HEOS by DEnOn
A new state-of-the-art wireless audio system that takes Sonos on at its own game is manufactured by one of the oldest names in audio and uses ground-breaking Aussie technology. At the Australian release of HEOS by Denon, the company’s marketing director, Nick Murrells, pointed out that HEOS was developed right here in Australia by none other than Peter Celinski, the South Australian electronics engineer who founded Avega Systems ten years ago. He is now chief technical officer at HEOS, which is based in North Sydney.
HEOS by Denon connects seamlessly to your existing Wi-Fi network and, through elegantly-designed, compact wireless speakers, enables you to enjoy music in any room, from cloud sources, local stored sources (NAS, PC or MAC) or from ‘legacy’ sources (CD, FM radio), all controlled by your Smartphone (iOS or Android), whose music content can also be streamed to the speakers. Qualifi, which has distributes Denon in Australia, has released the first products in the HEOS range: wireless multi-zone music players, the HEOS 3 ($449), HEOS 5 ($599) and HEOS 7 ($899), a wireless integrated amplifier ($799) and a wireless pre-amplifier ($549). ‘ HEOS represents the next evolution in products from Denon, a company that for more than 100 years is still leading in sound quality, new technologies and innovative products that not only appeal but anticipate what consumers are looking for,’ said Ralph Grundl from Qualifi. ‘ These great-looking HEOS wireless speakers can play music contained on your Smartphone. If you have more than one speaker, they can work as a multi-room system for your entire home. It’s the ideal audio set-up transferring Denon’s music experience to today’s busy consumers, allowing them to enjoy their favourite cloud music services to the fullest, because it brings Denon-quality audio to any—or all—rooms in their home.’
The HEOS App is designed to offer comprehensive control through a simple interface, allowing system set-up via a couple of taps. It lets you group speakers together, to play the same song in party mode, as well as separate rooms to play a different song in each of them: lets you create and save playlists as well as check what songs are next in the queue. You can also listen to tracks directly from your own—or anyone else’s—Smartphone, or from Internet radio, or streaming services. Currently, HEOS supports Spotify, TuneIn, Pandora and Deezer, but Celinski says other services, including iHeart, Rdio, Beatsmusic, Songza, SiriusXM are ‘ on our road map.’
The two products of most interest to audiophiles are the HEOS Link and HEOS Amp. The Link adds HEOS multi-room audio functionality to any existing audio system. Simply connect the HEOS Link stereo pre-amplifier via an analogue, digital coax or digital fibre optic cable to turn any existing home cinema or music system into a wireless HEOS audio zone.
The HEOS Amp adds multi-room audio functionality to any pair of stereo loudspeakers. It incorporates a Class-D amplifier with a claimed power output of 100-watts per channel. Then, like the Link, it allows you to stream music from hard drive, thumb drive, NAS or Smartphone. It also has analogue, digital coax and optical inputs. For further information, please contact Qualifi on 1800 242 426 or visit the website at www.qualifi.com.au There’s also an Australian HEOS microsite at www.heos.com.au