DHT-S516H

Overview

The DHT-S516H is a 2019 Denon sound bar with a wireless subwoofer and HEOS built in. The bar is 1018 mm wide, 73 mm high and 104 mm deep, comes in black and can be wall-mounted.

Denon lists two 2 x 5-inch full-range drivers and two soft-dome tweeters in the bar, and two 5.25-inch woofers in the subwoofer, driven by four channels of Class D amplification.

The TV connects over HDMI ARC, optical or digital coaxial. The bar also has one HDMI input, a 3.5 mm aux input, a USB port for music files, an Ethernet port, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth. With the HEOS app for iOS and Android it streams from services such as Spotify and Tidal and groups with other HEOS speakers for multi-room audio. It supports AirPlay 2 and works with Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant. Denon lists FLAC, WAV and ALAC files up to 24-bit/192 kHz.

There is no remote in the box. The bar has buttons and can learn commands from the TV remote, and an included IR blaster cable passes remote signals on to the TV if the bar blocks its sensor. The box also contains an HDMI cable, an optical cable, an Ethernet cable, a 3.5 mm setup cable, power cords, riser feet, bumper pads for wall mounting, non-skid pads for the subwoofer, a wall mount template and the printed guides.

What the specs mean

• 2.1 speaker setup: two main channels (left and right) and one subwoofer channel; the ".1" is the wireless subwoofer in the box. There are no center, surround or height speakers.
• HDMI ARC: the Audio Return Channel sends the TV's sound to the sound bar over one HDMI cable, and the TV remote can control the bar's volume.
• 4K HDR passthrough: a console, streaming box or Blu-ray player can plug into the bar's HDMI input. The video goes on to the TV in 4K with HDR10 or Dolby Vision and HDCP 2.2, while the bar plays the sound.
• Audio formats: the bar decodes Dolby Digital, Dolby Digital Plus, Dolby TrueHD, DTS and DTS-HD Master Audio.
• HEOS and AirPlay 2: music streams over Wi-Fi from the HEOS app or from an Apple device with AirPlay 2, and the bar can play in sync with other HEOS or AirPlay 2 speakers.
• Expandability: Denon Home 150, 250 and 350 speakers can be added as wireless rear speakers.