I traded my Sonos Era 300 for Denon’s new home speakers — and I see no reason to go back

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Sonos has probably been the most recognizable name in the home speaker market for some time, but Denon has something to say about it. The company recently launched its lineup of second-generation home speakers: the Denon Home 200, Home 400, and Home 600.

denon home 400 The mid-tier option in the lineup, and it’s designed to go head-to-head with the Sonos Era 300. It has a similar, larger form factor, up-firing Dolby Atmos speakers, and a number of smart streaming features. It is also built on the company’s HEOS multi-room audio platform for integration with speakers from other HEOS-compatible lineups.

Also: I replaced my Sonos Era speaker with an unexpected alternative — and didn’t miss a beat

Sonos has spent years refining its smart speaker offering, and the Era 300 is an excellent example of where it’s come. Can Denon really compete with companies like Sonos with competitive options? I’m using the Denon Home 400 to find out.

it’s really very smart

The HEOS multi-room platform runs things behind the scenes, and it handles things like streaming, app experiences, etc. quite well. I really found that it supports all the features I rely on in my Sonos speakers. HEOS natively supports multiple music streaming platforms, including Tidal, Qobuz, Amazon Music, and more, while Apple Music connectivity relies on the speaker’s AirPlay 2.

The Home 400 works perfectly well on its own, but you can pair two for stereo playback or use them as wireless surround speakers with the Denon Home Sound Bar 550. This option is especially helpful if you want to create a proper living room setup without running speaker wires everywhere – and it mirrors Sonos’ implementation with its soundbars. Denon also supports HEOS-compatible subwoofers for added low-end muscle.

As for physical connections, there’s Wi-Fi, a USB-C port, a 3.5mm aux input, and a built-in microphone. Although the HEOS ecosystem may not be as well-built as Sonos’s, in day-to-day use, HEOS works very well. Setup is easy, multi-room grouping is reliable, and you’ve got coverage across major streaming services.

music sounds great

Inside the Home 400, you’ll find a total of six drivers, including two tweeters, two 114mm (4.5-inch) woofers, and two up-firing drivers dedicated to height information. Each of those drivers gets its own dedicated Class D amplifier, giving the speaker precise control over every element of the sound.

This acoustic makeup is a huge upgrade compared to the previous generation Home 250, which had fewer drivers and couldn’t do anything close to true Atmos playback. The Home 400 is the first HEOS-enabled speaker to actually support true Dolby Atmos music playback using physical upfiring drivers instead of virtualized height effects.

Also: Tidal vs. Qobuz: I tried both high-resolution streaming services, and they couldn’t be more different

You can also hear the difference in the accompaniment material. Whether or not you actually want to use Atmos while listening to music is a different story. I sometimes find this enjoyable, but I generally prefer to stick to stereo playback. However, Atmos support really helps when you use these speakers as surround in a home theater setup. The immersion of 3D audio is noticeable from the surround speakers and front channels, which can work together to enhance the height effect.

You can control the frequency range of the speaker, but it’s not very precise. To be clear, Sonos doesn’t give you very precise controls, so if you’re comparing the two, this isn’t a huge drawback for this speaker in particular. You’ll find basic bass, treble, and height controls, so you can make the bulk of the adjustments, but the controls are a little hard to find.

I spent some time digging into the settings before realizing I actually had to play audio through the speakers to control the adjustments. Once you understand the app and how it works, you’ll find it mostly easy to navigate, but it’s still not very intuitive.

If you’re an audiophile, you’ll appreciate the improved support for Hi-Res audio on the Denon Home 400. The Home 400 can play full 24-bit/192kHz audio natively, and if you play audio through the USB port, you can play your FLAC files. This is ahead of the Sonos Era 300, which can accept 24-bit/192kHz audio as input but downscales it during playback.

ZDNET’s shopping advice

denon home 400 is a serious home speaker that somewhat blurs the line between consumer-grade and audiophile speakers in the sub-$500 price range. True audiophiles with deep pockets won’t consider the Home 400 an audiophile-grade speaker, but casual listeners will appreciate its sound.

Also: Sonos Play vs. Sonos Move 2: Why I’d go with the $200 cheaper Bluetooth speaker

If you’re looking for immersive and full-sounding audio without paying a high price, the Denon Home 400 is absolutely worth considering. That said, whether it beats the alternatives depends on your region. In some areas like Europe it costs the same Sonos Era 300But in the US it costs $150 more. Most people looking for a smart speaker in this class will want to save cash and opt for the Era 300, especially if they don’t care about better high-resolution playback.