Hi everyone.
I may have mentioned the item I’ve been saving for over the last 6 or so months, a new Denon DRA800H amplifier for the Den.
I received the amp last week and boy, was the wait worth the while.
I mention this amp for those who are reluctant or just plain don’t want to go down the surround-sound path, fair enough.
I had thought about putting a Soundbar in the den but.. well.. if I were going to go down that track then it wouldn’t have been a job well done for me, I would have preferred something like what I have in the lounge I the form of the Denon AVR-X3400, a bit of an overkill for the den.
So I settled on the 2 channel Denon DRA800H and what a choice.
Firstly this amp - though it is a true Hi-Fi Audiophile amp in the true sense of the world - has 5 HDMI inputs and 1 HDMI output so its all available to you should you want to put a small Television into your system which is exactly what I had been thinking about for the Den, an easy solution to one problem.
Whilst this Amp has a modern-day touch with the HDMI facilities many of your old favourites on an old school amp still exist such as a reasonable Fono input and 3 pairs of RCA analogue line level inputs along with 3 digital inputs - 1 coax and 2 optical.
The Amp has a USB round the front for either a USB stick full of your favourite music tracks or direct connection to your Smartphone, take your pick.
If this isn’t enough you have a whole host of streaming options at your fingertips including Airplay2, DLNa and Googlecast along with Bluetooth.
It’s with the Bluetooth that things really start to get interesting as you can stream from the amp and not just to it.
Streaming a source from the amp is a real God Send if you have bluetooth compatible hearing Instruments or you wish to use your magnificent pair of Bluetooth cans, streaming to my Hearing Instruments has added a new dimension to my music listening that I’ve never had before from my audio equipment.
The DRA800H can be controlled by both the Denon HEOS and Denon aVR Apple for Android and IOS.
HEOS allows for streaming of music servers to the DRA800H including Spotify, iHeart radio, Tune-In, Tidal and lots more.
The amp is also Alexa and Google Home compatible.