Denon has long been a company that’s known for its excellent home theater receivers. The Denon AVR-X8500HA is the latest in a long line of fantastic products from Denon, and it does not disappoint.
It is an upgrade over the older model, with some upgraded HDMI board components. Today, we will review all of its features and specifications in-depth and discuss its audio performance and video quality. We’ll also look at some of its pros and cons to help you make your decision on whether or not it’s worth buying!
Table of Contents
About Denon
Denon is a company that specializes in creating A/V receivers, Blu-ray players, and other home theater equipment. They’ve been around since the 1970s but only began producing their own products in 1983 with the release of their first receiver.
Denon has long been considered one of the absolute best companies for high-end audio equipment thanks to their high-quality audio processing and transmission with no distortion.
The company was founded on the ideals of “affordable, but not cheap” which can be seen in every product they release to this day. Denon products are designed for quality without sacrificing performance or value; a perfect balance of luxury and affordability.
Features of Denon AVR-X8500HA
The Denon AVR-X8500HA supports Dolby Atmos and DTS:X to provide a cinematic sound experience in your home.
Surround Sound – Supports Dolby Surround and DTS Neural:X to create stunning surround soundtracks.
Audyssey MultEQ XT32 – Can accurately measure and calibrate your speakers for the best possible audio performance.
Dolby Atmos Height Virtualization – The receiver features Dolby Atmos Height Virtualization for an immersive sound experience.
DTS Neural:X – Supports DTS Neural:x which creates stunning surround soundtracks that are more realistic than ever before and offer a more natural, life-like sound.
Powerful Amps – It has two channels of high current power to provide a clean, clear, and robust audio performance for your home theater.”
13-Channel Amplifier – It features a 13-channel amplifier that delivers 150 Watts per channel
8K – The Denon AVR-X8500HA is ready for a full home theater entertainment experience, with the ability to decode content from up to four sources at once.
Wireless Surround Sound Ready – Work without messy wires associated with the traditional surround sound setup.
Heos App – to stream your music collection from your smartphone.
Audio performance
Denon is known for the high-quality sound in its receivers, and the AVR-X8500HA does not disappoint. The Denon’s 165 watts per channel power rating ensures that it can drive any speaker setup with ease.
During movie/tv show sessions, the sound quality was impressive; dialogue sounded crisp and clear, while sound effects and music were pronounced.
The Denon is a great sounding receiver and packs in some of the latest Dolby Atmos surround sound decoding features. It’s ready to provide amazing home theater performance with your existing speaker setup via HDMI connection.
Video performance
The receiver can deliver 8K UltraHD video quality for future compatible televisions. It can support up to 8K/60Hz and 4K/120Hz, with the ability to decode HDR content and HLG.
Read: Denon AVR-X6700H Review
ARC+CEC support means you can control the Denon receiver from devices like Google Home and Amazon Alexa.
Pros
- You get Dolby Atmos surround sound decoding features
- It can support up to HDR and HLG content for future compatible televisions
Cons
- It’s more expensive than some of the other receivers in this range.
Specifications
| BASICS | |
| Brand | Denon |
| Model | AVR-X8500HA |
| Type | A/V Receiver |
| POWER SUPPLY | |
| Power Supply | AC 120 V, 60 Hz |
| Power Consumption | 900 W |
| Standby Power | 0.1 W |
| GENERAL | |
| Warranty | 5 Years |
| Dimensions (W x H x D) | 17.1 x 7.7 x 19 inches 43.43 x 19.55 x 48.26 cm |
| WEIGHT (kg, lbs.) | 23.59 kg (52 lbs.) |
| Weight with packaging | 27.22 kg (60 lbs.) |
| SPECIFICATIONS | |
| Power Output (8 Ω, 20-20,000 Hz) | 150 W |
| Max Effective Power Output (6 Ω, 1 kiloHertz) | 190 W |
| Signal to Noise (S/N) Ratio IHF-A weighted | 102 deciBel |
| Input Sensitivity and Impedance (Line) | 220 mV |
| DSD Sampling Rates | 2.8 MHz, 5.6 MHz |
| FEATURES | |
| ECO Mode / ECO | ✔ |
| Aura 3D | ✔ |
| 4K UHD | ✔ |
| 8K | ✔ |
| Dolby Atmos | ✔ |
| Dolby Digital | ✖ |
| Dolby Digital Plus | ✖ |
| Dolby TrueHD | ✔ |
| Dolby Atmos Height Virtualization | ✔ |
| Dolby Vision | ✔ |
| DTS | ✔ |
| DTS Express | ✔ |
| DTS:X | ✔ |
| DTS:X Pro | ✔ |
| DTS Neo:X | ✔ |
| DTS Neural:X | ✔ |
| DTS-HD Master | ✔ |
| HDR 10+ | ✔ |
| HLG | ✔ |
| Bluetooth | ✔ |
| Wi-Fi | ✔ |
| Wi-Fi Direct | ✖ |
| USB | ✔ |
| Ethernet | ✔ |
| Airplay | ✔ |
| Internet Radio | ✔ |
| musicCast | ✖ |
| dlna | ✖ |
| Spotify | ✔ |
| Pandora | ✔ |
| Napster | ✔ |
| SiriusXM | ✔ |
| Tidal | ✔ |
| Deezer | ✔ |
| HDMI | ✔ |
| Amazon Music | ✔ |
| Audyssey | MultEQ XT32 |
| Heos | ✔ |
| Alexa | ✔ |
| Google Voice | ✔ |
| FORMATS | |
| MP3 | ✔ |
| WMA | ✔ |
| AAC | ✔ |
| FLAC | ✔ |
| ALAC | ✔ |
| WAV | ✔ |
| I/O | |
| Composite In / Out | 4/2 |
| Component In / Out | 3/1 |
| HDMI In | 7+1 |
| HDMI Out | 3 |
| Multi-room Video Out: Video | ✔ |
| Analogue In/out | 6 |
| Phono (MM) In | ✔ |
| Digital In: Optical | 2 |
| Digital In: Coaxial | 2 |
| Multi-room Out: Analog | 2 |
| Multi-room Out: Digital | ✖ |
| Multichannel Preout | 15.2 |
| Subwoofer Out | 2 |
| 7.1 Multichannel Input | ✔ |
| Speaker Terminal: Gold Plated Screw | ✔ |
| Regular Screw | ✖ |
| Number of Speaker Terminals | 15 |
Conclusion
The Denon AVR-X8500HA is a really good receiver for those looking for Dolby Atmos surround sound decoding and future compatibility with HDR/HLG content. The receiver has plenty of power even if you have a lot of speakers. If it’s in your budget, this is a really good buy.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many channels does the system support?
The Denon AVR-X8500HA supports up to 11.x channels with the ability to decode Dolby Atmos and DTS:X content over HDMI.
Does it have Bluetooth?
Yes, it has built-in Bluetooth.
Where can I get the manual?
