Features of the Denon S-301 DVD Home Entertainment System
Speakers
Since the Denon S-301 DVD Home Entertainment System is a 2.1 system you only need three speakers, the two front satellites and the subwoofer. The satellite speakers are a 2 way design with three speakers per satellite, two 8cm cone bass-mid's and one 2.5 Cm tweeter. The satellites are also magnetically shielded. The sub is an active design with a 20cm cone that can handle 140W. Denon uses special connectors for the speaker wire so you can only use the included wiring. If your room is already wired, you won't be able to use your current wiring.
DVD Player
The DVD player for the Denon S-301 DVD Home Entertainment System is the brains of the entire system. On the rear of the DVD player you have a wealth of connectivity options to connect to your TV or media center PC. Included connectivity options are HDMI,S-Video, component video out, RCA outputs and S/PDIF optical out and in as well as digital coaxial in.
Video playback both on TV and on a PC display was first rate. Denon upconverts video to 1080i with fantastic results thanks to the DCDi by Faroudja. You can playback both NTSC and PAL discs as well as DVD-AUDIO, DVD video, super audio CD, CD-DA, VCD, CD-R/RW, DVD-R/RW and DVD+R/RW. A built in AM/FM tuner allows you to use the system for music playback as well.
Since the S-301 is a 2.1 system, you can't get true 5.1 audio, but you do get virtual surround sound with Dolby Virtual Speaker, Dolby Digital Pro Logic II, and DTS Virtual.
Denon S-301 DVD Home Entertainment System in Use
Setup
Home theater systems don't get any easier to setup than the Denon S-301 DVD Home Entertainment System. You simply unpack the system, connect the included custom speaker wire to the three speakers, plug it into your TV or PC, power it up and you are done. For TV testing I connected the Denon S-301 DVD Home Entertainment System via HDMI to an Olevia 542i 42" LCD TV. For PC testing I connected the S-301 to my PC via S/PDIF and a Toslink optical cable.
Movie Watching
First up was movie watching with the S-301. The video playback was stellar on the Olevia TV with a crystal clear HD image at 1080i. I have yet to see better image quality than this system provided during Lord of the Rings. Sound quality was top notch as well during the movie with clear and legible voices, even though the system lacks a center channel, and deep room filling bass.
The bass produced by the system is fantastic deep bass. Explosions sound like they are right next to you, and you are greeted with the type of bass I like most. You not only hear the bass, but you feel it when explosions go off in the movie. I was skeptical about 2.1 audio when I started this review, and now I see that the Denon S-301 is a fantastic home theater.
That said not once did I mistake the virtual surround sound for the real thing. If surround sound is your main goal, I suggest you go for a true surround sound system, not a virtual one. That said, if what you care about is fantastic sound and video quality and true surround sound isn't that important you can't go wrong here.
Gaming on the Denon S-301 DVD Home Entertainment System
PC gaming is greatly improved with a quality sound system. For sound quality the Denon S-301 DVD Home Entertainment System does an outstanding job with PC gaming by offering deep bass and clear mids and highs. However, is you are a fan of positional audio you don't get much of that with the S-301 thanks to the lack of rear speakers. I did enjoy gaming with the S-301, the outstanding bass lets you feel the explosions and offers great immersion in game.
Final Thoughts on the Denon S-301 DVD Home Entertainment System
At the end of the day, there is no doubt that the Denon S-301 DVD Home Entertainment System is a fantastic home theater. However, the system is unabashedly expensive at over $1500 definitely making it high-end. If you have the budget and absolutely don't have room for 5.1 surround or just like the ease of a 2.1 system the Denon S-301 DVD Home Entertainment System is first rate. If immersive surround sound is what you are after, I think you could find something better for the money.
