AV Sub-Satellite packages can struggle to cut the mustard in the entry levels, struggling to balance affordable build quality and retain a decent sound quality. The SYS2020 is HiFi Heavyweight Denon’s venture into this often saturated market.
The SYS2020 is clearly designed to be respectful to both the home AND cinema aspects of its nature. With small, cubic(ish) speakers tastefully branded with Denon’s logo emblazoned across the front and keyhole mounts, as well a standard flattened base, making it easy to mount them away from surfaces whilst the size stops them from being an eyesore, particularly in smaller rooms. Considering the small size and intention to mount them flush to the wall, it comes as no surprise that the small satellites are terminated with ‘spring clips’ as opposed to offering a banana plug option usually found on a higher class package. When paired up with a high quality, discrete home cinema cable (such as the Cambridge Ultra Micro) these are sure to blend in seamlessly to many a living/cinema room. The package even comes included with small, nonslip, rubber feet to dampen any vibrations from the lightweight plastic speakers, should you choose to place them on a surface as opposed to wall-mounting them.
The sub is a neat, compact unit to match as well. Packing only a 16cm cone it’s not the most thunderous of bass, the likes of which you’d be more likely to achieve with something such as the Monitor Audio MASS 5.1, but it’s certainly controlled and complementary to the satellites, dropping to a fairly impressive 30Hz. The sub is downwards firing, making it less fussy in regards to placement in corners, behind furniture and generally into places other subs may struggle, we would recommend however, placing into a corner with plenty of space to ‘breathe’ so it can give you the best bass response it’s capable of.
Denon have stated that the package is designed for use with its entry level AV receiver the AVRX520BT, however to really give it a test of its capabilities, we ran it with the What HiFi? Award winning AVRX2300. To test out both its power and subtlety, we tested it with The Revenant. From the get go, the sound was spacious, as you’d expect from Denon, but not usually as this price point, with a great sense of scope of the landscape as winds howled and rivers flowed across the wild tundra The Revenant is set in. As with many budget speaker packages, the devil can truly be in the details, with the low whispers of the conspirators and later the cacophony of battles being a bit lost amongst the rest of the soundscape, something that cannot be replicated by the SYS202 as well as a full-sized home cinema package such as the Dali Zensor 5.1 Package. We switched it down from the 4K input and tested it out with some standard HD content with Jurassic World, the sub keeping up well with pounding dinosaur footsteps and speakers managing an ample job of creating the all-around feel of the dinosaur filled forests.
Musically, as you’d expect from a longstanding HiFi company the SYS2020 manages to strike a pleasing balance. A wide and surprisingly warm and even response keeps up with a range of music from Fleetwood Mac’s Rumours, to Adrenaline by Zedd. Overall, we’re happy with performance of this entry from Denon, particularly at its lower price point, the SYS2020 does a good job of bringing you into the world of surround sound and you’d be happy with it as a first foray into home cinema.
Click here to find out more about the Denon SYS2020.
Author: Steve, Southgate store
