Denon AVR-1612

Denon is the last of the major AV receiver manufacturers to announce its 2011 lineup, but it was worth the wait. The company introduced four new receivers in its "core line" last week, including the $530 AVR-1912, which Denon is referring to as the least expensive AV receiver with built-in AirPlay. (The Pioneer VSX-1021-K has a list price of $550.) Below is a detailed breakdown of the main feature differences between Denon's new receivers.

Denon AVR-1312

Key features of the Denon AVR-1312:

• 5.1 AV receiver, 110 watts per channel
• Four HDMI inputs
• 3D video pass-through, standby pass-through, and audio return channel
• Graphical user interface, overlaid on HDMI sources
• Two digital audio inputs (one optical, one coaxial)
• $250 list price; available later in April

Denon AVR-1612

Key step-up features of the Denon AVR-1612:

• 5.1 AV receiver, 120 watts per channel
• iPhone/iPod-compatible USB port
• Audyssey MultEQ and automatic speaker calibration
• Dolby Pro Logic IIz
• $350 list price; available later in April

Denon AVR-1712

Key step-up features of the Denon AVR-1712:

• 7.1 AV receiver, 125 watts per channel
• Six HDMI inputs
• Audyssey MultEQ and automatic speaker calibration
• Onscreen step-by-step setup wizard
• $400 list price; available in June

Denon AVR-1912

Key step-up features of the Denon AVR-1912:

• 7.1 AV receiver, 90 watts per channel
• Built-in AirPlay support
• Can be controlled via Denon Remote App on iPhone/iPod Touch
• Ethernet port
• Internet radio, plus streaming media from Pandora, Napster, Rhapsody, and Flickr
• DLNA-compatible for network audio streaming, including FLAC HD files
• $530 list price; available later in April

In terms of new features, the AVR-1912 is definitely the most interesting, with built-in AirPlay, networking and the ability to control the receiver via an app. It will be competing directly with the only other AirPlay-compatible AV receiver in this price range, Pioneer Electronics' VSX-1021-K, and the feature sets of both receivers are very similar. The Denon has an extra HDMI port (six, whereas the Pioneer has five), but Pioneer's app for the iPad seems more extensive than what we've seen from Denon so far. And while Denon products usually cost a little more than their competitors, the AVR-1912's list price is actually a little lower than the Pioneer VSX-1021-K's, although that edge could erode once we see the actual street prices of these two models.

In addition to these four receivers, Denon aannounced three new "CI" models (AVR-2112CI, AVR-2312CI, and AVR-3312CI) geared toward custom installers.