DENON AVR-X6800H

The Denon AVR-X6800H is a flagship-class AV receiver, and it is specified for a dedicated cinema room rather than a living room with a television in it.

It drives a large number of channels for complex Dolby Atmos, DTS:X and Auro-3D layouts, including ceiling speakers and rear heights, and it carries the amplifier section and the processing to do it properly. At this level the receiver also expects to be part of a considered installation, with pre-outs for external power amplifiers.

What Apple Home actually does with it

This is an AirPlay 2 device, not a HomeKit accessory, and the difference matters.

• It appears in the Home app as a speaker you can play to, and in Control Centre as an AirPlay target.
• You can put it in a room and group it with HomePods for synchronised multi-room audio.
• Siri can send music to it by room name.
• You can use it as the audio output in a scene or an automation.

What you cannot do is turn it on, change the input or set the volume from the Home app as if it were a smart plug. Power, inputs and surround processing stay on the remote, the front panel and the manufacturer’s own app.

Before you buy

Be honest about the room. A receiver of this class in a normal lounge, driving five speakers, is largely wasted money: the same budget spent on better speakers and acoustic treatment will sound better.

It runs hot and it is heavy. Plan for ventilation above it and a shelf that can take the weight.

For a living room system, the AVR-X1800H covers the same ground more sensibly.

Specifications