AV Receivers

Additional niceties include Apple AirPlay 2; Roon Tested certification; voice assistant support for Amazon Alexa, Google Assistant and Apple Siri; and HEOS built-in. Just as pets aren't only for Christmas, HEOS isn't just for multiroom. The app also simplifies music streaming, placing key services like Amazon Music HD, Spotify, Tidal and TuneIn under singular control.

Bluetooth connectivity covers transmission to headphones, which could be a life-saver for night owls.

Dynamic Denon
The AVC-X4700H offers nine channels of amplification, allowing Atmos/DTS:X speaker configs of 7.1.2 or 5.1.4, but there's 11.2 channel processing onboard, so it can be augmented with extra amplification as and when required. Power output is rated at 125W per channel (into 8 ohms, two channels driven). After spending time with this Denon, I began to wonder if that figure is actually conservative. The AVC-X4700H plays loud and has huge headroom for dynamic transients. At no point during my audition did it feel like it was running out of gas or turning raspy.

Joseph Trapanese's honking, ominous score for Project Power (Netflix, Dolby Atmos) is allowed to surge like a veritable tidal wave. I was engulfed and loved it. When the film declares 'This is power!', the AVC-X4700H underscores the declaration with a hammer fist. Yet despite all this orchestral heft, dialogue remains crisp and naturalistic (credit where credit's due – the Audyssey calibration on this amp does an artful job).

The X4700H has a taste for popcorn too. Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (Blu-ray, Dolby Atmos) benefits from its grandiose presentation. The amp's inherent sense of scale is almost operatic. When Orson Krennic arrives on planet Lah'mu to press gang research scientist Galen Erso into helping the Empire rebuild the Death Star, his ship carves through the atmosphere with tangible weight.

This is something I noticed time and again with this amp. There's a physicality to the sound as it moves air. But conversely, it's not leaden either. Surely playing their part are its two dual-core Sharc DSPs, which have been borrowed from Denon's top-range AVC-X8500H and not only take Dolby Atmos in their stride, but have the processing headroom (10.8Gflops, to be precise) to handle whatever tomorrow will throw at them.

In Dolby Surround mode this model does a terrific job upscaling regular 5.1. The setup opener for Pixar's Inside Out has an ethereal sonic quality, as it depicts the inside of Riley's head for the first time. Remixed in Dolby Surround, exterior parental sounds have a fuller resonance that seeps high and wide, while the voices of Joy and Sadness in her head are laser-focused. Throughout, the height speakers are used to engorge the score in a naturalistic, organic way. There's no sense that your speaker array has lost its top and gone convertible.

This machine is not just fun with movies though; it's also got rhythm. Saint-Tropez by Post Malone (Tidal, Dolby Atmos) has a bass beat that drops and rebounds like a ball on elastic. The X4700H plunges deep to match and snaps back without overhang.

The Future Is Now
Formidable in all the right ways, Denon's AVC-X4700H is both a technical tour de force and a spine-tingling sonic performer. It has lashings of dynamic power on tap, with an ability to stage that would make even Cameron McIntosh envious, and handles the rapid transients of blockbuster action with the casual grace of an Olympian. It's genuinely musical too, alternately melodious and engaging, then hard rocking and clubbing.

But ultimately, the knowledge that this amp is ready for 4K/120fps gaming, and even 8K video, will seal the deal. Yes, it would have been nice to have more 8K-enabled inputs, but consider this a home cinema amp equipped for the here and now, and tech yet to come. It's stunning.

HCC Verdict

Denon AVC-X4700H

Price:  £1,400
www.denon.co.uk

We say: The first AV amplifier to support 8K and 4K/120fps isn't just playing games. Powerful and entertaining, it's nothing less than the future of home cinema.

Overall: 5/5

Specification

Dolby Atmos: Yes
DTS:X: Yes
IMAX Enhanced: Yes
Power output (Claimed): 9 x 125W (into 8 ohms)
Multichannel input: No
Multichannel output: Yes. 11.2
Multiroom: Yes. Three zones
AV inputs: 3 x composite; 4 x digital audio (2 x optical and 2 x coaxial); 6 x stereo phono; MM phono input
HDMI: Yes. 8 x inputs; 3 x outputs
Video upscaling: Yes. To 4320p
Component video: Yes. 2 x inputs; 1 output
Dimensions: 434(w) x 167(h) x 379(d)mm
Weight: 13.7kg

Also featuring: HEOS multiroom compatible; Amazon Alexa/Google Assistant/Siri voice compatibility; Audyssey MultEQ XT32 room calibration; eARC; ALAC, FLAC, WAV (to 24-bit/192kHz) and DSD 2.8/5.6MHz media playback; Ethernet; Wi-Fi; Bluetooth; USB; AirPlay 2; net radio; Dolby Atmos Height Virtualization; VRR, QFT, ALLM and QMS; 4K/120Hz and 8K/60Hz passthrough via HDMI