Denon launches budget DHT-S216 soundbar with DTS Virtual:X

Denon has a new budget soundbar. The DHT-S216 is a slimline model, which packs in Dolby Digital decoding and virtual 3D sound, courtesy of DTS Virtual:X.

It boasts one 4K-compatible HDMI input and one ARC-compatible output, plus optical and auxiliary sockets, making it easy to hook up your TV, set-top box or games console. There's also Bluetooth, for wirelessly streaming music to the soundbar from a smartphone or tablet.

Denon claims you don't need a separate subwoofer, because the two down-firing woofers should be enough to take care of all your bass needs. As ever, we'll have to wait until we audition one before we can vouch for that.

Also onboard are dual mid-range drivers and two one-inch tweeters, to cover the rest of the frequency range.

Struggling to make out all that gruff Hollywood dialogue? You're not the only one. Thankfully Denon's Dialogue Enhancer might be able to help. It has three modes - low, medium and high - for enhanced clarity without adjusting the overall volume.

There are also preset sound modes, depending on what you're using it for. Movie mode claims to make dialogue clearer and crank up the bass (great for action scenes), while Music mode gives a wider soundstage and equal dispersion. Night mode should help clear up dialogue while turning bass down, so you don't wake the neighbours. There's even a new Pure Mode, which cuts out any unnecessary audio processing to give you, you guessed it, the purest sound possible.

The Denon DHT-S216 is on sale now for £199/€219.

• Best soundbars 2019
• Best soundbar deals 2019