Denon's new super-affordable AV receiver is perfect to graduate from soundbars to real home theater, as long as you can live without Dolby Atmos

• Denon AVR-S270BT launches for $399, but it's $299 at Costco
• 5.1 channels with 70W per channel into 8 ohms
• Designed for first-time home theater buyers

Denon has announced a powerful new 5.1-channel AV receiver, the Denon AVR-S270BT. It's designed for first-time home theater buyers and Denon has kept it both simple and affordable to appeal to as many people as possible.

The amp delivers up to 70W per channel at 8 ohms for the surround channels, or up to 140W at 6 ohms for bass output. It connects to your TV via HDMI with ARC (Audio Return Channel) support, and there's Bluetooth streaming from your tablet, phone or computer.

A guided setup to take you step-by-step through installation is also a big part of Denon's pitch here – again, this is very much for beginners.

Denon AVR-S270BT: key features and pricing

There's no Dolby Atmos support here at all, which may be a deal-breaker for some. But the rest of the specification is solid: there's Dolby Digital, Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio. You also get Dolby Pro Logic II and DTS Neo 6 up-mixing from stereo audio sources.

There are three 4K HDMI inputs and a further two 1080p inputs, and the receiver has 4K HDMI passthrough with HDR10, Dolby Vision, and HLG, making it suitable for Blu-Ray and streaming boxes alike – though there's no mention of 4K 120Hz support, so gamers should take note.

You can store your favorite volume settings and sound mode with the quick select buttons on the receiver and on its included remote control.

We've listened to many Denon AV receivers over the years, and we regularly recommend them for their sound quality and performance. This relatively affordable one looks like it'll be a good option for smaller setups, or those who just want great bang-for-buck without getting into more elaborate setups.

The AVR-S270BT will be only available for purchase from Denon.com for $399 (about £220 / AU$460 excluding tax) and Costco ($299) in the US, and it'll be available from Best Buy in Canada ($499). We don't have wider worldwide availability info yet, but we'll update if we learn more.

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