Denon Takes Shots At Sonos In Multi-Room Speaker War
Denon HEOS multi-room speaker
While Sonos continues cleaning up the mess from its disastrous app overhaul, Denon is quietly rolling out some pretty nifty upgrades that feel suspiciously well-timed.
The latest Denon Home update adds Qobuz Connect support, which is a boost for audiophiles who've long wanted native control over the French brand's highly regarded streaming service, with the new platform launching today at High End Munich 2025.
Like Connect options that already exist from the likes of Spotify and Tidal, Qobuz Connect lets you stream high-resolution music directly from the Qobuz app to compatible hi-fi devices, so no Bluetooth, AirPlay, or third-party apps are needed.
It hands off playback to your audio gear, so your phone just acts as a remote, and you can switch between devices without interrupting the music.
But that's not the only boost for Denon as the Japanese audio brand has announced a raft of quality-of-life tweaks to the HEOS ecosystem.
The HEOS app now loads faster (we're told it shaves off two seconds before you see your homescreen populate), and playlist limits have jumped from 300 to 1,000 tracks.
You can also save room group presets and Denon has also added Roon Ready support and network sharing via SMB 3.0.
Denon has had a busy month. A couple of weeks ago, its umbrella company Sound United was sold by the Masimo Corporation to the Samsung-owned Harman International, for a cool $350 million.
That means that Denon, along with Bowers & Wilkins, Denon, Polk, and Marantz are now part of a big audio family with the likes of Harman Kardon, JBL, AKG, Mark Levinson, Arcam, and Revel.
Like Sonos, Denon's HEOS range includes a variety of wireless speakers designed for different room sizes and audio needs.
With Sonos still having to make amends to its existing user base, and having a much harder job attracting new users after a disastrous 12 months, brands like Denon have a better chance than ever to steal a march on the ever-expanding multi-room music market.
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