Denon - HOME 400 Wireless Smart Speaker - Charcoal

Out of the box, I was set up and playing music within 5 minutes. Without question, the ease of setup is one of the most notable features of the Denon Home 400. Not only was the connection easy, but I have not lost connection since. Moving the speaker from room to room, once I plug it in, I am reconnected within seconds without any hiccups or loss of signal. This also includes streaming from a Bluetooth device. The antennas used in these speakers are excellent. If connectivity is one of your main concerns, you won’t find an issue here—this is an area of excellence. The speaker is aesthetically pleasing and fits into my home decor without becoming an eyesore. The contoured shape and customizable sound based on position allow me to place it wherever I like without it drawing too much attention or standing out. It has a nice weight to it, and the buttons and switches feel very sturdy. Also, the sensor near the top that lights up when your hand comes close is a nice touch. The sound profile is very particular, but if you enjoy this type of sound reproduction, this speaker will exceed your expectations. The sound is clean and true to the source, especially when playing high-definition audio from Tidal or Amazon Music. Subtle nuances of each instrument come through clearly, including reverb and frequency attenuation. If you’re looking for thumping bass, this is not the speaker for you—the bass is complementary, not overpowering. When you connect the speaker to the app, it asks for placement, and I did notice the sound profile changes depending on positioning. Placing it in a corner may give slightly more bass, but again, it complements rather than dominates. Think of this speaker like sitting in a concert hall versus listening to a DJ in a small room. Denon claims to understand sound, and this speaker reflects that with its accuracy and fidelity. Moving on to the HEOS app: it’s clear Denon aimed to make it both user-friendly and feature-rich. From the app, you can control EQ, add music services like Pandora and Amazon Music, and even manage Bluetooth playback if you prefer using the app instead of your device. It also supports playing music from local servers, which is a great feature if you store audio on external drives. There are many options for playback across different sources. If you’re invested in this ecosystem and comfortable using the app, you’ll have plenty of customization options to fine-tune your experience. My major issue with the speaker and app is the lack of Google integration. YouTube Music—easily one of the top services—is not supported within the app, nor can it be streamed via Google Home. That’s a significant omission. If your home is built around Google devices, this speaker will feel disconnected unless you’re willing to use it separately. While it does offer limited smart controls like play, pause, and volume, these features feel incomplete and shouldn’t be heavily marketed as smart home compatibility. Since YouTube Music is my primary service, I have no seamless way to use it here outside of Bluetooth or workarounds like Chromecast Audio. It does appear to have better integration with Alexa and Siri, though I wasn’t able to test those. Amazon Music and Tidal do take full advantage of the speaker’s Hi-Fi capabilities, which makes the lack of broader integration even more disappointing. This system works best if you’re starting fresh, but since it relies heavily on the HEOS app, I’m cautious about fully committing to a proprietary ecosystem that may not age well. Another positive worth mentioning is the integration with other Denon Home speakers. I paired the 400 with a Home 200, and they sync flawlessly from room to room. When used together in the same space, you can further refine the sound profile. If you’re planning to invest in multiple speakers, I have no concerns recommending the system for whole-home audio—it has been seamless in my experience. However, note that Bluetooth playback cannot be streamed to multiple speakers, at least based on my testing so far. In summary, the Home 400 delivers excellent sound if you value accurate, high-fidelity reproduction. If you’re buying into the Denon ecosystem, you’ll likely be very satisfied with both the sound quality and connectivity. Just be aware that you’ll need to rely on the HEOS app to unlock its full potential. I would recommend it—with that caveat in mind.

Denon has been in the audio game for over a century, building a solid reputation for high quality, precision engineered sound and crafting everything from classic hi-fi components to modern home theater systems. So, when they step into the wireless smart speaker space, expectations are high. The Denon Home 400 doesn’t just meet those expectations, it blows them out of the water. The Denon 400 is the bigger and better version of the Denon 200 Smart Speaker, you can combine both to create the perfect audiophile experience. I have been testing out the Denon 200 and the Denon 400 Smart Speakers for over a week now and every time I turn it on, the experience is anything beyond words can explain. So, lets dive right into this and go over what the Denon 400 has to offer. Just like its little brother, the Denon 400 looks like your typical smart speaker, clean and minimalist design, but just a little bigger. We are talking about 11.73 inches in Height, 14.72 in Width, 8.78 in Depth and coming in at about 12 pounds, compared to the Denon 200 which is about 11.42 in Height and 7.8 in width and depth due to the circular design and 6.4 pounds. Both speakers are solid and have a very premium look and feel to them. The 400 has physical buttons on the side compared to the 200 on the top and both have the same input ports. The key differences between the 200 and 400 is the size, power and sound immersion. The 400 is obviously large and that’s due to the fact that the 400 packs six drivers and dedicated up firing speakers, where as 200 is compact and uses 3 drivers. The Denon 400 offers a wider and more three-dimensional soundstage, so the quality and quantity of audio is much better. The Denon 400 is designed for larger rooms, and it shows. You don’t have to crank it to get immersive sound, it fills the space comfortably even at moderate volume, and when you do turn it up, it stays clean and distortion-free. On the tech side, the Denon 400 also works with the HEOS app and also is also easy to work with and install. It pulls in everything Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon, tidal and so much more and even handles high-res audio if you're a bit of an audiophile. Plus, you’ve got Airplay 2, Bluetooth, Aux port and a USB port, so you aren't stuck using just one app. Setting it up is a breeze, the HEOS app walks you through everything step by step, and within minutes you’re up and running. Once connected and if you have other Denon speakers, you can sync them up for a multi-room setup that actually stays in sync. You can get both the Denon 200 + 400 and combine together, place one in the kitchen and the other in the family or living room and enjoy your music or favorite audio throughout your whole home. And just the 200, the Denon 400 can also be integrated in with Google Home, Alexa, or Apple Smart Home. Overall, depending on your need and placement both the Denon 200 or 400 are great options if you are looking for a powerful smart speaker or you can even combine them both for a truly exceptional audiophile experience.

The Denon Home 400 is a premium sounding and looking powered speaker. It arrived boxed nicely, and well protected with the formed packing. The quality and build of the Denon “Home” series speakers is evident. The outside of the speaker is wrapped in a charcoal fabric, and the construction of all other parts is excellent. The speaker is quite solid, and has a “hefty” feel. This speaker has a 10MM threaded mounting hole for stand, or wall mounting with a bracket. Keep in mind the speaker is heavy – almost 12 pounds – a sturdy bracket is needed. However, for shelf or table use, the bottom of the speaker has a soft insert on the bottom that will not mar surfaces. Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, speaker paring, wireless multi room audio, microphone, Dolby AtmosMusic, are just a few of the features. Some featured “Smart” streaming services include Spotify, TIDAL, TuneIn, Pandora, iHeartRadio. Siri and Google Assistant voice is built in. The speaker incorporates a 6-driver array with 4.5-inch woofers, 0.75-inch tweeters, and up-firing drivers all with individual class D power amplifiers for powerful, clean sound. There are status color LEDs that display inputs, mic mute etc. There are far more features available online... Setup was quite easy – scan the QR code and then download the HEOS app, which allows you to access and customize settings for all your different speakers independently. You can pair speakers for a wider Dolby stereo, use separate speakers in in a home theater setup, or in different rooms to listen to the same, or different music sources in each room. And, each Denon Home speaker delivers stereo and Dolby Atmos Music on its own, so paring two speakers creates an even wider listening experience. Aux, Bluetooth, and USB C inputs are on back panel. Side touch sensitive controls are volume, track selection, Play/Pause, and the “1,2,3 Quick Set” buttons can be used to store internet stations, or inputs. To the listening experience.....Denon’s “Sound Master” tuning gives the Home 400 a full sound. Use the HEOS app to customize bass / treble, volume, width, height, and selected inputs. I listened to different inputs - Bluetooth, AUX and WI-Fi - with streaming radio, movies, and digital music. There is a slight “lag” as is usual using Bluetooth, but Wi-Fi or using AUX inputs eliminated that. Though a single speaker, it had a nice stereo effect. Although I don't know the actual rated frequency response, all I can say is “Wow”! This speaker really responds. The bass is punchy and deep. Using the treble and bass adjustments in the app makes for an awesome sound. Movies come alive. Streaming, listening to radio, or digital music leaves nothing in the background. Although pricey, this speaker exudes quality, has excellent sound, multiple options, as an addition to phone, computer, tablet – and even upgrading TV audio.

Overview While pricy, the Denon 400 speaker comes close to replicating my mid tier component home theatre system when playing music. It’s certainly a lot more portable! It connects well with the top streaming services, including their high-fidelity formats. It will natively stream Amazon's Atmos audio or Ultra HD, depending on your preference. Native streaming sounds better than Bluetooth connected as it lacks support for high quality codecs. Voice control is only through a connected smart speaker (i.e. Amazon Echo). Setup and usage was hampered by some bugs in the Android app. Sound Quality and Soundstage The audio performance is where the HOME 400 truly shines. While I could certainly hear a difference between the Home 400 and my $5000 component system, it wasn’t as noticeable as I’d expected. It sounded better than the Harmon Kardon / Samsung sound bar I have in my basement, with with the subwoofer that works with. It delivers a rich and immersive sound that feels significantly more expansive than its physical footprint suggests. The soundstage is notably wider and taller, creating a room-filling experience that brings music to life with impressive depth. I have a home theater system so I did not try it out with any movies or TV. There are a couple of audio modes you can select in the app. I found the pure mode would highlight vocals, which was nice in jazz and most rock music. However it ended up distorting the classical opera pieces that I enjoy. There’s some controls for height and width. I found the wider setting added some nice dimensions to classical music. Rock music was fine with the standard settings. The HEOS App Managing the speaker is handled through the HEOS app, which is commendable for its simplicity. Navigating through different streaming services and adjusting settings is seamless, making the user experience pleasant and efficient. When using with voice control, it can be Cumbersome to express what you want as your command must include modifiers. I..e. "Play Magic Carpet Ride by Steppenwolf using Amazon Music on [Speaker]." I found it easier to use the app instead of remembering all the pieces of the voice command. Unfortunately the app did not always work as expected. A few times I would hit play on an existing stream and nothing would happen. Ease of Setup Setting up the HOME 400 was fairly straightforward. The speaker will only connect to the same network as the device you use for setup. Unlike many IoT devices, it will not let you select a different network during the initial setup. I have separate Wi-Fi networks in my house for low-speed devices and high-speed devices (with my phone defaulting to the high-speed network). You can, however, change networks in the settings menu later on. This too had an issue as when I went to change networks, the device disconnected altogether and I had to connect it hardwired using a USB Ethernet adapter to get it unstuck.Once I got it back online, I was able to connect it to my high-speed network with WiFi 6E. It's nice that Denon made the hardware future-proof. Connecting Amazon music to the HEOS app was also a bit complicated. I tried several times from my Android based phone without success. Fortunately I have an iPad and was able to use that to connect the services. I can't say if the issue was on Denon's side or Amazon but it definitely marred the whole experience. I did find repeatedly the iOS app worked more reliably than the Android version. Once music is connected you then have to add the HEOS skill in the Alexa app in order to activate voice control. You can certainly play music on the Denon 400 without having voice control but that will require using the HEOS app to select songs. With voice control, Amazon will autoplay additional song, just as it does through an Echo smart speaker. With the HEOS app, autoplay is not available. You can select albums, playlists or song, and the app will categorize the items so you can see items in your playlists and your music library more quickly. For Bluetooth connections this speaker only supports the SBC codec. Given the audio specs there is a surprising lack of support for lossless and HD audio using AptX, AAC, or LHDC codecs. I found a notable difference when streaming music natively versus playing via Bluetooth from my nearby Amazon device. You can also plug a line in if you want to use it as a computer speaker with high-quality output. Denon Quality In addition to the Home 400, I also have a Denon Home 200. The app makes it nice to group them so both can play the same set list simultaneously. This is nice to have music flow seamlessly from the family room to the deck. I thought I might be able to have them play in Stereo, but that’s only enabled if both speakers are identical (i.e. 2 Denon 200’s). Given the virtual stereo sound from the 400 on it’s own, I don’t think I’m missing much. If you have a HEOS enabled receiver, it gives more options for multi-room music, but my Denon receiver uses an older app. It still works great after 20 years, so I can’t complain! I hope these new Denon speakers last that long.

Denon has established a distinguished reputation for producing premium quality receivers and speakers. Denon recently introduced the HOME 400 Wireless Smart Speaker, powered by HEOS (Home Entertainment Operating System). HEOS is a wireless platform that allows sound to be streamed throughout the house in various rooms, each playing the same song, or different songs. I stream Apple Music using Airplay2. The first step is to install the free HEOS app on your smartphone. Setting up HEOS is super easy. You control the streaming source, playlist, volume, speaker grouping, and fine tune the audio directly from the app. Your smartphone connects with the HOME 400 speaker using your home Wi-Fi. Denon HOME 400 totally blew me away by filling the room & placing me in a 3-dimensional soundscape! Two up-firing speakers create immersive Dolby Atmos audio; four additional speakers produce crystal clear high frequencies, strong midrange presence, and substantial bass that is powerful without being boomy. Denon HOME 400 exceeds all expectations & earns my highest recommendation!