Denon HEOS
Denon HEOS 7, HEOS 1, HEOS Link Price £1100 (£550, £200 & £350)
FOR Punchy bass; refined tonal balance; simple app AGAINST Lacks a little rhythmic precision and dynamism
Denon is best known for its Awardwinning AV receivers and micro systems, but the company has a wide range of products – from soundbars to subwoofers, amplifiers to wireless speakers – that can be connected via its HEOS multi-room application.
It has rich competition from Sonos, Bluesound, Audio Pro and others, and we are testing a pair of speakers – the Denon HEOS 7 and the smaller HEOS 1 – as well as the HEOS Link, which lets you add your existing system, to see how the HEOS system fares.
To connect the speakers to your wi-fi network you need to load up the HEOS app and either plug an ethernet cable into the back of the product or use a 3.5mm jack to transfer data from your smartphone or tablet to the device.
Flashing LEDS at the bottom of each product show the stage of its connection – green during set-up, blue for a secure connection.
Musical discovery
The HEOS app quickly finds the music on our server, as well as offering to stream from Amazon Music, Tidal, Deezer, Soundcloud, Spotify, Tunein, or play local music from our portable device or through a connected USB stick.
Airplay 2 support will be available soon, while an Alexa skill to let you switch the source by voice command will come later. There’s also Bluetooth, although it lacks the aptx required for Cd-like 16-bit/44.1khz streaming.
If you want to use multiple devices to control the products, we recommend creating a Denon account. This saves your various passwords, and quickly logs you into your accounts when you change to another tablet or smartphone.
While Spotify works via Spotify Connect, other apps show up within the HEOS app itself. For the most part this is straightforward, and the separation of products, sources and playback sections into tabs makes it easier to use than the one from Audio Pro, for example.
To send music to multiple speakers, just drag and drop them into the configuration you want. The range is capable of playing 24-bit/192khz music streams over a wireless network or via USB, and will support DSD up to 5.6MHZ.
The only slight downside we find with the app is that the Settings panel is located within the Music section. So if, for example, you are deep into the embedded Tidal app and want to change the device settings, you have to tap all the way out. We’d prefer it to be a little more accessible.
Although they are different shapes and sizes, each HEOS product feels well built. The HEOS 1 hides a tweeter and a mid/bass, while the larger HEOS 7 has two tweeters, two mid/bass drivers and a subwoofer – all of which are powered by Class D amplifiers.
On the back of each speaker are the same connections, for USB, ethernet, and auxiliary inputs (the HEOS 7 comes with a headphone output too). There are also buttons for Bluetooth pairing and linking the products up with wi-fi.
The Link provides a wide array of ports. As well as those found on the other HEOS speakers, it also has coaxial and optical outputs, a stereo pre out, and the option to connect a sub-woofer. For inputs, there’s an optical connection, and a stereo line in for connecting sources such as a CD player.
After leaving the system to run in a few days, we play a Tidal stream of I Am
The Doctor by Murray Gold. With smooth, high-pitched strings, a choir, rapidly plucked notes, and the mighty bass that cuts underneath, a good system should be able to keep it all in check. Both the HEOS 7 and the HEOS 1 do that, the system providing an impressive performance that’s easy to listen to, meaning you can listen to a range of music for hours without tiring of the speakers’ character.
“The Denon HEOS is a good system that does everything well. But there isn’t a compelling case to go down this route over one of its rivals”
The HEOS 7 sounds big and spacious, easily filling our testing room with a weighty, authoritative sound. If it’s being used in a smaller room, Denon recommends going into the EQ settings and turning down the bass a little.
Meanwhile, the way that it handles the vocalisations that rise up midway through the track are clear with a notable fluidity. There’s enough attention to detail here to make out how the multiple voices are combined too.
Moving to No One Knows by Queens of the Stone Age, played from our music server, the system provides solid punch and an impressive depth. At the end of the track, where the drumbeats are suddenly replaced by a lonesome, focused guitar riff, both the HEOS 1 and the HEOS 7 manage to convey the change in dynamism well. We swap from the speakers to test out the Link, plugging it into our reference system, and connect it to the app. A blast of Max Roach’s Lonesome Lover provides a good deal of detail to the shiny cymbals, and a nice handling of the treble that retains its charm without erring on the bright side. The mash of trumpets, deep drums, and cymbals all keep their space well, too.
Sound of the crowd
But while a smooth, spacious and insightful sound are all laudable qualities, the HEOS system lacks the rhythmic precision or dynamic subtlety of some rival kit, such as Audio Pro’s Addon C10 and C5 speakers. The HEOS system has more difficulty conveying the rising tension in Murray Gold’s scores, the quick changes in intensity, or the texture of vibrating strings.
The problem for HEOS is that it doesn’t quite do enough to raise its head above the rest of the multi-room crowd. Audio Pro sounds better, Sonos offers a more pleasant user experience, and Bluesound delivers hi-res music. It’s a good system that does everything well, but there’s not a compelling case to choose to go down the HEOS route over one of its rivals.