Denon has announced the Home Sound Bar 550, the first soundbar in its Home series with Dolby Atmos

Besides, the $599 soundbar, which will be available immediately, integrates with AirPlay 2 streaming and Denon's Heos multi-room system It will offer a series of smart features, including Alexa voice control will be added via a firmware update in the spring.

Like several other soundbars shown at CES 2021, including the Panasonic SoundSlayer and LG QP5 Éclair, the Home Soundbar 550 is a relatively compact soundbar at 25.5 inches wide. It is also an all-in-one model, meaning there is no separate subwoofer unless one is added later.

Nevertheless, Denon has positioned it as a full-fledged home cinema soundbar, with six drivers, support for DTS: X 3D surround sound in addition to DTS: Dolby Atmos, and Denon home speakers as satellite speakers can be paired to operate as satellite speakers.

The Home Sound Bar 550 also includes smart features. It is also certified as Roku TV Ready.

Support for high-res music formats like FLAC and ALAC should also please audiophiles who don't have room for a larger soundbar. All six speakers in the 550 home soundbar fire forward rather than upward, so you only get a digitally simulated version of Dolby Atmos rather than the real Dolby Atmos, which directs sound upward to create a sense of height. The digital version sounds convincing, but one must look elsewhere for a true 3D effect.

Still, the $599 550 home soundbar is more affordable than most Atmos-enabled soundbars, even with the added streaming and multi-room smart features. We recommend waiting to compare it to the even less expensive digital Atmos soundbar, the JBL Bar 5.0 Multibeam, when it is released in February.