Denon DHT-S514 review

The Denon DHT-S514 is the company’s latest soundbar and wireless subwoofer combo. The DHT-S514 isn’t the most stylish sound bar we’ve ever seen, but its angular matt black design still looks smart and classy. The drivers are covered by a simple metal mesh and a row of illuminated control buttons sit on top of the soundbar at the front. Here you can select your chosen input, sound modes, and volume level.

At 1,004mm long, the DHT-S514 is best suited to TVs that are 42in and above. The very largest TVs will dwarf it slightly, but it still looked good even when we placed it in front of a 65in TV. The DHT-S514 also comes with two pairs of plastic feet that you can use if you want to elevate the sound bar an extra 20mm or 30mm off the ground to fit over your TV’s stand. Likewise, there’s a bundled infra-red repeater that attaches to the rear of the sound bar. The infrared repeater is handy if the sound bar obscures your TV’s infrared sensor.

The DHT-S514 has a fair number of connection ports, which makes it easy to connect it to your TV and other devices. You’ll find a HDMI input, an optical digital input, a coaxial digital input and a 3.5mm mini jack. There’s also a HDMI output that supports Audio Return Channel (ARC), which means that the sound from your TV can be transmitted back to the sound bar through a HDMI cable. Your TV must be ARC compatible in order to do this, though.

The subwoofer, on the other hand, is wireless, so all you need to do is plug it in. It’ll automatically pair itself with the sound bar. Measuring 313x172x346mm, it’s nice and compact, making it easy to tuck away. You won’t want to place it too far out of reach, though, as the only volume control for it is located on its back, just by the power socket. At 49W, it’s able to pump out an incredible amount of bass for films and music, and fight scenes in particular were given a lot more force and punch.

The soundbar’s Dolby Digital and DTX decoders also do a great job of creating a palpable atmosphere when watching both films and TV. With a pair of 10W two-way speakers at its disposal, along with two 0.5in tweeters and two 5in mid-range drivers, the DHT-S514 produced clear audio throughout our testing. When watching Avatar, the jungles of Pandora really came to life, and we didn’t find the sense of stereo deteriorated when we listened at the side of the soundbar instead of the centre.

There’s plenty of volume to fill a large room, but the powerful bass did prove a little overwhelming at maximum volume. We also found that dialogue tended to get a little lost in the rest of the film’s soundtrack regardless of volume level. It wasn’t enough to ruin our overall listening experience, though.

The DHT-S514 can also stream audio via Bluetooth, and can make use of the high-quality aptX codec should you have a compatible phone or tablet. We had no trouble playing files from our smartphone and connecting it was as simple as going into our phone’s Bluetooth Settings menu, pairing it with the DHT-S415 and hitting the Bluetooth button either on the remote or the soundbar itself. Admittedly, higher frequencies didn’t sound quite as fleshed out as low and mid-range sounds, but adjusting the subwoofer volume allowed them to come through more fully.

It’s a shame the simplistic remote control doesn’t have any subwoofer controls on it, as reaching round the back of the subwoofer every time was a bit of a pain. However, the remote does a good job of replicating the controls on top of the soundbar, and we particularly like the way the controls on the soundbar light up as you adjust the volume.

The remote control is also handy for switching over to Night Mode, which cuts bass on the subwoofer so it won’t annoy your neighbours when you’re watching a late-night film. In this mode, there was still a decent amount of bass present, but higher range sounds sounded a little thin for our liking.

The Denon DHT-S514 is a good all-round soundbar and its powerful subwoofer certainly makes it stand out from other combo systems. It’s not without its flaws, though, and we think it’s a little expensive. Some cheaper soundbars, such as the Pioneer SBX-N500, do a lot more. The SBX-N500, for instance, can stream video wirelessly, but if all you want is a simple yet great sounding speaker system, the £220 Philips HTL5120 is a better buy.