'A Remarkably Human Performance'

FOR Bluetooth wireless connectivity; improved sound

AGAINST Nothing at this price

Denon didn’t necessarily need to release a new micro system: the multi-Award winning D-M40DAB has being hanging around our most-read reviews list like an Adele record that simply refuses to drop out of the charts.

Logically, then, there are two explanations for the D-M41DAB. Either it’s a subliminal reminder that Denon remains at the top of this tree or, in the near-two year wait for the product’s emergence, the company has once again managed to significantly better itself.

The lengths to which Denon has gone with this updated system would suggest the latter.

Bluetooth arrives

Even if the rest of the package had remained the same, the inclusion of Bluetooth for the first time in this range (which can be turned on or off to avoid affecting the D-M41DAB’s overall performance while not in use) would be our first cause for celebration.

The lack of wireless capabilities never stopped us giving Denon Awards, but it had been the only blot on the M-series’ otherwise pristine copybook.

Given the merits of the D-M40DAB, it’s perhaps a risk that the company’s engineers have tinkered so much with the insides of its flagship micro system.

Triple Noise Reduction

Denon claims its brand new analogue amplifier circuit offers greater clarity and purity, with shortened signal paths and further measures to avoid sources of interference built in.

This is part of what Denon dubs its Triple Noise Reduction Design, which, while sounding like something from a gastro-pub menu, also encompasses careful separation of analogue and digital circuits and precision signal grounding.