The Denon DHT-S517 is a 3.1.2 soundbar system with 7 drivers. The subwoofer has a front firing speaker with a rear firing port and connects to the soundbar via Bluetooth. It’s a nice-looking unit, but the cloth that covers the speakers tends to attract pet hair. It supports the Dolby audio format, but not DTS, and I will get into more of that later in my review. The soundbar is wall mountable, but it is also low profile enough that it can be placed in front of most televisions without blocking the IR port or part of the screen. It has 2 HDMI ports with one being ARC/eARC capable. If you don’t have a TV capable of ARC it also has an optical input, but if you use an optical cable you won’t get Dolby + or TrueHD audio. It comes with one HDMI and one optical cable to ... MoreThe Denon DHT-S517 is a 3.1.2 soundbar system with 7 drivers. The subwoofer has a front firing speaker with a rear firing port and connects to the soundbar via Bluetooth. It’s a nice-looking unit, but the cloth that covers the speakers tends to attract pet hair. It supports the Dolby audio format, but not DTS, and I will get into more of that later in my review. The soundbar is wall mountable, but it is also low profile enough that it can be placed in front of most televisions without blocking the IR port or part of the screen. It has 2 HDMI ports with one being ARC/eARC capable. If you don’t have a TV capable of ARC it also has an optical input, but if you use an optical cable you won’t get Dolby + or TrueHD audio. It comes with one HDMI and one optical cable to help get you setup.I set the soundbar up in my master bedroom and it was pretty much plug and play with my television. I only had to select “yes” when asked if I wanted to turn on audio passthrough. I hooked up to my TV using ARC/eARC so I could take advantage of HD sound. The included remote is handy to change the dialog settings and bass volume, but if you’re connected with your TV via an HDMI cable your TV remote will control the volume.The first movie I played was The Batman, which has TrueHD audio. The power light on the front of the Denon changes from white to green when it receives an HD signal. The dialog enhancement button on the remote does offer a significant improvement in speech. Even on the low setting you can hear a difference with the bass and mid-tones reduced to put more emphasis on the typical audio frequencies for voice. While I can see a need for the enhancement for some movies, I preferred the “Pure” setting, which is with speech enhancement turned off. I watched the chase scene and the bass from the engine of the bat mobile was nice and tight and it didn’t sound muddy at all. It also wasn’t overpowering, and it didn’t rattle the room. While the sound coming from the soundbar didn’t sound like it was bouncing off the ceiling from the up-firing speakers, it did create an enhanced sound stage that was both wide and tall. The Denon handled the scene very well and I quite enjoyed the experience.The next movie I watched was Godzilla (2014), which has DTS-HD audio. The power light remained white on the Denon, which I expected because it doesn’t have support for the DTS format. I watched the scenes from Hawaii where Godzilla first comes ashore and later confronts a Muttu. For me here the sound fell flat. It was nowhere near as lively as the TrueHD audio was when I watched The Batman. Not only did the sound stage not sound as large, but the bass just wasn’t there like it was while playing Dolby audio. While it was still a huge improvement over the television speakers, it was disappointing when compared to what this soundbar can do with Dolby HD audio. The speech enhancement works here as well and does offer an improvement in hearing and understanding speech.For broadcast television you really aren’t going to see any HD audio so in comparing the audio to my televisions speakers there really is no comparison. The Denon is head and shoulders better then just about 99.9% of TV speakers out there. The speech enhancement also works here with broadcast media.While I did like this system, there are two large drawbacks for me. The first being the afore mentioned lack of support for DTS audio. With as many movies that are out there with DTS audio I’m not sure why support wasn’t included. The other drawback is the lack of expandability. There is no option for me to purchase additional rear satellite speakers down the road to create a complete 5.1.2 system, which would have been especially nice. If you’re looking for a budget system that sounds nice and you can live with the shortcomings I mentioned, it’s an exceptional system and you will be happy with it over your televisions speakers.

I bought this sound bar after having a negative experience with a Bose sound bar bought from another retailer. The Bose used an app to connect to the unit to make adjustments to sound, and used Wi-Fi to make the connection. The Bose kept dropping the Wi-Fi and consequently I couldn’t make any adjustments. It also kept dropping the pairing for the smart remote. Pain in the neck!!I returned the Bose and went to Bestbuy Coeur d’Alene, where I have had good experience with the friendly and knowledgeable staff. I selected the Denon, which was about $200 less than I paid for the Bose. The sound is every bit as good as the Bose, and there are absolutely to connection issues: I connected the HDMI cable to the TV, powered the Denon on, and it paired with the sub-woofer and ... MoreI bought this sound bar after having a negative experience with a Bose sound bar bought from another retailer. The Bose used an app to connect to the unit to make adjustments to sound, and used Wi-Fi to make the connection. The Bose kept dropping the Wi-Fi and consequently I couldn’t make any adjustments. It also kept dropping the pairing for the smart remote. Pain in the neck!!I returned the Bose and went to Bestbuy Coeur d’Alene, where I have had good experience with the friendly and knowledgeable staff. I selected the Denon, which was about $200 less than I paid for the Bose. The sound is every bit as good as the Bose, and there are absolutely to connection issues: I connected the HDMI cable to the TV, powered the Denon on, and it paired with the sub-woofer and took over speaker chores from the TV’s speakers. The included remote handles the tasks easily, but is not a universal remote, so it only controls the sound bar. Simple! Yes!!I gave a rating of only 4 stars because the sound does not blow me away. The sound is good, but not totally immersive. This could be because we have a vaulted ceiling and the up-firing speakers can’t bounce off the ceiling perfectly. The dialogue enhancing feature is the primary reason for our getting a sound bar, and that feature seems pretty good. Still, I am quite happy I bought the Denon.

I have used many sound bars from various brands over the years but this was my first from Denon. I did have a positive experience with a Denon A/V receiver about 15 years ago so I was excited to see how this system would perform.First, set-up was quick and easy. The quick start guide was helpful and the wireless subwoofer paired with the soundbar almost instantly upon turning them on.The quick start guide also has a helpful chart to indicate what the lights on the soundbar indicate. Here are some other highlights from my first week using this system:Pros:- The remote control is well designed, allowing you to easily adjust your audio source, sound modes, and volume/bass levels. Other soundbar remotes I have used make it more complex to adjust bass levels or to ... MoreI have used many sound bars from various brands over the years but this was my first from Denon. I did have a positive experience with a Denon A/V receiver about 15 years ago so I was excited to see how this system would perform.First, set-up was quick and easy. The quick start guide was helpful and the wireless subwoofer paired with the soundbar almost instantly upon turning them on.The quick start guide also has a helpful chart to indicate what the lights on the soundbar indicate. Here are some other highlights from my first week using this system:Pros:- The remote control is well designed, allowing you to easily adjust your audio source, sound modes, and volume/bass levels. Other soundbar remotes I have used make it more complex to adjust bass levels or to toggle listening modes.- The dialog enhancer feature is my favorite part of this system. Too many streaming apps these days have quiet dialog but extremely loud background noise, explosions, etc. This helps eliminate the frustration you get when you turn volume up to hear a conversation, and then have to turn volume down during an action sequence.- Sound quality is excellent across all media. Music, movies, and cable/streaming TV all sound great, especially for content that supports Dolby Atmos. Being able to switch among listening modes conveniently on the remote is appreciated (Movie, Night, Music). Sound filled my medium sized living room extremely well!- There are several connection options from AUX, HDMI, optical, and Bluetooth. HDMI is what I used in order to take advantage of Dolby Atmos. But I also use the Bluetooth frequently to play music from my phone.Cons:- NoneThis system is perfect for anyone looking for an all-around audio option for medium to large sized rooms. It certainly made my ears happy.