Receivers — Denon AVR-S770H

The AVR-S770H is a 7.2-channel Denon surround receiver with 8K video handling and HEOS multi-room streaming. It is the step above the 5.2-channel AVR-S670H in the Denon S-series, and Denon listed it in the United States at USD 749. Seven channels can be configured as a 7.2 layout or as 5.2.2 with two height speakers. Denon describes the power as suited to driving most speakers in mid-size rooms.

Key specs that matter

All seven discrete high-current amplifier channels deliver 75 W into 8 ohms from 20 Hz to 20 kHz at 0.08 % THD, and 110 W into 6 ohms. Speaker impedance can range from 4 to 16 ohms. The analog stage has an input sensitivity of 200 mV, a frequency response from 10 Hz to 100 kHz within plus 1 and minus 3 dB in Direct mode, and 98 dB S/N IHF-A weighted. For the MM phono input Denon gives 2.5 mV sensitivity, RIAA deviation within 1 dB, 74 dB signal-to-noise and 0.03 % distortion. The unit weighs 8.6 kg and consumes 400 W in operation, 0.1 W in standby and 0.5 W in CEC standby.

Engineering and use context

Decoding includes Dolby TrueHD, Dolby Atmos and DTS:X, and the Dolby Atmos Height Virtualizer creates overhead effects when no height speakers are installed. DTS Neural X upmixes other material, and a Compressed Audio Restorer processes lossy sources. Three of the six HDMI inputs carry 8K, joined by one HDMI output with eARC, with support for 8K at 60 Hz, 4K at 120 Hz, Dolby Vision, HDR10+, Dynamic HDR and HLG. HDCP 2.3 is supported, and 4K content can be upscaled to 8K. Through eARC the TV can return Atmos, TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio, while standard ARC stays at 5.1 formats or PCM. ALLM, QMS and VRR serve game consoles. Audyssey MultEQ calibration is fitted with Dynamic EQ and Dynamic Volume. The Dolby Surround upmixer also spreads legacy content over all speakers, and DTS Virtual X produces virtual height effects in 7.1, 5.1 or 2.1 setups. HEOS, AirPlay 2, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth cover streaming, with Spotify, TIDAL, Amazon Music HD, Pandora and SiriusXM among the services. FLAC, WAV and ALAC files play at up to 192 kHz and 24-bit, DSD streams at 2.8 and 5.6 MHz, and gapless playback is supported.

Pairing

Two subwoofer outputs support a pair of powered subwoofers, a multichannel pre-out allows external amplification, and two multi-room zones are available. An MM cartridge turntable connects without a separate phono preamplifier.

Alternatives

The Denon AVR-S670H is the lower model, with five amplifier channels and no Dolby Atmos or DTS:X decoding.