Denon is set to take on Sonos in the booming Australian soundbar market after the Japanese Company announced a new Heos device that comes with a subwoofer.
In Australia soundbars are fast replacing traditional 5.1 and 7.1 home theatre kits with consumers also buying wireless speakers that can be configured as rears or for multi room use.
Denon said that the Australian market will get the new soundbar late in the third quarter.
Called the Heos Home Cinema, the new entertainment kit comes with an outboard subwoofer, and a Heos 1 speaker. Pricing for Australia has not been announced.
Also set to launch into this market which is tipped to grow by over 36% according to LG is JBL who is set to roll out a new 24 bit soundbar, subwoofer and speaker for around $1,800.
The new Denon products will join the company’s first six Wi-Fi-based multiroom-audio products, launched in 2014.
They include three powered stereo speakers with built-in wireless receivers. They are the Heos 7, Heos 5 and Heos 3.
Later in 2014, the company launched the Heos Amp, which connects to any pair of passive speakers; the Heos link preamp, which connects to existing sound systems; and the Heos Extend, a Wi-Fi range extender.
The range is proving extremely popular via specialist dealers with one mass retailer who has had a lot of success selling the Sonos range now looking to sell the new Denon competitor.
Heos systems use iOS and Android controller apps on smartphones and tablets to direct music to Heos devices from the mobile devices, from networked sources, and from USB sticks and USB hard drives plugged into a Heos device. The controller apps also stream Cloud-based music services throughout the house. In October, Sonos filed a patent-infringement lawsuit against Denon parent D+M Group over the Heos system.
