Denon Hifi Systems
Offers
Reviews
Denon Hifi System Reviews
 |
Denon D-M30
by victorias_books I owned a Denon D-M30 Hi Fi for many years, and I loved it. Not only does it deliver fantastic sound quality, but for £245 it is a very versatile and hard wearing product. The dimensions of the decks are 210 x 95 x 326mm, and they weigh 2.9kg each. The hi fi is comprised of 3 - 5 decks, depending on your choice. The tuning ... deck will be present, and you can choose whether to purchase the cassette deck, CD deck, mini disk deck and radio to accompany it. The decks are silver in appearance, and equipped with larger than adequate display screens on which you can see how long the media has been playing, time left to run, etc. There is a dial and the standard Play, Stop, etc, if you wish to operate the deck manually. I usually use the remote control for this, the sensor for which is located in the uppermost level. The buttons for manual operation require a bit of force for the action to be detected, and although the deck is endowed with a non-slip coating on its underside, it can still slip out of place somewhat if you happen to push it too hard. When inserting cassettes, CDs and mini disks you must push the button on the bottom left of the appropriate deck, and the tray will extend outwards. You simply slot the disk into the crevice, and either push the tray back in manually, or wait a few seconds for it to retract automatically. I have discovered that when the automatic function kicks in the tray can draw in a swift speed, and my finger once became stuck in the machine. This caused the tray to cease movement, and I was able to hit the eject button and release my digit. I experienced some discomfort, but thankfully the 'bite' was not so aggressive that it drew blood. On the tuning deck there is a large volume dial. If you enjoy listening to music at high volumes you will certainly appreciate this feature, as it enables you to select eardrum shattering levels (although I would not, of course, recommend this, for the sake of your neighbours!) I frequently listen to loud music, and even when it is distinctly audible through the double glazing I find I have reached only a third of the hi fi's maximum volume capacity. The tuning deck also features dials for bass, treble and balance. You can focus the dials centrally to select Flat sound, or in increments of +1 or -1 down to -5 to the right and +5 to the left. On the right is a larger dial that is the rec selector, and on the left is the input selector. The dials are all very smooth to operate and will respond immediately to your request. The remote control that accompanies the hi fi package runs on two AA batteries, and in the entire time I owned the hi fi I had cause to change the batteries only once. The remote is equipped with 53 buttons, so you can control a great deal from a distance. Some features you can operate, as well as the standard volume, On, Play, Stop, Rewind and Fast Forward, are sleep, dimmer, standby, shuffle, clean, aux, phono and CD sync. One complaint I have about the remote control is that you sometimes have to align yourself perfectly with the sensor in order for the signal to be detected, but if the batteries are fresh this is slightly less problematic. This is a fantastic hi fi that is both stylish and durable. It is endowed with a huge array of features, so you are able to modify the sound that emits from it to your requirements. It delivers a gorgeous, rich bass and those who crave their music loud will be enchanted by this model. Read the complete review |
 |
Denon S-52
by Nibelung For once, I'm writing about something I don't own, but having spent the best part of a day getting one of these to work, and succeeding, I reckon that all I'm not entitled to comment on is its durability, although it does seem quite impervious to being sworn at. The Denon S52DAB (described by Denon's manual as a "Wireless ... Network CD Music System") is an interesting proposal, looking not unlike one of those Bose All-In-One efforts that they are so coy about printing the full price of except in the small print of their ads. Yes, it's a stereo system but with that unconvincing separation between its speakers that will leave a true hi-fi nut tut-tutting. However, for what it is; a glorified clock radio, probably doomed to a bedroom or kitchen (ahem, wait for the agonised cries of "not fair"), it sounds pretty bloody good, given a decent sound source like a 'real' CD or one of its radio components. Note the plural. This one has AM radio (you must remember that!), FM radio (good old VHF), DAB radio - in theory better than FM (but only just) and 'internet radio', not so much a real radio but a link across that other kind of ether, as in 'net'. This latter link can be either hard-wired through an Ethernet 'solution' of your own choosing or via wi-fi. Of course, your broadband does need to be running for this to happen, and you do have to understand how to set this up to make it work, which is kind of where I came in, helping a friend of ours set one up. I'm not surprised she needed help. Apart from a quick-start fold out chart, the manual is yet another of those 'download it yourself' PDF files. The chart is OK, but only OK. It assumes that you're not going to hit any problems, which is an entirely unsafe assumption in this case. WHAT IT CAN DO Basically it pays not to be put off by the alarming array of ways in which you can listen to 'sounds' and concentrate on confirming that, one by one, they work As well as three forms of radio, you get a CD player, also capable of handling MP3 and WMA file CD-ROMS. It's an iPod dock too, capable of connecting to a whole gamut of iPods including the iPhone, although the latter gives you a warning that it's not being charged. There's a USB port for playing mp3/wma files on most kinds of external drive, mp3 player or flash memory stick. You can connect, either via Ethernet or wifi to a PC being used as a music server, but this requires the download of, and licence for the doubtfully-named 'Twonkyvision' software - somebody should tell these people about British slang. SET UP Sure, setting up AM and FM radio was a doddle, once you've established which antenna input is for which. This thing has enough aerial inputs to make GCHQ jealous. One for AM - this being a plastic frame with coils of wire wrapped round, the FM one, (not supplied and requiring a TV-type coaxial input) and yet another for DAB, this time a copper cable strip that you're supposed to blend artfully with your décor as you pin its tee-shape up the nearest wall! Like most things electronic these days, it's largely menu-driven with very little in the way of specific knobs to press. Most alterations are done by turning a master control wheel which doubles as a tuning knob once it's all working, pressing the centre of which is the equivalent of 'Enter'. Setting up the network link SHOULD have gone smoothly, but no amount of coaxing it to talk to my friend's Apple Airport Wi-fi router came to anything. By all accounts we were doing it right, but to no avail. Then after being shoved from pillar to post at any branch of John Lewis that wasn't too busy out selling even more of these in the run-up to Christmas, we arrived at the telephonic doorstep of Denon's own technical support number in Northern Ireland. Yes, it was confirmed we were doing it right but had we attempted to see if the firmware needed upgrading? Well, no we hadn't, for the simple reason that, at this stage we couldn't get onto the internet! Unfortunately, this is one case where PC-based technology is superior to Apple - in the knowledge-base of others. So, elegant solution or not, having no physical Ethernet connection, the Airport router had to go in favour of the Netgear Wireless Router freebie supplied by Virgin Cable (at least it obliged by being white!). Now we were getting somewhere with a bit of kit that both I and the Denon guy understood. I made a hard-wired Ethernet connection to the router, and set the 'update firmware' process going. Half an hour later, it was ready to run and try the wi-fi link again. Lo and behold, having set the Netgear router to precisely the same wireless SSID and encryption password as was set by the Apple Airport router, we were up and running listening to Californian stations, KRAP I think it was. I can only assume that the Apple router baulked at supplying more than one IP address at a time or was locked to one single MAC number, but with no documentation and no physical connection, it was difficult to diagnose. On reflection, never agree to help someone who's just moved house, is living out of boxes and can't find any paperwork, if there ever was any! Looking around on other sites, I'm not the only person who's found this aspect of the Denon's set-up tricky. Maybe Denon + Apple should ring alarm bells. AND IT SOUNDS LIKE.......? Very good actually, but thanks to a lack of tone controls (i.e. bass and treble), as a Radio Four listener, I found the human voice to be a bit over-plummy, although rock music sounded great, making this little buzz-box sound a lot larger than it really was. CD and DAB radio, followed a close third by FM radio sound best. Internet radio can sometimes have that 'phased' sound like listening to Radio Luxembourg used to be, as the link between you and your chosen station speeds up and slows down. Streaming audio from your PC (or from the iPod dock) sounds as good as the sampling rate you chose when 'ripping' the music in the first place. CRITICISMS Well, apart from set-up, I'd also query why the need for so many antennae? It's to be expected that the AM aerial will be a separate job, but surely DAB still uses frequencies similar to FM, and could therefore use the same aerial - after all, there'd be no point in running both tuners at once. The remote seems a bit lightweight and slow to work. Not exactly a moan, but with so many means of listening to music, it seems a shame that it's a standalone item, with limited speaker separation and no means of sending the signal to a 'proper' hi-fi'. There is however a mono output for a bass 'woofer' but bearing in mind what I said about plumy bass earlier, is this a good idea I wonder? There's a front mounted headphone socket, but a couple of phono sockets round the back wouldn't have broken the bank guys. Oh yes, and gun-metal grey is SOOO 20th Century. CONCLUSION It does a lot, mostly very well, with more facilities than you can shake a stick at, although I came close to beating it with one! It's well made - well judging by the weight of it, it is! It's just about to be discontinued so look for prices significantly lower than the more usual £330 soon. Recommended if you love a challenge. Read the complete review |
 |
Denon D-G1MD
by hurstyfish The DG1MD has a sleek design and as a first attempt from Denon at a MD/CD/tape/tuner minisystem comes out looking very attractive. The speakers give excellent, crystal-clear sound quality, despite their size and reflect Denon's audio skills. It is fantastic to be able to record to tape/MD from radio/CD/MD/tape and this was one of the ... primary reasons for my purchasing the system. Another helpful function is the ability to set a timer to play your desired source at the desired time - handy for waking up to your favourite tunes in the early morning. However, Denon let me down. Within 8 months of purchasing the product, I started to notice problems - the MD player would not recognise some of my discs (upon checking with a personal MD player they were in good condition). Next, some of the tracks on MDs, when first played would suffer from skipping / stalling and all other manner of disc reading problems. Eventually the troubles reached a level where MD playback had become impossible: It would take the system several attempts to register the disk, and even then it would refuse to play probably. Mostly discs did not work at all and recording had also become impossible - the player would not recognise brand new, blank minidiscs. I am now left with a mini system with excellent CD, tape and tuner quality and efficiency which is not able to fill my requirements because of its inability to play/record minidiscs. A sore disappointmeny (and waste of money???). One last complaint is the remote control unit, which reflects the fact that this is a first-time effort from Denon: it is not at all ergonomically designed and can not be called user-friendly, you often have to spend a long time searching for the desired function amongst the abundance of tiny buttons. Read the complete review |
Denon Hifi System |
||
|---|---|---|
|
4 reviews Price: 245 £ / Hifi System / Power: 2 x 20 Watt / CD-Player/ Changer: 3-Disc-Changer / Tuner: Yes / CD-Recorder: Yes / Headphone-Out: Yes |
|
|
1 review Hifi System / |
|
|
1 review Micro system with iPod cradle - radio / Hifi System / CD / MP3 / network audio player / digital player - Denon's S-52 Networked Audio System features the ability to stream music wirelessly from Internet Radio sources and other network attached storage devices, PC or Mac computers on the net... |
|
|
1 review Hifi System / |
|
|
1 review Hifi System / Manufacturer: Denon |
|
|
1 review Price: 275 £ / Hifi System / Power: 2 x 30 Watt / CD-Player/ Changer: CD-Player / Tuner: Yes / CD-Recorder: Yes / Headphone-Out: Yes |
|
| Denon Hifi System Recommendations 1 | ||
| dooyoo Results 1 - 6 of 6 | ||
