Denon AVR-1912 review

Denon calls the AVR-1912 its ‘everyceiver’, which is market-speak for its ability to play music from a wide range of sources. So whether your tracks are stored on USB stick, iPod, iPhone, disc, PC or NAS drive, you can access them all from the AVR-1912 thanks to its wide selection of sockets and DLNA-certified network functionality. Excitingly, it’s even equipped with AirPlay, which makes it even easier to stream songs from Apple devices or PCs running iTunes.

It’s a 7.1-channel receiver, with 90W of discrete amplification per channel, and sits above the entry-level AVR-1312 and step-up AVR-1612 in Denon’s range. At around £350, it’s Denon’s most affordable network-capable receiver to date, although with stiff competition from the likes of Onkyo and Yamaha it’ll take more than a tasty price to earn its place in your AV rack. Let’s find out if it cuts the mustard.

Although it’s trumped by stable-mate Marantz in the design stakes, the AVR-1912 is still a relatively dapper piece of kit. The subtly curved fascia and black finish work well, and overall build quality is superb, carefully constructed to curb unwanted vibration – the scourge of audiophiles everywhere.

Denon has also kept the fascia reasonably low on clutter, with only the most important buttons granted a place – these include four ‘Quick Select’ buttons and internet radio preset keys. Look closely and you’ll also see a row of input select buttons discreetly lined up along the bottom of the large display panel. Front-mounted sockets include composite/analogue stereo inputs, headphones port and a USB port for direct playback from iPods/iPhones and USB storage devices. There’s no front HDMI port though.

The AVR-1912 is relatively light on connections, although compromises were always likely at this price. Thankfully Denon hasn’t skimped on HDMI inputs, offering six v1.4 ports plus a single ARC-compatible output. You only get two digital audio inputs though (one optical, one coaxial) and there are no multichannel analogue inputs or pre-outs (apart from the subwoofer output). We expected more video sockets too – all you get are two composite and one component input, plus an S-video port for Denon’s iPod dock. Five analogue stereo inputs, Ethernet and plastic binding posts complete the line-up.