Denon’s new 8K AV receiver with Dolby Atmos is the pinnacle of high-end home theater gear

Denon’s latest 8K AV receiver completely raises the bar for connectivity and configurability

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UPDATED: We have added in new information about the US availability and pricing of the Denon AVC-X6800H to the bottom of this article.

Denon was the first brand to release an8KAV receiver, and its latest 8K model is the most impressive we’ve heard of yet in terms of power and connectivity. The Denon AVC-X6800H has seven HDMI inputs, two HDMI outs and 11.4 channels of immersive spatial audio plus every conceivable kind of connectivity and configuration.

As you can see from the photo it’s a good-looking thing (and it’s just as good-looking in black), but what’s really exciting here is the specification. We already rank Denon as thebest AV receivermaker for most people, but the AVC-X6800H appears to tick every single amplifier box we can think of – and while its priced at a fairly premium £3,000, it’s hard to imagine you ever needing to upgrade.

Denon AVC-X6800H: key specifications

The Denon AVC-X6800H has 11.4 channels of amplification and 13.4 in pre-amp mode, which disconnects the internal amplification to deliver a clean connection to other home cinema hardware. There’s support forspatial audioand 8K video, with 205 watts per channel of amplification for suitably earth-shattering soundtracks. The supported sound formats areDolby Atmos, DTS:X, IMAX Enhanced and Auro 3D. There’s also upmixing via Dolby Surround, DTS Neural:X and Auro-Matic to breathe new life into older content. And as it’s a Denon it also has the firm’s HEOS interoperability built-in.

All seven HDMI inputs and both HDMI outputs are 8K-ready, and there’s HLG,HDR, Dolby Vision, HDR10+ and Dynamic HDR pass-through. There’s Audyssey room correction included, and for a fee you can upgrade to Dirac Live digital room correction.

The Denon supports hi-res audio with its front USB port enabling playback at up to 24-bit/192kHz, and it supports MP3, WMA, WAV, MPEG-4/AAC, FLAC and ALAC. And there’s good news for gamers too. The receiver supports VRR, Quick Frame Transport and ALLM for your consoles or computer.

It’s an exceptionally powerful and flexible receiver – just listing the connections on the back would take up most of my day – but as we know from other Denon hardware the included Denon Setup Assistant makes everything user-friendly for those buyers who don’t want to tinker with every conceivable configuration option. Although naturally, that’s all there for people who do.

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The new Denon AVC-X6800H is available through authorised Denon retailers for £3,000 in the UK and €3,500 in Europe. In the US, Denon has tweaked the name of the model to be AVR instead of AVC and has also added a built-in FM/AM Tuner to be more in line with AV receivers in the region. It retails for $3,499 but is not currently available.

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Writer, broadcaster, musician and kitchen gadget obsessive Carrie Marshall has been writing about tech since 1998, contributing sage advice and odd opinions to all kinds of magazines and websites as well as writing more than a dozen books. Her memoir,Carrie Kills A Man, is on sale now and her next book, about pop music, is out in 2025. She is the singer in Glaswegian rock bandUnquiet Mind.

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