Denon Home 400 Review: Sounds Incredible, But the App Will Drive You Crazy

Denon recently sent us its Home 400 speakers to check out, and after spending some time with a stereo pair, it’s clear these are aimed squarely at people who put sound quality above everything else.

The company has a 116-year history, beginning in 1910 as Japan’s first recording equipment manufacturer. The company is responsible for several major audio milestones, including the invention of the world’s first professional digital audio recorder and the first consumer CD player.

Today, Denon is owned by Harman, a subsidiary of Samsung. Harman acquired the brand in late 2025 as part of a $350 million US deal to bring premium audiophile names like Denon, Marantz, and Bowers & Wilkins under its corporate umbrella.

Unboxing the Denon 400

The unboxing experience of the Denon is a basic cardboard box, while the speaker itself is wrapped in a cloth.

Inside the box are basic set up instructions and the AC power cable.

The unboxing experience is pretty basic and nothing super special at all, for those wondering:

Setting up the Denon 400 requires the HEOS app and everything was pretty straight forward. You power up the Denon 400, press the connect button on the back and follow the instructions in the app. The speakers will connect to your home Wi-Fi, then there was a software update to install, which didn’t take very long at all.

Big Sound, Small Footprint

The Denon Home 400 has a six-driver array, consisting of two tweeters, two mid-range drivers, and two up-firing drivers for Dolby Atmos.

Even starting out with just a single speaker, the Denon 400 soundstage is impressively wide. It’s actually hard to pin down exactly where the sound is coming from because it fills the space so well. If you have a room with vaulted ceilings, don’t worry, a single unit has no problem filling that volume.

The vocals are crisp and the bass is decent without being muddy or cloudy. We noticed there is a lot of treble here, though, so if you’re someone who likes those sparkling highs, you’ll be happy. If we had to nitpick the design, we would have loved a proper white version rather than the beige they offer (the other option is ‘charcoal’, which is like black). Also, having the controls on the right side is okay, but putting them on top would have made them much easier to access.

The Stereo Experience and HEOS

Pairing two Denon 400 speakers takes things up to another level. The separation between instruments is impressive and honestly on par or just a notch above the Sonos Era 300. In our music tests, the vocals remained very clear, supported by enough bass to feel the music without it becoming overpowering.

Looking at the other buttons on the back of the Denon 400, it reminds me of old school Japanese design buttons on electronics:

We ran through the specific tracks Denon recommended alongside a mix of current Top 40 hits, hip hop, and country (where my Ella Fellas at) to see how the speaker truly performs. Norah Jones’s “Come Away With Me” sounded pretty natural, with spot-on vocal clarity that highlighted her warm low-end. When switching to Ed Sheeran’s “Skeletons,” the Denon 400 easily handled the punchy dynamics and kept the bass tight.

The scale of the sound really came through during “Riders on the Storm” by The Doors, which delivered the room-filling energy and physical bass that Denon promised. However, the real star of the show was the Dolby Atmos mix of “Come Together” by The Beatles. It beautifully rendered the height and width of the rain and thunder effects, creating an immersive experience that felt much larger than the speaker itself.

However, the HEOS app experience is a bit of a mixed bag. To get true stereo pairing, you have to stay within the HEOS app (you just drag one speaker on top of another). The biggest letdown for Apple fans is the lack of native Apple Music support within the app itself. This means you’re limited to Spotify, Tidal, Amazon Music, Pandora, Deezer, SoundCloud, TuneIn and Napster & Mood: Mix. Besides the lack of support for Apple Music, YouTube Music is absent and there’s also no Chromecast support.

This means you need to use AirPlay, but that’s an extra step. If you want Siri for smart home controls, you’ll need a HomePod nearby to bridge that gap. No support for Google Assistant or Alexa is offered.

Where Denon edges out Sonos is in the pro specs. The Denon 400 handles 24-bit/192kHz and DSD files, plus it has a 3.5mm jack. It’s clearly built for the audiophile crowd. The Sonos Era 300 also also has six drivers, in the form of four tweeters (one forward-facing, two side-firing, and one up-firing) and two woofers to let it support Dolby Atmos.

The Verdict

The Denon Home 400 retails for $769 CAD, which is a $140 premium over the Sonos Era 300 at $629 CAD.

Is it worth the extra cash? If you’re a dedicated audiophile starting a new system from scratch and wanting that high-res support, the answer is probably yes. The sound quality is top-tier, and you will definitely be impressed with the expansive soundstage and a design that easily blends into any home decor.

However, for the average user, the Sonos app remains more intuitive and offers way better integration with services like Apple Music. While these are fantastic-sounding speakers, the HEOS app needs more polish to truly justify the higher price tag. To really compete, Denon needs to refine the software experience and bring native Apple Music support to the table.