DHT-S517 Soundbar with Subwoofer, Bluetooth, Dolby Digital, Dolby Atmos, Sound Bar for TV, Dialogue Enhancer, HDMI ARC, Wall Mountable, Music Streaming, Including HDMI Cable

I was torn between this Denon and the very similar Polk Signa S4, in the end I decided the subwoofer of the DHT-S517 was better looking and fitted into my media wall better. Owned by the same parent company, they are pretty much identical expect the Denon has an HDMI input and a ‘Pure’ mode which is designed to eliminate unwanted processing and sound effects. Speaking of sound, this is where the Denon shines for me - I’ve had smart soundbars before and previous to this I tried a Sonos Beam 2. Whilst the Sonos was ok for movies, I found it lacking playing music and was not a comfortable listen. Although missing smart features, this combination is cheaper and includes a subwoofer. I’m pleased to report the sound quality really is excellent for movies and music. Don’t expect miracles from the upfiring drivers playing Atmos content, but they are a nice addition and add some height to the sound. The build quality is very good, it feels well made and sturdy without being unnecessarily heavy and bulky and the charcoal grill front will match any decor nicely. It’s a shame they have not opted to equip the bar with a display of some kind and instead rely on a small row of coloured lights to let the user know what’s happening. What’s even more of a shame is there’s no way to dim or turn this off completely, a time out after 30 seconds would be ideal to save getting distracted during a movie. The light is also off centre in the bar which drives my OCD crazy, but is liveable I guess. It sits nicely under my 55” LG as you can see, any smaller TV and it will probably overhang. The remote control also leaves a lot to be desired, whilst it is logically laid out and has the essential buttons in the right places, it’s neither nice to hold or operate. It feels cheap and the buttons are flat, it’s also infa red so requires precise aim and sometimes repeat presses! Luckily equipped with HDMI Earc I can use the Tv remote to control volume, but any adjustments to the sound need to be carried out by the Denon remote. Although not really expected at this price point, a Bluetooth app would have been appreciated to control the bar better. If sound quality and build quality are your main focus and you can forgive wi-fi connectivity and control, I don’t think you’ll go far wrong with this soundbar. Everything you need is included like HDMI and optical cables, quick start guide, wall mount template and spacers. Set up literally takes 2 minutes and the bar and subwoofer pair immediately and I’m pleased to report I’ve suffered no delay/connection troubles. I’ve not tested the Bluetooth but it is version 5.0 so should sound as good as the wired sources. The 3.5mm mini jack is a nice touch too, I guess you could hook this up to a turntable or perhaps an Alexa device to make up for the lack of WiFi. Thank you for reading my review, despite a couple of short comings regarding the remote and display, I throughly recommend the Denon based on the sound quality and ease of use alone it is worth it. If you feel the need for rear surrounds in your setup you’ll have to look elsewhere as this unit is not expendable beyond what you get here.

This soundbar was easy to set up with basic set-up instructions in the accompanying booklet. But you will need to go online to download the full manual. Very simple to connect up. There are two options - an HDML cable that connects to an HDML port on the back of your tv. This port has to be ARC compatible. Most modern tv's will be. You can read about this in the manual. Also of course you will need an available port. Our old tv doesn't support ARC and has only two ports - one taken up with the set top box cable and the other taken up with the DVD player cable. But there is another option. The soundbar comes both with the HDML cable and an optical cable, If your tv is not ARC compatible and/or you don't have a free HDML port, you can connect the soundbar to the optical port on the back of your tv, as I did. The only slight downside is that the optical cable does not support the Dolby function on the soundbar, but supports all the other functions. For me the lack of Dolby didn't make any noticeable difference. Remember to mute the sound on your tv otherwise you will get a strange sound coming from both the tv speakers and the soundbar. When you've muted the tv you may have to press the volume button on the remote control or the soundbar itself, otherwise the soundbar may stay silent. The sound itself is very good for the price. The sub woofer works well with very decent bass sound and connects remotely, you just have to plug it into a socket. Various settings you can change to increase dialogue clarity, bass, and so on. Well worth the money. And a vast improvement on the useless speakers on most tv's.

If you’re wanting something to make the audio on your TV sound better then this will do the trick. Really enhances the sound and sub is good enough to make the earth move. Clear dialog and more than loud enough for a large room. It automatically switches itself on when you turn on the connected FireTV and also does the same with the turntable I have connected to it. Negative points for me are the remote is strange flat rubber buttons that I don’t think will stand the test of time with fingernails (although writing a review after owning it for a couple of weeks won’t prove this). Having said that I’ve paired the Amazon remote to it for volume control so don’t really need to use it. Also, the volume seems to have a lag when you press the buttons and takes a while to get to the desired point. Audio through the 3.5mm aux-in from a turntable isn’t great… it’s ok but my old, cheaper soundbar was better. You’re going to buy this for you TV though, and it’s not meant to be a full hi-fi system, so that probably doesn’t matter to most. It wouldn’t play audio through the optical cable out of the TV when playing a Blu-ray (eg Blu-ray to TV via HDMI then optical cable from TV to soundbar), so had to plug the BR player into the back of the soundbar then another HDMI from the soundbar to the TV. Might be user error as don’t fully understand it yet… I’ve got the BR player and FireTV connected to the “HDMI in” on the soundbar (with a HDMI splitter so I can switch between the two), then “HDMI out” of the soundbar to the TV. Turntable is into 3.5mm aux and Bluetooth works well with my iPhone. Apple TV is connected to TV via HDMI 2 and audio sent back via optical to soundbar and works fine. Probably an easier way of doing it, possible three-way HDMI splitter into soundbar for Apple, Fire and Blu-ray? Anyway, looks great and overall it’s good. Haven’t watched enough Dolby Atmos movies to comment on whether this is worth the extra money compared to soundbars without this option