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denon home sound bar 550 review

Denon Home Sound Bar 550 Review

True Score

80
Award Icon
Absolutely Fresh
81
13

Experts

88
796

Consumers

Expert Rankings

  • rtings logo
  • 0SmT2dfPSnhBnLzDPxSeIBuX3F09F4t3eUnY 7nA3M
  • JqU QGRABA4Z Gq1cIqW0Zf7QfdlSyUnp0qmjPDaus

Featuring a neutral sound profile, the Denon Home Sound Bar 550 is a good addition to any home theater. However, this system’s narrow 3D soundstage and lack of sub result in sub-par performance during movies and games.

Denon Home Sound Bar 550 with Dolby Atmos and HEOS Built-in
SAVE $305
$654.95
$349.99

What Is Not on the Box

What the brand doesn’t always tell you…

our Verdict

Critics adore the Denon Home Sound Bar 550, praising its balanced audio profile, excellent connectivity options, and built-in Alexa voice assistant, and they recommend it for TV shows and music. Editors at Trusted Reviewers love this soundbar’s super-low latency, which means that users won’t notice any discrepancy between video and audio during dialogue scenes. Commenting about its balanced frequency response slope, reviewers from Sound and Vision say that it’s good for all music genres and TV dialogue. Built-in Alexa and app-based EQ presets enable managing this system remotely. Being a 2.0-channel system, however, it downmixes 5.1 surround sound to stereo, so there are better choices for home theaters, as our Devialet Dione review shows. It also doesn’t get very loud, featuring an 87.8 dB peak SPL.

Check out the JBL Bar 5.0 MultiBeam review for a louder soundbar. Our Anker Soundcore 2 review discusses a better speaker for the outdoors, and the Bose TV speaker review presents one with dialogue enhancement.

True Score

80

Reasons to Buy

  • Built-in Amazon Alexa
  • Equalizer presets and treble and bass sliders for adjusting sound settings
  • Huge selection of ports
  • Low latency ensures audio syncs with the video
  • Supports Bluetooth and Apple Airplay

Reasons to Avoid

  • Speaker doesn't get very loud
  • 2.0 channel system doesn’t support 5.1-channel audio
  • Mediocre low bass

Specifications

  • Bluetooth Enabled
  • Depth
  • Dialogue Enhancement Feature
  • Energy Star Certified
    Yes
  • HDMI ARC
  • Height
  • Subwoofer
  • Surround Sound Supported
  • Voice Assistant
  • Wall Mountable
  • Weight
  • Width
  • Wireless Connectivity
    Bluetooth, Wi-Fi
  • Wireless Subwoofer Connectivity
  • Works With

Overview

The Denon Home Sound Bar 550 is a mid-range 2.0-channel soundbar that was first released in 2021, touting a 3D surround soundstage and Dolby Atmos in a compact form factor for television and music.

Although it has a 2.0 channel setup, it can be upgraded by adding a subwoofer and satellites, which are sold separately. You can find more advanced devices on our list of the best speakers today.

Since this speaker doesn’t come with a dedicated sub, it doesn’t reproduce deep extended low-bass. Built-in Alexa enables hassle-free customization. Shared HDMI ARC+Out ports, a full HDMI In port, USB port as well as aj Ethernet port provide wired connectivity.

This system has Bluetooth as well as Apple Airplay, allowing seamless streaming from a wide variety of devices. Although it supports Dolby Atmos, it doesn’t deliver a very immersive 3D soundstage. Continue reading our Denon Home Sound Bar 550 review and explore your options on our list of top-rated soundbars today.

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Product Comparison

All Stores

  • Denon Home Sound Bar 550 with Dolby Atmos and HEOS Built-in
    Save $305
    $654.95
    $349.99

    Availability

    In Stock

    Free Shipping

    No
  • Denon Home Sound Bar 550 - Compact 3D Surround Sound, Dolby Atmos & DTS:X, Built-in HEOS, Amazon Alexa, Seamless Integration with Denon Home 150, 250, 350 Wireless Speakers for Multi-Room Audio, Black
    Save $67
    $649.00
    $581.76

    Availability

    In Stock

    Free Shipping

    Yes
  • Denon   Home Sound Bar 550 with 3D Audio, Dolby Atmos & DTS:X, Built in HEOS & Alexa
    $649.99

    Availability

    In Stock

    Free Shipping

    Yes

Score Card

E

Expert Score

81

*.75

We place a 75% weighted value on Expert Test Scores

C

Customer Score

88

*.25

We place a 25% weighted value on Customer Scores

True Score

80

Any product with a True Score above 80 is a Absolutely Fresh

Expert Score Breakdown

  • Rtings
    A

    Trust Score

    68
    The Denon Home Sound Bar 550 is fair for mixed usage. Out-of-the-box, this soundbar has… read more
  • Trusted Reviews
    D

    Trust Score

    80
    Big sound from a small soundbar, the Denon impresses with its performance and range of… read more
  • Which?
    D

    Trust Score

    NR
    The Denon Home Sound Bar 550 is a smaller model that may appeal if space… read more
  • Digital Trends
    D

    Trust Score

    NR
    “No bottom line found for this product” read more
  • Techradar
    D

    Trust Score

    80
    The Denon Home Sound Bar 550 is one of the better, ‘realistically’ sized soundbars you’ll… read more
  • Consumer Reports
    F

    Trust Score

    NR
    “No bottom line found for this product” read more

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