I traded my Sonos Era 300 for Denon's new home speaker - and see no reason to go back

pros and cons

Pros

• Hi-res audio support
• Multi-room integration
• Dolby Atmos support

Cons

• More costly than competitors
• Vague EQ settings

Follow ZDNET: Add america arsenic a preferred source on Google.

Sonos has possibly been the astir recognized sanction successful the location talker marketplace for immoderate time, but Denon has thing to accidental astir that. The institution precocious launched its lineup of second-generation location speakers: the Denon Home 200, Home 400, and Home 600.

The Denon Home 400 is the mid-tier enactment successful the lineup, and it's designed to spell head-to-head with the Sonos Era 300. It has a similar, larger signifier factor, up-firing Dolby Atmos speakers, and a slew of astute streaming features. It's besides built connected the company's HEOS multi-room audio platform, for integration with speakers from different HEOS-compatible lineups.

Also: I replaced my Sonos Era speakers with an improbable alternate - and didn't miss a beat

Sonos has spent years refining its astute talker offerings, and the Era 300 is an fantabulous illustration of wherever it's landed. Can Denon genuinely instrumentality connected the likes of Sonos with competitory alternatives? I've been utilizing the Denon Home 400 to find out.

It's really precise smart

The HEOS multi-room level runs things down the scenes, and it handles things similar streaming, the app experience, and truthful connected rather well. I really recovered it supported each the features I've travel to trust connected successful my Sonos speakers. HEOS natively supports respective euphony streaming platforms, including Tidal, Qobuz, Amazon Music, and more, portion Apple Music connectivity relies connected the speaker's AirPlay 2. 

The Home 400 works perfectly good connected its own, but you tin besides brace 2 for stereo playback oregon usage them arsenic wireless situation speakers alongside the Denon Home Sound Bar 550. That enactment is particularly adjuvant if you privation to physique retired a due surviving country setup without moving talker ligament everyplace -- and it mirrors Sonos' implementation with its soundbars. Denon besides supports HEOS-compatible subwoofers for other low-end muscle.

Christian de Looper/ZDNET

For carnal connections, there's Wi-Fi, a USB-C port, a 3.5mm aux input, and a built-in microphone. While the HEOS ecosystem mightiness not beryllium arsenic well-built arsenic Sonos's, successful day-to-day use, HEOS works beauteous well. Setup is easy, multi-room grouping is dependable, and you've got sum crossed the large streaming services.

Music sounds excellent

Inside the Home 400, you'll find six drivers total, including 2 tweeters, 2 114mm (4.5-inch) woofers, and 2 up-firing drivers dedicated to tallness information. Every azygous 1 of those drivers gets its ain dedicated Class D amplifier, giving the talker precise power implicit each constituent of the sound. 

This acoustic constitution is simply a large upgrade implicit the previous-generation Home 250, which had less drivers and couldn't bash thing adjacent to existent Atmos playback. The Home 400 is really the archetypal HEOS-enabled talker to enactment existent Dolby Atmos euphony playback, utilizing carnal upfiring drivers alternatively than virtualized tallness effects.

Also: Tidal vs. Qobuz: I tried some hi-res streaming services, and they couldn't beryllium much different

You tin perceive the quality successful compatible content, too. Whether you really privation to usage Atmos portion listening to euphony is different story. I sometimes find it enjoyable, but I usually similar to instrumentality to stereo playback. However, Atmos enactment does truly assistance erstwhile you usage these speakers arsenic surrounds successful a location theatre setup. The immersion of 3D audio is noticeable from the situation speakers and the beforehand channels, which tin enactment unneurotic to heighten the tallness effect.

You tin power the speaker's frequence range, but it's not precise precise. To beryllium clear, Sonos doesn't springiness you precise precise power either, truthful if you're comparing the two, this isn't needfully a large drawback for this talker specifically. You volition get basal bass, treble, and tallness controls, truthful you tin marque heavy-handed adjustments, but the controls are a small hard to find. 

Jada Jones/ZDNET

I spent a portion digging done settings earlier realizing I had to really beryllium playing audio done the talker to power the adjustments. Once you get an knowing of the app and however it works, you'll find it mostly casual to navigate, but it's inactive not precise intuitive.

If you're an audio nerd, you'll admit the amended enactment for hi-res audio connected the Denon Home 400. The Home 400 tin play afloat 24-bit/192kHz audio natively, and if you play audio done the USB port, you tin play your FLAC files. That's up of the Sonos Era 300, which tin judge 24-bit/192kHz audio arsenic an input but downscales it during playback.

ZDNET's buying advice

The Denon Home 400 is simply a superior location talker that somewhat blurs the enactment betwixt consumer-grade and audiophile speakers successful the sub-$500 terms range. True audiophiles with heavy pockets won't see the Home 400 an audiophile-grade speaker, but casual listeners volition admit its sound.

Also: Sonos Play vs. Sonos Move 2: Why I'd spell with the $200 cheaper Bluetooth speaker

If you're looking for immersive and full-sounding audio without paying a precocious price, the Denon Home 400 is perfectly worthy considering. That said, whether it beats alternatives depends connected your region. In immoderate regions, similar Europe, it costs the aforesaid arsenic the Sonos Era 300, but successful the US, it costs $150 more. Most radical looking for a astute talker successful this people volition privation to prevention the currency and spell for the Era 300, particularly if they don't attraction astir amended high-res playback.