Denon RCD-N7: The iPhone-controllable Wi-Fi Hi-Fi with AirPlay support

Denon, the Japanese purveyors of fine hi-fi, have just announced the Denon RCD-N7 “Network CD Receiver”, a name which does nothing to reveal the glorious Appley nature that underlies this beast of a music system.

At first glance, it seems to be just a normal CD player and amp, albeit with an iPod dock on top of it – but that in itself is nothing unusual. Scratch under the surface, though, and you’ll find a surprising list of connectivity features that make the RCD-N7 one of the most connected hi-fi systems you can get your hands on – and as it’s from Denon, you can bet the sound’s extremely impressive as well.

The Denon RCD-N7 features

OK, so what’s so special about the RCD-N7? Well, in addition to its traditional role of being a CD player, it’s also got a 65W amp, an iPod dock, a USB input for plugging your MP3 players into it, a radio, and support for a wide range of audio formats, including FLAC.

And then it has something just a little bit special.

Like built-in Wi-Fi, DLNA, and support for Windows Media Player version 11, Apple AirPlay and Internet Radio.

What this means is that you can stream your tunes directly from your PC, Mac, iPhone and iTunes, and have the tunes played through the RCD-N7’s crystal clear audio circuits, before being pumped out by its beefy amp.

Better still, you can download an app for your iPhone or iPod that controls the RCD-N7 remotely, letting you use your iPhone or iPod as a remote control.

In short, the Denon RCD-N7 is what all small hi-fi units should have been for the past five years! Happily, Denon at least have caught on, and so hopefully this will be the start of an increasing number of ultra-connected, socially aware Hi-Fi systems.

[Source: Akihabara News]