The Denon Home Sound Bar 550 is a 2.0 setup that you can upgrade with a dedicated subwoofer and satellites, sold separately. It has a compact design, and it offers a slightly boomy sound profile out-of-the-box. However, it struggles to reproduce a thumpy low-bass, so you don't feel the deep rumble in action-packed movie scenes. Also, it doesn't get very loud, and there's compression at max volume, so it isn't suitable for listening at loud volumes.
The Denon Home Sound Bar 550 is fair for mixed usage. Out-of-the-box, this soundbar has a slightly boomy though fairly neutral sound profile. However, it struggles to reproduce a deep low-bass, so you don't feel the thump and rumble in bass-heavy music or action-packed movies. It supports surround and Atmos content, but it doesn't provide the most immersive listening experience. Also, it doesn't get very loud.
The Denon Home 550 is decent for dialogue-centric content like TV shows. Thanks to its balanced mid-range, voices are reproduced clearly and with detail. There's also a Dialogue Enhancer to make voices more crisp and clear, as well as an auto-volume mode to help balance the volume across different programs. Unfortunately, it lacks a discrete center channel, so voices don't reproduce as accurately.
The Denon Home 550 is okay for music. Out-of-the-box, it has a slightly boomy, though still pretty neutral sound profile that adds a little extra bass to your audio. It struggles to reproduce a thumpy low-bass, which can be disappointing for fans of bass-heavy genres. There are some EQ presets as well as bass and treble adjustments to help you customize its sound. However, it lacks a full graphic EQ, and it doesn't get very loud.
The Denon Home 550 is fair for movies. Its balanced mid-range can reproduce dialogue clearly, but it lacks low bass, so you don't feel the deep thump and rumble in action-packed scenes. It can play Atmos and surround content, but it doesn't offer the most immersive listening experience. Also, it doesn't get very loud, and there's a lot of compression when you play it at max volume.
The Denon Home 550 is available in 'Black', and you can see the label for the model we tested here.
If you come across another version, let us know in the discussions, and we'll update our review.
The Denon Home Sound Bar 550 is a 2.0 soundbar setup from 2021. It has a very compact design, but like many small soundbars, it doesn't get very loud. It also struggles to reproduce a thumpy low-bass, though you can add on a subwoofer and satellites sold separately. That said, thanks to HEOS Built-In, you can control it and group it with other Denon Home products using the HEOS app.
See our recommendations for the best soundbars, the best Dolby Atmos soundbars, and the best small soundbars.
The Sonos Beam (Gen 2) is better than the Denon Home Sound Bar 550. They're both standalone soundbars, but the Sonos is better built with better center and surround performances. The 5.0 setup can get a bit louder with less compression at max volume. The Denon has some extras, like a Full HDMI In port for high-quality passthrough.
The Sonos Arc is a better soundbar than the Denon Home Sound Bar 550. The Sonos is a 5.0.2 setup that comes with a discrete center channel. It has a better soundstage performance, gets louder, and has a room correction feature. You can also upgrade it to the Sonos Arc with Sub + One SL Speakers. However, the Denon is smaller and has EQ presets and a Full HDMI In port.
The Sonos Beam is a better soundbar than the Denon Home Sound Bar 550. The Sonos has a better soundstage performance, and it gets louder. It also has a room correction feature and a discrete center channel. However, the Denon supports Atmos content and Bluetooth connectivity. It also comes with EQ presets and a Full HDMI In port.
The Bose Smart Soundbar 900 is better than the Denon Home Sound Bar 550. The Bose is a better-built setup with better soundstage, center, and surround performances. It gets louder with less compression at max volume, too. That said, it doesn't support DTS content like the Denon.
The Sony HT-G700 is a bit better for mixed usage than the Denon Home Sound Bar 550. The Sony comes with a dedicated sub, which can reproduce a slightly more extended low-bass. It has a better center channel performance, and it gets louder with less compression at max volume. That said, the Denon has better soundstage and surround performances.
Depending on your listening habits, you may prefer either the Bose Smart Soundbar 300 or the Denon Home Sound Bar 550. The Bose is a 3.0 soundbar with a better soundstage performance and a discrete center channel. It gets louder than the Denon, too. However, the Denon supports Atmos content and comes with more sound enhancement features, including EQ presets and auto-volume mode. Also, it has a Full HDMI In port.
Depending on your listening habits, you may prefer either the Denon Home Sound Bar 550 or the Yamaha YAS-209. They're both decently versatile bars, but the Denon is better movies. The Denon is a better-built 2.0 setup with a better surrounds performance. Unlike the Yamaha, it supports Dolby Atmos content. That said, if you want to feel a lot of bass in your audio, you may prefer the Yamaha, which comes with a dedicated sub.
The Samsung HW-Q600A is better than the Denon Home Sound Bar 550. The Samsung comes with a dedicated sub that helps reproduce a more extended low-bass. It gets louder, and it has a better center performance. There's even a graphic EQ if you want to customize its sound. That said, the Denon has a better surround performance and more wireless playback options.
The Samsung HW-Q950A is better than the Denon Home Sound Bar 550. The Samsung is an 11.1.4 setup with a dedicated sub and discrete satellites. It reproduces a more extended low-bass, and it gets louder. It also has better soundstage, center, and surround performances. There are even more sound enhancement features, including a graphic EQ and room correction. However, the Denon is better built, and it has a more compact design that some users may prefer.
Depending on your listening habits, you may prefer either the Samsung HW-S60T or the Denon Home Sound Bar 550. The Samsung has a better soundstage performance, and it gets louder. Also, it has a graphic EQ for sound customization. However, the Denon supports Dolby Atmos content and has a Full HDMI In port.
The JBL Bar 5.0 MultiBeam is a better soundbar than the Denon Home Sound Bar 550. The JBL is a 5.0 setup that offers a discrete center channel to help reproduce dialogue more clearly. It also gets louder and comes with a room correction feature. However, the Denon comes with a dialogue enhancement feature, and it has a better Atmos performance.
The Samsung HW-Q700A is better than the Denon Home Sound Bar 550. The Samsung comes with a dedicated sub, so it can reproduce a more extended low-bass. It has better soundstage and center performances, and it can get louder. It also comes with a graphic EQ, unlike the Denon. That said, the Denon has a better surrounds performance.
The LG SP9YA is better than the Denon Home Sound Bar 550. The LG is a 5.1.2 setup with a dedicated subwoofer that can reproduce a more extended low-bass. It has better soundstage and center performances, and it gets louder with less compression at max volume. Also, it offers more sound enhancement features, including room correction.
Depending on your listening habits, you may prefer either the Denon Home Sound Bar 550 or the JBL Bar 5.1 Surround. The Denon has a standalone design that's ideal if you don't have a lot of space. Unlike the JBL, it supports Dolby Atmos content, too. That said, the JBL can reproduce a more extended low-bass. It has a better center channel performance, too.
The Samsung HW-Q800A is better than the Denon Home Sound Bar 550. The Samsung comes with a dedicated sub that helps reproduce a more extended low-bass, and it gets louder. It has better soundstage and center performances, too. You can also customize its sound profile using its graphic EQ. That said, the Denon has a better surround performance.
The Samsung HW-Q70T is a better soundbar than the Denon Home Sound Bar 550. The Samsung is a 3.1.2 setup with a more neutral sound profile out-of-the-box and a more extended low-bass, which some users may prefer. It gets louder, offers a discrete center channel, and has a graphic EQ for sound customization.
The JBL Bar 9.1 is better than the Denon Home Sound Bar 500. The JBL is a 5.1.4 setup that comes with a dedicated sub, which helps reproduce a more extended low-bass. It has better soundstage, center, and surround performances, and it gets louder. It also supports more wireless playback options, and it has a room correction feature.
While the Denon Home Sound Bar 550 is a decent standalone choice for dialogue-centric content like TV shows, the Samsung HW-Q900A is the better choice overall. The Samsung is a 7.1.2 setup with a dedicated sub that can reproduce a more extended low-bass. It has better soundstage and center performances, and it gets louder with less compression at max volume. It also has more sound enhancement features, such as room correction.
The Denon Home Sound Bar 550 is a better soundbar than the Bose Solo 5. The Denon is better built and supports Dolby Atmos content. It offers more sound enhancement features like EQ presets and comes with a Full HDMI In port. Also, it has a better soundstage performance.
The Denon Home Sound Bar 550 doesn't include a subwoofer, but you can purchase the Denon DSW-1H subwoofer separately if you want.
This setup doesn't include satellites, but you can pair any HEOS-enabled speaker to the bar if you purchase them separately.
The Denon Home Sound Bar 550 has a decent stereo frequency response. Out-of-the-box, it has a slightly boxy sound profile that adds a little extra boom in the bass range, which can please fans of bass-heavy music genres like EDM. The rest of the range is quite neutral and balanced, so vocals and lead instruments reproduce clearly. However, it struggles to reproduce an extended low-bass, so you don't feel the deep rumble in action-packed movie scenes. There are bass and treble adjustments, as well as EQ presets available to help you customize its sound.
Note: When you set up this soundbar using the HEOS app, it asks you whether you're placing the bar on a table or wall-mounting it. However, it doesn't calibrate the bar. We test soundbars on a table.
With calibration, the Denon Home Sound Bar 550 has a decent stereo frequency response. With its bass set to '-3' and its treble set to '1', it offers a slightly more neutral sound profile which still offers a little extra boom in the bass range. It still struggles to reproduce an extended low-bass, which can be disappointing for listeners who like to feel the deep thump and rumble in their audio.
The Denon Home Sound Bar 550 has a decent stereo soundstage performance. Its soundstage is perceived to be a bit wider than the bar itself, but the bar isn't wide to begin with. Its focus is okay, and sound seems to move in large chunks instead of from an accurate, pinpoint location.
The Denon Sound Bar 550 has a disappointing dynamics performance. It doesn't get very loud, and there's a lot of compression when you push it to max volume. As a result, it isn't suitable for listening to audio at loud volumes at parties or in large rooms.
The Denon Sound Bar 550 has a good THD performance. At a normal listening level, the distortion falls mostly within good limits, resulting in a mostly clean and pure audio reproduction. There's a small jump in distortion when you push the bar to max volume, especially in the mid-range. However, this may not be too noticeable with real-life content.
The Denon Sound Bar 550 has a mediocre center channel performance. It doesn't have a discrete center channel, so it uses its left and right speakers to simulate a phantom center. However, this doesn't reproduce dialogue as clearly and accurately as a discrete setup.
The Denon Sound Bar 550 has a poor surrounds performance. It's a 2.0 setup, so it has to downmix surround sound into stereo to play. It doesn't result in a very clear or accurate reproduction, especially when compared to discrete surround speakers. Also, its frequency response lacks low-bass, so you don't feel the deep rumble in action-packed scenes.
The Denon Sound Bar 550 has a poor Atmos performance. It also downmixes this content into stereo, so you can't take advantage of the full immersive feel. Sound effects don't stretch around you—instead, it seems like they're just coming from the space in front of you.
Note: During our testing, the bar played Dolby Atmos files in 'Direct' mode by default. We changed it to the 'Movie' preset using the remote, also called the 'DTS Virtual:X' preset on the app, as it gave Atmos content a more pronounced sound.
The Denon Sound Bar 550 has a poor selection of sound enhancement features. It comes with a few EQ presets, including 'Stereo' (or 'Music' on the remote), 'Dolby Audio', 'Dolby Surround', 'DTS Virtual:X' (or 'Movie' on the remote'), and 'Pure'. The 'DTS Virtual:X' preset doubles as a virtual surround feature to help immerse you in your audio. You can also use the app and the remote to access the Dialogue Enhancer and Night Mode features. However, it lacks a room correction feature, so the bar may sound different depending on the room you use it in.
The Denon Home 550 offers lots of physical inputs. There's a Full HDMI In port, so you can use it as a hub between different devices. Also, the AUX port lets you wire older devices to the bar for audio playback.
The Denon Home Sound Bar 550 has incredible ARC support. It supports Dolby Digital, the most common format for surround sound often found on Blu-ray discs and streaming platforms. Also, it supports lossless and object-based formats like DTS:X.
The Denon Home Sound Bar 550 also offers fantastic audio format support via Full HDMI In. It supports more common audio formats like Dolby Digital, as well as object-based formats like Dolby Atmos.
This soundbar supports both Dolby Digital and DTS via Optical. These formats are mostly on Blu-ray discs and streaming platforms.
The Denon Home 550 has an excellent latency performance. It has fairly low latency via ARC, Optical, and Full HDMI In, so you shouldn't notice a delay between the audio you hear and the video you see. As a result, it's suitable for watching videos and movies over these connections. However, some apps and TVs compensate for latency differently, so your real-world experience may vary.
This soundbar has incredible wireless playback support. You can wirelessly stream audio from your mobile devices to the bar via Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, and Apple AirPlay 2.
The Denon Home Sound Bar 550 can passthrough some of the highest bandwidth signals, so if you connect the bar to your TV and your PC, text on the screen appears clear and crisp. However, it can only do 4k @ 60Hz @ 8-bit passthrough instead of 10 bit, which can be disappointing for some gamers.
Update 02/08/2022: Thanks to a firmware update in the HEOS app, this soundbar supports Amazon Alexa voice assistant.
The HEOS app acts as a remote and lets you control all of the soundbar's settings. You can switch between different EQ presets, change the bass and treble levels, and access the Dialogue Enhancer and Night Mode features. It also offers integrated support for music streaming services like Spotify, Amazon Music HD, TIDAL, TuneIn, and Deezer, though you may need a separate subscription to access some of them. The manufacturer also says that you can use the app to manage and group multiple Denon Home products, but we don't test this.