Customer Ratings & Reviews

Returned this purchase. It was an open box product and it did not work. Nothing but static coming from the soundbar. Also the remote was missing. Bad experience.

this Soundbar for a Small/Medium size room is perfect! great Sound with good bass from subwoofer. I like the "pure" and Dialog enhancer Mode.

I should have read the Denon user manual before I bought this. Not what I wanted or needed. LG is far superior.

For almost $500, this soundbar is a joke. At higher volumes it begins to distort nusic, and the bass out of the "subwoofer" non-existing. A Vizio V21 for around $150 is a better performing soundbar. Denon shoud really stick to making receivers.

Has poor sound quality. Volume is very weak. Minimual sound adjustments. The dialogue enhancing isn't worth the cost of this soundbar.

Not much help on clearer speech. Can’t understand people much better.

This review is for a Denon DHT-S517. I will try to make this review for someone looking for something simple but still good. This is a great soundbar system, if that is all you are looking for in your home. The system consists of a Soundbar and Wireless Subwoofer. It was really easy to setup. Just plug in the power and HDMI. Bluetooth was fast and easy to connect. The soundbar has two left/right tweeters, two left/right midrange, one center and two left/right up-firing speakers. The cover on the speakers looks nice and reminds me of the cloth on a couch so it blends well with furniture. The size is just right and doesn't take up much space unlike a full system. You will still get a big sound even though it is just two parts. When I received my package the remote was lost during shipping. I first hooked up soundbar only and wasn't too impressed. Then I just plugged in the subwoofer which was already configured to connect and immediately started to work. I was astonished by how much bass was produced by this little speaker. Now remember I didn't have the remote yet. I requested a new remote to be resent and got it the next day!!!!!!!! Thank you!!! You can choose to connect the system by Bluetooth, HDMI or Optical. When I got the remote I noticed that you can turn the bass up even more. Wow, just shocked. Now it isn't a 15" subwoofer but it produces a lot of bass. The soundbar is great too as it fills the room in front of you from top to bottom. Movies sound great with sounds coming from everywhere with Dolby Atmos. On the remote you can choose low, mid and high voice. The low for me is just the right combination between voice and sound. High is mostly just voice but the bass will stay the same. Four sound modes for your enjoyment exist. Movie, Night, Music and Pure. Each choice matches well with the name. Don't really need the night mode as I can just turn down the volume. Don't really care for the pure. It doesn't seem to fill the room with sound. In the tech specs it says "Dolby Digital decoding / DTS Yes / No" so that is a bummer. This is still a great system though for movies. You will enjoy.

If you have a sony TV do NOT buy this sound bar!!! It refuses to stay connected via eARC and keeps switching back to tv speakers. Even had Sony support help try to get it working. It worked for about 3 hrs then nothing! Just a fair warning you get what you pay for I guess!

I paired this device with my 77” LG OLED that is not wall-mounted. The first thing I discovered is that LG’s IR receiver is located at the bottom center of the TV which is now blocked by the Denon Soundbar. I can no longer sit down on the couch and use the LG TV remote. I was annoyed until I powered on the Soundbar, fired up Star Wars and sat back for an immersive Death Star Trench Run attack scene. It sounds amazing! I’m no longer annoyed to have to stand up to use the LG remote. Standing is good exercise right!!!??? The wireless sub requires nothing more than plugging the sub into the wall for it to work making this a no brainer. For grins I turned off the sub to see what it would be like to just have the sound bar and I quickly realized the sub is a must have. In my experience the Dolby Atmos experience using upward firing speakers only works well if your ceilings are flat, 6 feet, and a rectangle, anything taller and you’re going to need in-ceiling speakers to really feel the intended effect of Dolby Atmos. I write “feel” and not “hear” because when Atmos is heard in 7.1.4 or higher it makes the hairs on the back of your neck tingle with excitement when things are flying overhead. The Denon sound bar is a 3.1.2 system so while you are going to get a great audio experience from this sounder, Atmos in particular is not its strong suite. I hope you already know this though, as this is the trade off that comes with sound bars: you trade audio immersion for a simple setup with less equipment to deal with. Let’s talk about the remote. When the Denon remote slips between the couch seats you’ll be glad to know that there are enough physical buttons on the top of the sound bar to survive without the remote. I love the feel of this remote and appreciate it being small enough to not intrude but large enough for my stubby fingers to mash the correct buttons each time I do have to touch it. And I really don’t have to use it all that often, it just looks so much nicer than the LG remote. Overall I just love how much better everything sounds with this sound bar in the mix. Now if I can just wall mount the TV and sound bar I can keep myself firmly planted to the sofa.

Solid performance and easy setup, hallmarks of Denon equipment. You're given a few connection options beyond HDMI eARC/ARC audio - optical audio and analog 3.5mm inputs for older TVs and equipment, and Bluetooth connectivity for listening to music through your phone. Unlike some other soundbars, The Denon DHT-S517 treats each port as an individual input. You'll also not lose your HDMI port to this soundbar as it does passthrough. Setup was simple. Place the soundbar, connect power and HDMI to your eARC or ARC HDMI port (Sony, TCL, and Hisense all use the 4th input port for this), place your subwoofer where you want it, power everything on. The subwoofer was already paired for me which made life easy. Once everything is physically set up, use the remote included to set your input mode, sound mode, and dialog enhancer. On some TV sets, you may also need to go into your settings to configure your HDMI port to support ARC or eARC properly, along with the power and remote functions over HDMI (also called HDMI CEC). After it's set up, you'll only need to touch your Denon remote to change input modes should you want to listen to music through your phone. So how's the sound quality? Considering the soundbar's size, it's pretty good. The subwoofer definitely helps with the low end. The Dolby Atmos decoding was there in a smaller room but seemed to be swallowed up by my living room as I moved away from the soundbar, due to the room size; the sweet spot for Atmos seemed like 5 to 9 feet from the soundbar. Playback through Bluetooth from your phone may not sound as good as your earbuds do, as this soundbar doesn't support AAC or "lossless" headphone CODECs, which is a little disappointing but expected. For small to medium rooms, it's a good choice. Overall, I was pleased with the setup and overall quality of the Denon DHT-S517 soundbar. The analog and optical inputs were pleasant surprises, leaving connectivity for Dolby audio from older gaming systems and analog input for a DAC for my phone.

About the DHT-S517 Soundbar The Denon DHT-S517 Soundbar and Wireless Subwoofer is a quick way to transform your regular TV into a home entertainment system. This package enables you to add 3D audio with Dolby Atmos through a 3.1.2 speaker configuration and a wireless subwoofer. The setup is easy and provides you with numerous ways to fine tune your audio settings Unboxing The outer packaging is as standard as it gets. It comes in a cardboard outer box with inner Styrofoam packing. The box itself is an odd L-shape due to the length of the soundbar and inclusion of the subwoofer. The box should fit in a small car without much trouble. What It Comes With Contents include the soundbar, a wireless subwoofer, a remote, an HDMI cord, two power cords, an optical cord, wall mount spacers, wall mount template, and instructions. Both the HDMI and optical cords are shorter length. The power cords are around 5 feet in length. The instructions did a good job of explaining how to set the soundbar up. Setup The setup was pretty easy. With exception of connecting to Bluetooth it was all plug and play. I connected the soundbar to the TV through the HDMI eArc connection. The subwoofer automatically connected wirelessly to the soundbar, so there was no fuss to get this going. This setup does not require Wi-Fi, so there’s no need for an additional app. If you want to stream music the soundbar simply connects through Bluetooth. A couple other notes on the setup - There’s a separate HDMI plug on the soundbar in case you do not have a HDMI eARC connection on your TV. Another option is to connect with the supplied optical cable. Build Quality The build quality appeared pretty average to me. It’s not a bad looking soundbar in my opinion. Both the soundbar and the front of the sub have a fabric cover. I’m not a big fan of that because it’s not very sleek looking (early 2000’s feel) and I have a dog so pet hair is likely to accumulate on it. The subwoofer was smaller sized and really lightweight. It reminded me of an early Bose subwoofer with a single driver and ported opening. A lightweight subwoofer is usually an indicator for weaker bass production as the size of the magnet has a lot to do with production of bass. I do appreciate that there are some indicator lights on the front that will show you a response while using the remote. Many of the soundbars today do not have forward lights, which can make it hard to tell if the remote is talking to the device. Overall it has an average appearance. The cords that come with the product are very basic. I will say that the HDMI cord is rated for 4K at least. The remote does not have a good feel. It’s a little hard to press the buttons. Its flat shape is not contoured well to hold in hand. Features For the price point, this set up offers a lot. Here are some key features: • Wireless subwoofer • 3D Audio with Dolby Atmos – 3.1.2 sound bar configuration • Wireless Music Streaming through Bluetooth • Dialogue Enhancer – 3 different levels to increase dialogue without turning up the volume • Sound Modes – 3 different sound modes for quick tuning – Movies, Night, and Music • Pure Audio Mode – Button on remote to press for a clear preset audio setting • Separate Bass Control on remote Audio Quality Currently I have 3 soundbars in my household. Of the 3, this has the lowest quality sound BUT this is also by far the lowest priced system. For the cost of the unit, the Denon DHT-S517 really does offer a lot. Let’s face it, if you are an audiofile you are probably not looking at this price range to begin with. This product is designed for the masses who want better sound than their TV speakers. This system is much better than that. This has Dolby Atmos capability with a 3.1.2 configuration. It has a wireless powered subwoofer. There are numerous added features like dialogue enhancer and sound modes to help tune the audio how you want it. It has good volume and is clear. That’s a lot for under $500.00. I would suggest using this in a small to medium size room. The bass from the subwoofer isn’t overwhelming. Movies are very clear. The soundbar adds quite a bit of depth and works well with movies streaming through apps like Prime and Disney Plus. It’s surprising how different things sound through this versus the TV speakers. Music sounds good. The soundbar speaker arrangement and added subwoofer add depth far beyond most all TV speakers. Overall For the price point that this system falls within it does a really good job. I would give it a 4.5 stars out of 5 based on the value per cost. Comparing this to every possible soundbar available on the market, I would give it a 3 star rating. But this would compare it to soundbars that cost 4 times as much. The amount of features for the price makes this a really good value. If you are looking to upgrade from your standard TV speakers without spending an arm and a leg check out the Denon DHT-S517.

I’ve had a number of soundbars over the years and this is my favorite one so far. In terms of looks and build quality, it’s really nothing different from most other soundbars. Let’s face it, they all pretty much look the same. And that’s fine. I want to hear it, not stare at it :-) An HDMI and an optical audio cable are included. And I think this is the first soundbar I’ve used that doesn’t use a big power brick. Just one simple power cord for the soundbar and one for the subwoofer. One thing I was surprised by is that the soundbar is longer than any I’ve had before. Certainly not a problem, but something to keep in mind if space is tight. I have to say this was the easiest soundbar to hook up. The soundbar and subwoofer connect by Bluetooth. The pairing process was easy and it’s been stable. And to my surprise, the tv recognized the soundbar thru the HDMI arc connection instantly without me needing to go into any settings menus. And better yet, my cable tv remote didn’t need programming! I can’t begin to tell you how nice that is. Now, as for the important part, the sound. Simply perfect. The bass is nice (and of course, adjustable) without being overbearing. But more important to me is the vocals. The dialogue enhancement control works awesome. I can finally get the perfect balance of vocals and bass. In the past, that hasn’t always been easy to accomplish with other soundbars. Clarity is great. This Denon doesn’t leave me with the feeling that the tv & soundbar are separate devices if that makes sense. The sound doesn’t feel like it’s coming from somewhere else. All in all, zero complaints!

This Denon sound bar system proved to be a great choice. The sound quality is great, a definite improvement over my Bravia Sony setup. You get what they call a 3.1.2 setup if it comes to the speakers available. With the speakers firing up you will get that spacial effect, which they call 3D. Support of Dolby Atmos definitely helps too. The convenience of the wireless subwoofer comes very handy. The pairing of the two was a breeze. Subwoofer sound is solid. To connect to TV I used the eARC connection (cable provided), had to make small adjustments in my TV sound setup, restart the TV and all was good going forward, works perfectly. The remote is small and handy, offers the ability to switch the sources, mute, volume and bass adjustment plus a selection of three sound presets, specifically Movie, Night and Music. You can hear a distinct difference between the three. The sound bar also offers what they call a Dialogue Enhancer, which helps to better hear the words spoken while watching a movie, with three levels of enhancement available on the remote. You select the levels on the remote. Connecting to my phone via Bluetooth was very easy. Basically you click on the Bluetooth button on the remote, a flashing light appears on the speaker to indicate the pairing mode and then you just add the system on your phone. No issues at all, it connected well the first time. I tried different apps with the Bluetooth and they all sounded fine. Also switching from Bluetooth to the TV is automatic, once you put the TV on the system itself switches to TV, great job. If you don’t want to use the remote or you cannot find it, the sound bar offer five navigation buttons at the top, with volume and source control plus the on/off switch. You can also control the sound level via the TV remote or your phone. The build quality and overall look is great. I am happy with my selection. Looks great, sounds great, easy to use. That’s all I need from the sound bar. Two thumbs up. Great job Denon.

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 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.

Not good it’s broken right away I didn’t like it I didn’t recommend for friends

I wasn’t so pleased with the product so I returned it for a different manufacture and style.

As the tile states, this soundbar by Denon is amazing. It has high fidelity with minimal volume for both movies and music. I originally had it placed on tv stand, but it has a better soundstage when wall mounted (depending on room acoustics). I wish they offered optional rear speakers. The bass is full (not too powerful nor lacking). I would give the height of atmos a 4/10, but you’re not going to get great Atmos without having ceiling speakers. Though again, best 3.1.2!

So the Denon Soundbar with Wireless Subwoofer is a combination package at an attractive price. The catch is that it lacks many "smart" features that it's competitors have. The design is simple and should easily fit in with the aesthetic of nearly every TV setup. I really like the fabric weave design. For some reason, it gives a "homier" vibe that I liked. Set up was easy. I used the HDMI ARC connection to take full advantage of Dolby Atmos. Once you connect the soundbar, you can then pair it with the subwoofer with just a push of the connect button on the back of the subwoofer. I did not have any problems with the pairing process. That is all you need for setup. When I said there are no "smart" features, there is no app, no EQ, no smart assistance, no Wifi connection. You can stream with Bluetooth but as mentioned no Wifi. You can change modes and have some control over the bass with the remote but that is it. It is a no fuss sound system that sacrifices other things to achieve simplicity. I honestly think that it works. Alot of people who buy these sound systems do not play with the EQ, fiddle with settings, etc. The sound quality is great. It is a very balanced sound. The subwoofer provides powerful bass. Dialogue is crisp. Movies were an absolute joy to watch. I could listen to music and make out clearly the distinct instruments with little distortion even at max volumes. All in all, I think this provides a simple package that will please the majority of people looking for a no-fuss sound system. I have found that I generally tend to not use "smart" features as much. Cutting these out have made for a much more affordable yet quality sound system and I am all for it!

The Denon - Soundbar with Wireless Subwoofer and Dolby Atmos. Bluetooth Black did cause me an initial problem with setup. My television does have ARC under one of my HDMI inputs, but I could not get it to connect. I had to then try the digital optical cable to connect. Once connected, I can say the Denon - Soundbar with Wireless Subwoofer and Dolby Atmos. Bluetooth Black is an excellent addition to any television and sound system. I connected it to my Toshiba Fire HDTV. The sound quality is similar to a smaller scaled version of a movie theater atmosphere. I can hear the different levels of octaves, from the highest to the lowest frequencies. The woofer emits a deep bass sound that vibrates the floor. The volume is powerful enough to fully fill a large room with the highest level of quality sound. The sound function can be changed to complement the type of program being watched; from movies to music to night volume for a quieter volume. I connected my Pixel phone for Streaming Music via Bluetooth. I enjoy the quality and functionality of the Denon - Soundbar with Wireless Subwoofer and Dolby Atmos. Bluetooth Black and plan on enhancing my television and music experience because of it.

I absolutely love this soundbar. I have owned a couple in the past and this one was so far the easiest to set up. It took me no time to have this set up and ready to go. I didn't have to do anything other than plug an hdmi cable and 2 power cables in and it was ready. The sound quality is great. I like that I can adjust the bass and other features using a small remote. There are 3 sound styles that you can use: movie, night, and music. All 3 are slightly different modes. Movie mode makes it sound like you are at a movie theater. Night mode seems to take the bass out of it. Music mode is, of course, for when you are playing music. There are also settings that are called Dialog Enhancers that give you more of a crisp sound while dialog is playing. Kind of cool but i found it not all that necessary but it could come in handy down the road. This sound bar also offers the ability to use your phone to play music via Bluetooth. Just like everything else, this was easy to set up and worked really well.