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Denon Introduces E-Series A/V Receivers

HT Staff  |  Mar 11, 2013

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New Denon E-Series A/V Receivers Offer the Best User Experience Making Home Entertainment More Accessible than Ever Before, Featuring Apple’s Airplay

– The “Four E’s”: Easy, Exciting, Entertainment, Experience; For Total Simplicity of Use and Setup –

MAHWAH, NJ, March 5, 2013 – Denon Electronics®, a premier manufacturer of premium home and personal audio products, today announced the launch of its best-in-class E-Series A/V receivers, including the AVR-E400 7.1 Channel Network Home Theater Receiver (SRP: $599), AVR-E300 5.1 Channel Network Home Theater Receiver (SRP: $399), and AVR-E200 5.1 Channel Home Theater Receiver (SRP: $249). All three new A/V receivers deliver on the D+M promise to provide consumers new levels of user friendliness, cutting edge performance benefits and the perfect home entertainment solutions for every budget and lifestyle need. Notably, both the AVR-E400 and AVR-E300 feature Apple’s AirPlay, allowing users to stream their iTunes music whether from Mac or PC, as well as music stored on their iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch.* A host of leading audio capabilities provide a powerful and immersive soundscape providing accurate music reproduction in a home stereo system and cinema-like surround sound.

Models AVR-E400 and AVR-E300 add even more network functionality, allowing users to enjoy music from sources such as Pandora, SiriusXM, vTuner and Spotify** and view photos via Flickr. The AVR-E400 and AVR-E300 also feature compatibility with the Denon Remote App, so users can control almost every aspect of their multimedia experience, including browsing Internet radio and files on a media server, playlist creation, volume, input selection, surround sound modes and menu navigation.

The “Four E’s” – Easy, Exciting Entertainment Experience
In creating its E-Series receivers, Denon made the “four E’s” its top priority – Easy, Exciting, Entertainment, Experience. Among the key improvements is a new more intuitive easy-to-use Setup Assistant for simple system setup and configuration. Thanks to the vibrant on-screen graphical display, which combines large, clear text and icons, users can easily make all necessary adjustments and settings during setup, optimizing their receiver for any speaker system or source components. The exclusive Denon Setup Assistant walks users through the entire setup process (AVR-E300 & AVR-E400 Only). For total sonic accuracy, the AVR-E400 and AVR-E300 both feature Audyssey MultEQ automatic room acoustic measurement and correction system to provide the best tonal balance to any listening environment, along with Audyssey Dynamic EQ and Audyssey Dynamic Volume for thrilling surround sound even at the reduced volume levels.

New Color Coded Speaker Connections
All E-Series receivers feature Denon’s new color-coded speaker terminals and supplied matching color cable tags to ensure correct speaker cable hookup right out of the box. For even more setup simplicity, Models AVR-E400 and AVR-E300 both feature Denon’s new Easy-Connects “push-in” type speaker wire connections making the sometimes difficult task of connecting speaker wires easier than ever before. The simplified remote control features discrete source selection buttons that let users choose their preferred source with the touch of one button (no need to toggle through all the inputs to get to a preferred source component).

Paul Belanger, Technical Product Manager for D+M noted: “To create our E-Series, we looked at virtually every aspect of what a user would touch, look at or hear in an audio/video receiver – no feature, cosmetic element or connector was spared – our designers and engineers were instructed to make whatever changes they deemed necessary to build a new type of receiver that would offer total ease of use, total ease of setup and the very best possible user experience. Just as importantly, we wanted to make today’s most immersive and thrilling home theater surround sound experience available to as many people as possible.”

Denon AVR-E400 7.1 Network Home Theater Receiver
The new AVR-E400 7.1 Receiver exemplifies Denon’s legacy of providing powerful surround sound performance with advanced networking technology and total user flexibility. For example, users can configure the AVR-E400 for a full 7.1-channel system, or choose to have a 5.1 channel system in the main room and connect a pair of stereo speakers located in another room so others can enjoy great stereo sound from a different source! For total system connectivity, the AVR-E400 is equipped with 6 HDMI inputs including 5 on the rear panel along with 1 on the front panel, which lets users connect an HDMI-equipped camcorder, game console or other portable multimedia device. The AVR-E400’s sophisticated video processor includes SD-to-HD up-conversion, along with 4K Ultra HD (3840x2160) for the next generation of 4K Ultra HDTVs. A hallmark of Denon’s legendary sound quality is the use of identical power amp circuitry for all channels, including an all-discrete power amplifier output stage design. Rated at a maximum of 185 watts for each of the 7 channels, the AVR-E400 provides high power and wide dynamic range with low distortion for a superb surround sound listening experience. All three E Series receivers feature this unique Denon power amp circuitry and design.

AVR-E300: 5 HDMI Video Inputs with 1080p and 3D Pass-through
Denon’s new AVR-E300 receiver is rated at a maximum of 175 watts for each of its 5 channels, and is equipped with 5 HDMI inputs including 4 on the rear panel along with 1 on the front panel, which lets users quickly and easily connect your HDMI-equipped camcorder, smartphone or other portable multimedia device. Thanks to the AVR-E300’s HDMI Standby Pass-through (featured on all E-Series units), users can enjoy a program from either cable or their satellite tuner without the need to even turn the receiver on, which is ideal for casual viewing of newscasts and other programming. And with their built-in USB ports, both the AVR-E300 and AVR-E400 support digital music playback and charging from an iPod, iPhone, iPad, or USB device.

Denon AVR-E200: The Ideal Entry Level 5.1 Receiver
Rated at a maximum of 165 watts for each of its 5 channels, the affordable, entry level AVR-E200 A/V Receiver delivers thrilling 5.1 channel surround, featuring the latest Dolby and DTS high definition surround sound decoding that lets users enjoy the ultimate surround sound experience with DVD and Blu-ray movies and concerts. The HDMI 5.1 Receiver also features Denon’s easy to use Quick Select function, which provides 4 Quick Select buttons on the front panel and on the remote control that let you instantly choose from the Cable/Satellite, Blu-ray, Game and Aux inputs. For total flexibility, users can customize the audio parameters for each source one with their preferred sound setting. The AVR-E200 is equipped with 4 HDMI inputs, including 3 on the rear panel and 1 on the front panel.

* AirPlay requires iTunes 10.1 or later and iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch with iOS 4.2 or later. A home Wi-Fi network is required.
** Some services may require a subscription

COMMENTS
jnemesh's picture
Submitted by jnemesh on March 11, 2013 - 3:22pm

You can see the drop in quality in these entry level AVRs over the years...the loss of the "banana" jacks is but one example. They have stripped these boxes BARE trying to hit those low price points, and I expect that the amplifier's sound quality has taken a hit as well. I STRONGLY recommend to anyone looking at these to save a few more dollars and get at LEAST a AVR2113CI or better AVR. You are going to have this in your system for typically about 5-6 years, so do yourself and your family a favor and buy a good one!

Rob Sabin's picture
Submitted by Rob Sabin on March 12, 2013 - 9:59pm
What if... the entry level AVR is actually poised to go away. My prediction: Receivers are stupidly complicated to set up and operate, which has always been a huge problem for the entry level customer who typically hasn't enough budget to engage an installer to put in his system and set up an activity-based universal remote. That's why sales of soundbars and other alternative options are exploding now -- simple installation and operation with no speaker wires to hide (albeit sonically compromised performance in most cases compared with a well-selected AVR/speaker combo). But it means there's no real reason for inexpensive AVRs to keep living. In the next couple of years, you could see AVR lines shrink to 4 or 5 models starting at $800 or $900 and running up to $3,000. AVRs will become a high performance solution for enthusiasts and installers...because no one who might have bought a $400 AVR before and dealt with its complexities and hassles will bother when they can spend the same thing on a soundbar and be happy that it just works when you turn it on.
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