Winning ways
REVIEWED
Denon $1699
Marantz $2570
Onkyo $2999
In recent years we’ve come to regard the Denon ‘AVR-X2-something’ level as occupying a sweet-spot among Denon home cinema receivers. That is, they have everything that a receiver really ought to have, while trimming off most of the unnecessary stuff. That continues with the Denon AVR-X2600H, together with performance at the price which brought it a Sound+Image Award as revealed last issue, to go with the EISA 2019-2020 Best Product Award it had already received from our global colleagues. We told you a little about its merits in that Awards issue; now here’s our full review.
Equipment
The Denon AVR-X2600H is a seven-channel model rated at a solid 95 watts from each channel into 8 ohms, full bandwidth, low distortion. It supports all the latest audio standards. It supports advanced network functionality. It supports UltraHD video (more than supports it, as we’ll see). And it supports good old-fashioned analogue, not just with the four line-level audio inputs, but also moving-magnet phono.
The receiver conforms to the usual Denon layout, although without
