Denon Heos HS2: Comparison Chart & Overview

The Denon Heos product line is a relatively new addition to the market, and the family as a whole bears a striking resemblance to Sonos products. With that said, these smart speakers stand on their own in terms of features and design, and the Denon Heos HS2 represents the newest line of smart speakers from the company. With competitive speakers ranging from entry-level models to high-end sound systems, there’s something for everyone from Denon.

Don’t feel like reading through the article? Feel free to jump straight to our comparison chart of Denon Heos HS2 1 vs. 3 vs. 5 vs. 7 for a quick look at what sets these speakers apart from one another. However, if you’d like to learn more about the Denon Heos HS2 line as a whole, including how they work and whether or not they’re worth the buy, read on below!

What is Denon Heos?

Denon Heos 5

Denon Heos is a multi-room sound system that is composed of a line of impressive music players suited for your entire home. Using a free app for iOS or Android phones or tablets, you can easily enjoy your favorite music streaming service, any sort of internet radio, or just your own music collection. Setup is relatively easy, although it does fall slightly behind competitors like Sonos in terms of ease of use. With that said, once the speakers are up and running you’ll enjoy quality sound systems with a great degree of flexibility — available at pretty much any price point ranging from the basic to the premium.


What Makes Denon Heos HS2 Special?

Denon Heos 7

While a Denon Heos HS2 speaker on its own is definitely a quality addition to your home, but where it really shines is in a true multi-room system. You’ll be able to play the same song in every room without any issues, or any combination of rooms that you should choose — or change things up with a different song on every floor! This useful feature Denon Heos speakers offer distinct advantages over other, more general music systems like Airplay and Bluetooth. However, the Heos line also supports Bluetooth as well as an auxiliary port, so you’ll have a lot of flexibility when it comes to the way you play your music. This makes it super easy for a friend to put on their favorite tunes, even without hooking into your WiFi network.

The Heos line also uses standard home wireless technology in order to transmit data so you won’t need to use any new equipment like a smart home bridge. When running on WiFi, you’ll enjoy sound quality that is far superior to your average Bluetooth speaker, and any device on your network that has the Heos app will be able to control your speakers at will. Backed by over 100 years of audio expertise, the Heos line has pretty much everything you’ll need to fill your home with high-quality, easy-to-use, audio.


What is the Difference Between the Four Heos Speakers?

Perhaps the biggest difference as you move up the Heos line is the audio quality. The has the most basic audio equipment, but it also features humidity resistance that makes it one of the best smart speaker options for listening in damp environments, like a bathroom.

The HEOS 3 has a dual driver system with 2 Class D Amplifiers, making it suited for small to medium-sized rooms. The HEOS 5 is a 5 driver system composed of dual mid-woofers, dual tweeters, and a passive radiator. If you have a larger room, the 5 will do a better job of filling the area than you’d see with the 3.

The top of the line model of the Denon Heos HS2 line is the HEOS 7, which is our top pick for large rooms and open areas like living rooms, patios, or open-floor-plan homes. It’s also excellent for audio enthusiasts who want deep bass and some of the highest outputs available at this price range.


What Music Sources Does Heos Support?

The Denon Heos line supports streaming music services including, but not limited to:

  • Deezer
  • iHeart Radio
  • Mood: Mix
  • Music (Amazon)
  • Napster
  • Pandora
  • Sirius XM
  • SoundCloud
  • Spotify
  • Tidal
  • Tunein

As you can see, the majority of major music streaming services are supported. If you’d rather play your own music instead of streaming from a site, you can play music from your phone or tablet, network storage with DLNA compatible media service, USB storage devices, as well as any external source connected to the HEOS player.

One notable absence you might have noticed is the lack of Apple Music support, but you can technically get around that by streaming the music from your tablet or phone over a Bluetooth adapter. It might not give you the same quality as you’d get by playing through WiFi, but you’ll still be able to enjoy the excellent acoustics of these speakers from your favorite streaming service.


How to Create Heos Stereo Pair?

You can use two different speakers of any one type to create a stereo pair, meaning you can use two HEOS 1, two HEOS 3, etc. You cannot pair different speakers together to create a stereo pair, so make sure you have an idea of the kind of features you’re looking for before you buy as you cannot mix and match.


What is the Maximum Number of Heos Speaker to Use at One Time?

The Denon Heos system can support up to 32 HEOS music players on the network at once, which means you’ll be able to cover pretty much your entire home with speakers if you so choose. And by playing music across all of them, in specific rooms, or even cranking up different songs in different areas of your home, Denon Heos allows you to access your tunes in the way you want them.


Denon Heos — Comparison Chart

HEOS 3 HEOS 5 HEOS 7
High-Resolution Audio Support Yes Yes Yes Yes
Bluetooth Capability Yes Yes Yes Yes
Drivers One woofer,
one tweeter
Dual full range Two tweeters,
two woofers
Two tweeters,
two mid-woofers,
one woofer
Enclosure Design Sealed Ported Single passive radiator Two passive radiators
Amplifier Channels 2 2 4 5
3.5mm audio line-in connection Yes (1) Yes (1) Yes (1) Yes (1)
USB port for direct connection of stored music Yes (1) Yes (1) Yes (1) Yes (1)
Wired Network Ethernet Jack (1) Ethernet Jack (1) Ethernet Jack (1) Ethernet Jack (1)
Wireless Network 802.11a/b/g/n networks
on 2.4GHz and 5Ghz bands
802.11a/b/g/n standard
on 2.4GHz and 5Ghz bands
802.11a/b/g/n/ac standard
on 2.4GHz and 5Ghz bands
802.11a/b/g/n/ac standard
on 2.4GHz and 5Ghz bands
3.5mm Headphone Output Jack No No No Yes (1)
Includes threaded hole for wall/stand mounting Yes Yes No No
Placement Vertical Vertical or
Horizontal
Horizontal Horizontal
Room Size Small to medium Small to medium Medium to large Large rooms and open areas

Last update on 2024-03-27 at 22:04 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API

Leave a Comment