Denon AVR-X1700H

Entry-level X Series AV receiver thrills John Archer with its advanced connectivity and energetic audio

- John Archer

LAUNCHED IN OCTOBER 2021, but still on sale now, Denon's AVR-X1700H was the company's first AVR to put problems with first-gen HDMI 2.1 chips in the rear-view mirror.

Three of its six HDMI inputs handle gaming features including 4K at 120Hz, variable refresh rates, Quick Frame Transport, and Auto Low Latency Mode (ALLM) - when there was only one such input on Denon's first wave of '8K capable' AVRs. And these 40GB connections work right out of the box, including the 4K/120 feeds from the Xbox Series X that wouldn't work on Denon's 2020-released models until an all-new production run began in May 2021.

The X1700H is confident enough about its HDMI prowess, in fact, to display detailed information on the HDMI signal it's receiving.This is very helpful when it comes to knowing if everything is working as it should be.

All six HDMI inputs support 4:4:4 chroma sub-sampling; the full family of current high dynamic range formats (HDR10, HDR10+, Dolby Vision and Hybrid Log Gamma); 8K upscaling; and eARC. All feed into a single HDMI output.

It's not all HDMI-focused, though. There's a 'retro' phono (MM) input for vinyl lovers, plus front-facing USB and headphone sockets, coaxial and optical digital audio outs, Ethernet, and twin subwoofer pre-outs.