilities without disturbing the rest of the family. This update is available on Support for selected Denon AVR´s (AVR-X1600H, AVR-X2600H, AVR-X2600HDAB, AVR-X3600H, DRA-800H) and Marantz AVR´s (SR5014, SR6014, NR1510, NR1710, NR1200).

Marantz PM7000N Integrated Network Amplifier

OK, so wireless speakers and AV receivers aren't your bag. You like simplicity, but you also crave quality... No problem. We've got you covered!

The award winning Marantz PM7000N is considered to be one of the best integrated amplifiers in its price bracket, and that's without even mentioning its streaming capability. Listening to this model, it is as though Marantz have poured their 65 years of hifi experience directly in to this powerhouse of audio giving it the most musical sound. The PM7000N is certainly not short of connectivity. Equipped with four analogue inputs as well one analogue output, plus a high quality MM phono stage which allows you to connect your turntable directly without the need of additional boxes. You'll also notice it features a USB-A input for high resolution audio files, one coaxial and two optical digital inputs should you want to connect your TV. The digital boards are shielded and can also be completely switched off independently using “Pure Modes” to avoid any interferences that might hinder the listening experience of you audiophiles out there.

This extremely well built unit is an excellent choice of amplifier to take centre-stage in your home set-up. Throw in the HEOS capability and you have yourself a formidable audio system. There’s a reason this thing won best Hi-Fi under £1000 during the last What Hi-Fi? Awards.

So what are you waiting for? Get out there and live that Jetson's lifestyle!

Should you want to see any of these products in the flesh, or want to discuss them further, be sure to give us a shout or pop in to the shop.

Brad, Nick and Joe - Audio T Portsmouth

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All of these Denon & Marantz products are available in all Audio T Stores.