Hands on: Denon AVR-X2900H review

Can you believe it’s been four years since Denon released the hugely talented AVR-X2800H? That model stormed our test room to deliver a superb cinematic sound at a reasonable price, earning a rightful spot on our best AV receivers list and a What Hi-Fi? Award.

But 2022 was a long time ago, and things have certainly changed. The Product of the Year-winning Sony TA-AN1000 emerged to dethrone the AVR-X2800H, and we’ve been waiting for Denon to bite back against its Japanese AV opponent since.

Our patience has, as you can probably tell by the headline of this hands-on review, paid off. The AVR-X2900H is a direct sequel to the beloved X2800H, and Denon has made a handful of key upgrades to make it the Kryptonite to Sony’s Superman.

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As this is a hands-on review based on a brief introduction to the new amplifier we had at Denon’s offices in Tokyo, we won’t be attaching a star rating yet – that’ll have to wait until we get the new amplifier into our dedicated home cinema testing facility. As for now, here are our initial impressions of the X2900H.

Price

Denon has officially revealed pricing for the AVR-X2900H, and it’s surprisingly pleasant news.

Despite significant global economic instability since 2022, the same £899 price tag applies here in the UK, meaning we’ve avoided a dreaded price hike. While that is good news indeed, there’s still the competition to be mindful of.

Crucially, Denon is positioning this as a direct rival to the TA-AN1000, so the price needs to remain competitive with that amplifier; which in itself may be a big ask as the TA-AN1000 has been on the market for a few year and, as such, is now subject to nearly constant price decreases.

While Sony launched that AV amplifier at a higher £999 price, we’ve seen it widely available for £899, and it can drop to as low as £699 during major sales events.

Build

Consistency is key with Denon’s AVR range, and truth be told, the X2900H looks like it’s long lineage of predecessors.

The genes run strong with the X2900H; this is another angular black box with a brushed metal finish and a rectangular display placed atop a tidy line of on-device buttons.

Denon has made a couple of changes, though. These buttons are now angled slightly upwards, making them easier to press if you have this AVR placed at shin-height in a media unit, and the volume and source select knobs look slightly different.

Subtle upgrades aside, this AVR remains functional-looking rather than particularly eye-catching. Denon’s sister company, Marantz, wins the AVR beauty contest – just look at the Cinema 30 and tell us you disagree…

Features

But beauty is merely skin deep; it’s what the Denon offers in terms of features and sound that is more compelling to us.

Much like its predecessor, the AVR-X2900H offers seven channels of amplification, supporting up to a 5.1.2 or 7.1 surround sound system. Denon claims that this amp can output 95W per channel, though that’s with only two of the seven available channels driven.

The mention of 5.1.2 support might give away that this AVR supports Dolby Atmos, and DTS:X is also supported. Audyssey MultEQ XT also makes a return for straightforward room correction, including automated speaker level and distance settings.

On the subject of calibration, Denon has added the basic version of Dirac Live Room Correction this year, although it’s an optional extra that requires additional equipment to set up.

In terms of connectivity, the AVR-X2900H sports six HDMI inputs, three of which support signals up to 8K resolution, and Denon has added 1440p video pass-through and AMD FreeSync this year for better PC gaming support. There are also dual HDMI outputs, one of which is HDMI eARC, while the other supports Zone 2 functionality.

Denon has made direct reference to this AVR supporting HDR10+, but Dolby Vision hasn’t been mentioned yet. Considering the AVR-X2800H supported the dynamic HDR format, we’d be very surprised to see this missing in the new model.

Wireless connectivity is also solid, with streaming supported over wi-fi, AirPlay 2, Bluetooth and Denon’s HEOs application, which also provides access to countless music streaming apps, including Tidal, Qobuz and more.

Internally, Denon says it’s made a few changes in pursuit of improved sound performance, too. It says that it’s implemented an upgraded 32-bit multi-channel DAC architecture for “improved imaging, clearer high-frequency detail and more confident low-frequency energy across every channel”.

Sound

So, have these improvements made a noticeable change to how this amplifier sounds? It’s far too early to say, but we did get a chance to listen to a very familiar test scene from Dune: Part One on both the existing AVR-2800H and new AVR-X2900H, to get a flavour of what the new model is capable of.

The AVR-X2900H was hooked up to a totally overkill speaker package comprising Bowers & Wilkins 801 Diamond speakers; far too high-end to match a mid-range AVR such as this, but fun to listen to nonetheless.

The scene in which the Atreides clan boards an Ornithopter to see the spice fields of Arrakis sounded noticeably richer and larger in scale on the new model, while also remaining agile and exciting in an impressive display of cinematic balance.

Everything felt more layered and detailed, with voices in particular carrying more character and tonality. This helped to convey more natural and emotive dialogue, aiding immersion and allowing us to get sucked into the tense conversation had within the cockpit of the Ornithopter.

Bass and dynamics, two areas that we appreciated on the Sony competitor, also appear to have improved on the X2900H. Bass goes deeper when the tribal drums of Hans Zimmer’s soundtrack burst into life, and it’s a snappier and punchier affair too.

It remains controlled, but it felt like the low end had more attack, resulting in a more engaging and exciting experience.

Early verdict

It’s taken a while, but our early impressions of the Denon AVR-X2900H lead us to believe that our patience has paid off.

After having its confidence knocked by Sony, we’d like to say that Denon is back with a vengeance, but in reality, it seems like the changes made here are both subtle and considered.

That seems like the right move to us, as the AVR-X2900H has made a strong first impression; now all it has to do is live up to expectations in our AV testing room…

MORE:

Read our full Denon AVR-X2800H review

As well as our Denon AVC-X3800H review

And check out our picks for the best AV receivers